What a joy to read and learn as well as these timely comments. I’ve only been in the bone broth practice for two years and it has gradually gotten better. I think I’ll ask for a new pot for my 50th birthday which is coming up. That investment might be just the right thing to mark my reclaimed health, vitality and nourishing focus. Here’s to every ounce of gelatinous broth we simmer!!
I started making bone broth to heal my stomach, but never stopped because of the wounderfull flavour it ads to my stews or pureed veggie soups. I also use the meat and jelatinous bits, taking them off the bones after 2 hour cooking,packing into glass jars and freezing for future use. Last autumn we bought from our neighbour beef cow and butchered together for the first time! I had the possibility to cook everything - heart, brain, kidney… I cleaned the intestines and with my mom made grinded meat+lung sousages ( she was making with her mom when she was a kid). And Taras’s marrow butter is miraculous!!!!
Beautiful Modesta. The cleaning of the intestines to make sausage is such a lost art. Now, in North America, we ship intestines to China where they are cleaned after purifying for weeks, and then they are shipped back to us. That all sounds so connecting and nourishing.
Thank you for the last line. I don't have the filtered water that I'd like to have, I'm not using the best meat possible, I hope to get there, but I 100% agree with you, that your attitude determines your health just as much as your soup pot. I was just saying to my daughter today, when she was asking me about 'healthy' foods (she's six), that a piece of homemade pie with ice cream can be healthy, if it fills you with so much joy and has all real food ingredients. Because that feeling of real joy and happiness is important for your health, whereas a diet that is all about punishing your body or depriving your body will not bring that same feeling, and therefore is not healthy, even though someone might say that it is.
To be frank, I think it's more important that you consume animal foods than avoid them because you can't get the creme de la creme. The nourishment is still there and desperately needed. Eat the whole animal foods you can afford with a grateful heart and you are far further ahead than those avoiding them and eating less nutrient dense foods out of fear. xo
Thank you, Tara. This is just the post I needed this morning. I am going to put some broth on to simmer and then head to my allotment for a few hours work. Wishing you a peaceful weekend xxx
That sounds like a fine morning. And by allotment and being able to work in an allotment at this time of year, I am a wee bit envious as we just dug out from another huge dump of snow. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow, it's just the itch that seems to appear this time of year as the light quality changes and a few mild days tease us with memories of spring.
Sounds like a lovely morning. We are still under mountains of snow in Canada. Ontario has been walloped the last 2 weeks. I am dreaming of teeny crocuses pushing up through the grass.
Hey Tara, you mention heavy metal detox…could elaborate more on this maybe in another essay? We strive to eat an ancestral diet, and try to get as much of our nutrition from our foods as possible (don’t rely on lots of extra vitamins and such). Just wondering if you have looked into things such as TRS for detox. Everyone and their brother are peddling these things these days and while we would like to detox heavy metals we are leery to take something that we don’t fully understand. Thanks!
Hi Rachel, I can talk about that. I will jot it down in my book of future topics. For now, what I have settled into, after trying and using all sorts of things, is my far/near infrared sauna, plenty of sun, and some mild herbal compadres on a regular basis. I like drinking infusions. I've done the zeolites in the past. I've done it all, honestly and what worked best for me seems to be the stuff that I can do gently over time, continuously. The one exception to this is lead which needs some extra help. I do a hair mineral analysis yearly (used to be every 6 months) to see what's happening. This is what's worked best for me, leaving me functional and not overwhelmed.
Post a roast (pasture raised) chook all the bones go in, it’s a pretty low fuss simple affair but I love waking to the smell of it in the still of deep dawn.
Thank you for the tips! I make my bone broth the same way. Except I add salt - not sure when you add salt? Also, due to some weird midlife histamine intolerance, the long-simmered broths are not the greatest for me so I also make meat broth which I simmer for only a few hours.
Meat broth is such a good alternative with histamine issues. If it's hopeful at all, I will share that I went for a couple of years where I could only use the meat stock too, but I'm okay with bone broth now. I only add a bit of salt and then adjust once it's all condensed otherwise it's just too salty in the end.
Thank you! I’m hopeful that on my gut-healing journey my histamine issues will abate. I’m taking Dr. Paul Saladino’s organ supplements and eating a lot of ethically raised meat from my local farmers which is slowly helping.
“Your attitude determines your health just as much as your soup pot” thanks for saying that, I agree and it’s hard to do it all perfectly. I will put some advice out there: don’t try the aluminum pressure cooker route. I was enticed by the convenience and numerous reports of people using them online, so I tried it in my All American cooker/canner. I had to throw out my batch of broth, it tasted like metal 🤢
Tara, I have to ask, do you have any kind of extractor fan by your cook stove? There are three complaints against bone broth in my house: My kids don’t like the whole house smelling like broth for two days and my home builder husband doesn’t like the moisture released into the house (we live in moldville coastal BC), or the energy it takes to simmer that long (electric cooktop). They all have to suck it up because broth.
