Healing Bone Broth

Chicken broth is one of the most simple things to make, and is an ingredient in so many recipes.  This healing bone broth can also help restore balance to the gut flora and immune system function.  

On the Weston A. Price website, it says this about broth:

"Science validates what our grandmothers knew.  Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds.  Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily - not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals.  It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons - stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain."

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 whole organic pastured chicken, or 2-3 pounds chicken bones with or without bits of meat, including heart, liver, giblets, and even feet if you have them; enough to fill large pot 3/4 of the way.  (I'm able to buy a bag of organic chicken carcass here in England for only 2 pounds, which makes this way easy!)

- approximately 4 quarts of cold filtered water

- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped

- 2 carrots coarsely chopped

- 2 to 3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped

- 4 quart-sized mason jars, for storing.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill your stock pot about 3/4 of the way full with bones.  Add vegetables.  Cover with water, making sure to leave enough room at the top so that when it boils, it doesn't boil over.  Add the vinegar, and let sit at room temperature, covered, for an hour.  (This helps pull the minerals from the bones more effectively).

2. Bring to a boil and remove the scum/foam that rises to the top with a spoon.  No need to remove any floating fat.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1-3 days.  The longer you cook the stock, the more rich and flavorful it will be (I just place my stock pot in my oven over night at it's lowest setting, and then on the stove top during the day).  You could also do this in a large crock pot.

(If you used a whole chicken, don't leave the meat in there for more than about 2 hours.  Remove the chicken, remove the meat and reserve, and put the bones back in the broth to cook.)

3. I decide my stock is done once the bones look bleached and crumble easily with my fingers.  All the nourishment has been transferred into your vitality-building liquid.

4. Remove the whole chicken pieces with a slotted spoon.  Strain the stock into a large bowl, then ladle into mason jars.  Let the jars sit until they are pretty cool, then refrigerate (or freeze).  Once it's cooled, all the fat will come to the top.  The stock should be gelatinous in texture; the more gelatinous the better.  The fat makes a nice seal to preserve freshness.  Once you are ready to use the broth, just lift the fat off with a spoon, and discard or set aside for another purpose.

5. You can use this broth in many wonderful recipes, or just add a squeeze of lemon, sea salt, or other natural seasonings.  We enjoy drinking this broth almost daily with sea salt, and my daughter always begs for more.

There are many great resources for making this beneficial broth, such as:

here

here

here

and 

here