I’ve started canning my broth, because I’m terrible at taking it out to thaw ahead of when I want to use or drink it. I still freeze the odd jar here and there, but any big batches get pressure canned and then it’s just so easy. I don’t like modern canning lids with the plastic lining (though I still use plenty of them) and I’m slowly switching to glass lid GEM jars and Weck. My mom bought me a bunch of Weck cylinder jars for my birthday this year, she gets me.
I remember you mentioning you were going to can a whole steer? I’d love to see an account of that if you did end up doing it. Even just a pic of the jars lined up would be so satisfying 😁
I've lived in BC so I can sympathize with the mould issues. Here, it's so dry with our wood stove heat. My poor plants need to be watered every 2 or 3 days all winter long. I do have a fan but it's above my gas stove and I usually use my wood stoves for the broth. I've heard that complaint, about the smell before. I don't know, everyone here just thinks it's normal.
We decided to keep that steer until this summer. I wanted him to get a little more fat on him. I'm a sucker for a fatty steer, what can I say. He's still destined for the pressure canner after a season of plumping on grass. I will be sure to include pics and process when we're there. :)
We heat exclusively with wood, which I think is non negotiable here in order to keep your house dry. And dry it is! I also need to water my plants really often. So I really think the moisture from broth is not a big issue.
Alas, our wood mass heater does not have a top that I can cook on.
I have a pot in the slow cooker right now. I do a first run on the stove to simmer, then strain and transfer for a second go. Do you reuse your bones Tara? I know the second simmer isn't as nourishing at the first but I think it may stil he worth it.
After 48 hours, there's not much left, Amanda. All our bones get spread around the wilds. Especially in winter, it's a welcome treat for the birds and various scavengers and predators.
I think it's just fine. We go through, on average, a jar a day so pressure canning doesn't make sense for me, but with limited space, I think it makes sense. I am also going to start doing some pressure canned just as back up.
Thank you for sharing you way of making broth! I've made bone broth using grass fed cow bones, but find it really greasy and with an unpleasant overall taste. I'll try mixing it with other animal bones and see if that helps with the flavour. And the tips of the wide jars vs ones with shoulders clears up any confusion I had with using glass jars. If you're looking for suggestions on food posts, I could use a diy/recipe on making pate, rilletes, liverwrust etc:)
Mari, greasy is not good! After you make the broth, do you put it in jars in the fridge or freeze or... how do you use it? I always remove the fat on top. Do you do that? You can cook with it or do other things with it but leaving it with the broth would definitely cause the issue you are describing.
Thank you for these tips. That was helpful… like why you use a ceramic pot and how you just turn it off at night snd back on in the morning. Well actually if wood stove, does that mean you just don’t add any more wood and let the broth completely cool down? Now I am determined to get a le creuset! Or two or three 😁. I would love to hear more about your mild herbal compadres sometime. I am looking at far infrared saunas and trying to figure out one of the best ones, as I know it is a great way to detox.
Hi Julieanne, it's not a ceramic pot. It's a steel pot lined with enamel. Different. Our wood stoves will burn all night long on a low, slow burn. I push the pots to the side of the stoves where they are getting quite low heat. If I use our gas stove, I just shut it off at night, put a lid on the broth and then start up again the next day. In looking for a sauna, I would highly recommend asking if they have testing results to ensure low EMFs and to try to find ones with non-resinous wood construction like basswood. Also, they should be built without glues and other chemical adhesives. :)
This is great! Been making broth for a few years but I got a dutch over some time last year and my broth has tasted better than it ever had before! It just has more flavor and body with the dutch over than it ever did with the stainless steel. I love reading all these comments. I am almost out of my last batch of broth (I think I'm making it about 2-3 times per year) and I see there are many things I can do to enhance my broth making experience for my next batch. Thanks for sharing!
What a joy to read and learn as well as these timely comments. I’ve only been in the bone broth practice for two years and it has gradually gotten better. I think I’ll ask for a new pot for my 50th birthday which is coming up. That investment might be just the right thing to mark my reclaimed health, vitality and nourishing focus. Here’s to every ounce of gelatinous broth we simmer!!
Sarah, if a new pot is not a reasonable ask for a 50th birthday, I don't know what is! Fingers are crossed.
Ha ha! I just bought Le Creuset pot … for my husband for his 50 th birthday!!!
I started making bone broth to heal my stomach, but never stopped because of the wounderfull flavour it ads to my stews or pureed veggie soups. I also use the meat and jelatinous bits, taking them off the bones after 2 hour cooking,packing into glass jars and freezing for future use. Last autumn we bought from our neighbour beef cow and butchered together for the first time! I had the possibility to cook everything - heart, brain, kidney… I cleaned the intestines and with my mom made grinded meat+lung sousages ( she was making with her mom when she was a kid). And Taras’s marrow butter is miraculous!!!!
Beautiful Modesta. The cleaning of the intestines to make sausage is such a lost art. Now, in North America, we ship intestines to China where they are cleaned after purifying for weeks, and then they are shipped back to us. That all sounds so connecting and nourishing.
Thank you for the last line. I don't have the filtered water that I'd like to have, I'm not using the best meat possible, I hope to get there, but I 100% agree with you, that your attitude determines your health just as much as your soup pot. I was just saying to my daughter today, when she was asking me about 'healthy' foods (she's six), that a piece of homemade pie with ice cream can be healthy, if it fills you with so much joy and has all real food ingredients. Because that feeling of real joy and happiness is important for your health, whereas a diet that is all about punishing your body or depriving your body will not bring that same feeling, and therefore is not healthy, even though someone might say that it is.
To be frank, I think it's more important that you consume animal foods than avoid them because you can't get the creme de la creme. The nourishment is still there and desperately needed. Eat the whole animal foods you can afford with a grateful heart and you are far further ahead than those avoiding them and eating less nutrient dense foods out of fear. xo
Thank you, Tara. This is just the post I needed this morning. I am going to put some broth on to simmer and then head to my allotment for a few hours work. Wishing you a peaceful weekend xxx
That sounds like a fine morning. And by allotment and being able to work in an allotment at this time of year, I am a wee bit envious as we just dug out from another huge dump of snow. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow, it's just the itch that seems to appear this time of year as the light quality changes and a few mild days tease us with memories of spring.
Sounds like a lovely morning. We are still under mountains of snow in Canada. Ontario has been walloped the last 2 weeks. I am dreaming of teeny crocuses pushing up through the grass.
Hey Tara, you mention heavy metal detox…could elaborate more on this maybe in another essay? We strive to eat an ancestral diet, and try to get as much of our nutrition from our foods as possible (don’t rely on lots of extra vitamins and such). Just wondering if you have looked into things such as TRS for detox. Everyone and their brother are peddling these things these days and while we would like to detox heavy metals we are leery to take something that we don’t fully understand. Thanks!
Hi Rachel, I can talk about that. I will jot it down in my book of future topics. For now, what I have settled into, after trying and using all sorts of things, is my far/near infrared sauna, plenty of sun, and some mild herbal compadres on a regular basis. I like drinking infusions. I've done the zeolites in the past. I've done it all, honestly and what worked best for me seems to be the stuff that I can do gently over time, continuously. The one exception to this is lead which needs some extra help. I do a hair mineral analysis yearly (used to be every 6 months) to see what's happening. This is what's worked best for me, leaving me functional and not overwhelmed.
Where can I get hair mineral analysis done!?
Mines done overnight in my slow cooker (ceramic)
Post a roast (pasture raised) chook all the bones go in, it’s a pretty low fuss simple affair but I love waking to the smell of it in the still of deep dawn.
Yours looks a beauty! 💕
I love that smell in the morning, too. Sounds lovely.
Thank you for the tips! I make my bone broth the same way. Except I add salt - not sure when you add salt? Also, due to some weird midlife histamine intolerance, the long-simmered broths are not the greatest for me so I also make meat broth which I simmer for only a few hours.
Meat broth is such a good alternative with histamine issues. If it's hopeful at all, I will share that I went for a couple of years where I could only use the meat stock too, but I'm okay with bone broth now. I only add a bit of salt and then adjust once it's all condensed otherwise it's just too salty in the end.
Thank you! I’m hopeful that on my gut-healing journey my histamine issues will abate. I’m taking Dr. Paul Saladino’s organ supplements and eating a lot of ethically raised meat from my local farmers which is slowly helping.
“Your attitude determines your health just as much as your soup pot” thanks for saying that, I agree and it’s hard to do it all perfectly. I will put some advice out there: don’t try the aluminum pressure cooker route. I was enticed by the convenience and numerous reports of people using them online, so I tried it in my All American cooker/canner. I had to throw out my batch of broth, it tasted like metal 🤢
Tara, I have to ask, do you have any kind of extractor fan by your cook stove? There are three complaints against bone broth in my house: My kids don’t like the whole house smelling like broth for two days and my home builder husband doesn’t like the moisture released into the house (we live in moldville coastal BC), or the energy it takes to simmer that long (electric cooktop). They all have to suck it up because broth.
I’ve started canning my broth, because I’m terrible at taking it out to thaw ahead of when I want to use or drink it. I still freeze the odd jar here and there, but any big batches get pressure canned and then it’s just so easy. I don’t like modern canning lids with the plastic lining (though I still use plenty of them) and I’m slowly switching to glass lid GEM jars and Weck. My mom bought me a bunch of Weck cylinder jars for my birthday this year, she gets me.
I remember you mentioning you were going to can a whole steer? I’d love to see an account of that if you did end up doing it. Even just a pic of the jars lined up would be so satisfying 😁
I've lived in BC so I can sympathize with the mould issues. Here, it's so dry with our wood stove heat. My poor plants need to be watered every 2 or 3 days all winter long. I do have a fan but it's above my gas stove and I usually use my wood stoves for the broth. I've heard that complaint, about the smell before. I don't know, everyone here just thinks it's normal.
We decided to keep that steer until this summer. I wanted him to get a little more fat on him. I'm a sucker for a fatty steer, what can I say. He's still destined for the pressure canner after a season of plumping on grass. I will be sure to include pics and process when we're there. :)
We heat exclusively with wood, which I think is non negotiable here in order to keep your house dry. And dry it is! I also need to water my plants really often. So I really think the moisture from broth is not a big issue.
Alas, our wood mass heater does not have a top that I can cook on.
Looking forward to pics of the chubby boy :)
Thanks Tara! Can you use Le Creuset stockpots on a woodstove?
absolutely!
I have a pot in the slow cooker right now. I do a first run on the stove to simmer, then strain and transfer for a second go. Do you reuse your bones Tara? I know the second simmer isn't as nourishing at the first but I think it may stil he worth it.
After 48 hours, there's not much left, Amanda. All our bones get spread around the wilds. Especially in winter, it's a welcome treat for the birds and various scavengers and predators.
Yes, that makes sense. I suffer with migraine disorder and I have been told to only simmer for a maximum of 12 hours, so I do that twice.
Wondering what your thoughts are on pressure canning broth if you dont have the freezer space?
I think it's just fine. We go through, on average, a jar a day so pressure canning doesn't make sense for me, but with limited space, I think it makes sense. I am also going to start doing some pressure canned just as back up.
Thank you for sharing you way of making broth! I've made bone broth using grass fed cow bones, but find it really greasy and with an unpleasant overall taste. I'll try mixing it with other animal bones and see if that helps with the flavour. And the tips of the wide jars vs ones with shoulders clears up any confusion I had with using glass jars. If you're looking for suggestions on food posts, I could use a diy/recipe on making pate, rilletes, liverwrust etc:)
Mari, greasy is not good! After you make the broth, do you put it in jars in the fridge or freeze or... how do you use it? I always remove the fat on top. Do you do that? You can cook with it or do other things with it but leaving it with the broth would definitely cause the issue you are describing.
Thank you for these tips. That was helpful… like why you use a ceramic pot and how you just turn it off at night snd back on in the morning. Well actually if wood stove, does that mean you just don’t add any more wood and let the broth completely cool down? Now I am determined to get a le creuset! Or two or three 😁. I would love to hear more about your mild herbal compadres sometime. I am looking at far infrared saunas and trying to figure out one of the best ones, as I know it is a great way to detox.
Hi Julieanne, it's not a ceramic pot. It's a steel pot lined with enamel. Different. Our wood stoves will burn all night long on a low, slow burn. I push the pots to the side of the stoves where they are getting quite low heat. If I use our gas stove, I just shut it off at night, put a lid on the broth and then start up again the next day. In looking for a sauna, I would highly recommend asking if they have testing results to ensure low EMFs and to try to find ones with non-resinous wood construction like basswood. Also, they should be built without glues and other chemical adhesives. :)
Oops I didn’t realize I typed ceramic, I meant enamel. 🤪thx. Thank you for tips on saunas 🙏
Is regular cast iron pot okay? I also use my crockpot.
Unlined cast iron leaches quite a bit with the vinegar and cooking method of making broth. It should be lined with enamel.
This is great! Been making broth for a few years but I got a dutch over some time last year and my broth has tasted better than it ever had before! It just has more flavor and body with the dutch over than it ever did with the stainless steel. I love reading all these comments. I am almost out of my last batch of broth (I think I'm making it about 2-3 times per year) and I see there are many things I can do to enhance my broth making experience for my next batch. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful!
Phew. Your posts always fill me with wonder, hope, and dread.
Hah. Thank you for all your valuable insights.
thank you, Kelly :)