I see a lot of mention here of the healing effects (and calcium in) bone broth.  I was always told to use vinegar to pull the minerals out of the bones.  Do you have to use vinegar, or is there another way to make it without vinegar?  Also, do people have tips on getting bones in the land of chain supermarkets where the meat comes already pre-butchered?  I even asked a beef farmer at the farmer's market, but he doesn't sell bones!

I JUST went out and bought  grass fed hormone free  beef bones... I'd love to know the basic recipe if someone will offer one up.. is it necessary to do all of the skimming and whatnot?   what about salt? is it ok to put salt in there?  and onions? and how long do you cook it? and do you use filtered water or just plain tap water?  sorry to have all of these questions!

Also, do you bring it to a full boil first and then turn it down?  should you brown the bones first?  what if they are frozen to start with?  must you defrost first or can you just put them in the water frozen?

I simply dump those in my crock pot add water, spices to your liking, and sea salt.....
you can add some celery, carrot, onion, garlic......bay leaf

8 to 12 hours on low, and go to sleep!

Quoted from SheriBerry

I JUST went out and bought  grass fed hormone free  beef bones... I'd love to know the basic recipe if someone will offer one up.. is it necessary to do all of the skimming and whatnot?   what about salt? is it ok to put salt in there?  and onions? and how long do you cook it? and do you use filtered water or just plain tap water?  sorry to have all of these questions!

Also, do you bring it to a full boil first and then turn it down?  should you brown the bones first?  what if they are frozen to start with?  must you defrost first or can you just put them in the water frozen?

You'll find we all have different approaches.

I don't brown the bones, in the same way that I don't "brown" any food any more, to avoid the AGE's that Dr. D describes.

I primarily use marrow broth as a base for my lamb stew, which I make weekly.  So I don't season the broth.  I let it chill first and remove the fat that comes to the top.  Then the pure gel can be seasoned any way.

Put bones (frozen or not) in roomy pot, almost cover with filtered water.  Put lid on and bring the heat up to nearly a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and leave it for 2 to 4 hours.  Let it cool for a while, then pour off the liquid into a glass jar.  I don't skim as it cooks, but when I pour out the broth, I leave the material that clings to the sides of the pot and discard it.

Push out the marrow into a separate container to be used later.  Any meat on the bones can be put in with the marrow.  I don't add these to the broth because I don't want to lose any marrow or meat when the fat rises to the top.

After chilling, remove and discard the fat layer from the surface of the broth, and do whatever you want with the broth.  

I do more or less like Victoria- except I like to use grass fed veal/young beef.
The only time I brown and use acid/white wine is when I want to make a stock for gravy

I've only made it once since reading about it on here.  It came out great.  Used beef bones and skimmed impurities off the top (and fat I think).

I used half juice of a whole lemon (I think it just needs to be acid of any kind to bleach the minerals out of the bones.  Also used filtered water (no chlorine) enough to more than cover the bones.  

Browned the bones first in moderate oven 45 minutes (not blackening just cooking) and that gives you natural MSG including L-Glutamine.  If you don't brown it I guess the meat will take a very long time to cook if it's just simmering.

Put in Onion, celery, carrots, fresh herbs, garlic.  Yum

Cooked it for about 12 hours total.

Found a website that has recipees and more.  Broth is Beautiful - http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/broth.html - Describes the health benefits of traditionally made stock or broth. Includes recipes for beef, chicken, and fish stock and tips on making sauces and gravies.

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it just needs to be acid of any kind to bleach the minerals out of the bones

yes, but do this at the very end once you turn off the heat.

Good to know, Lola!  Thanks.  

Heidi s recipe

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I use enough bones to loosely fill about 3/4 of a pot, then add the veg, then cover it all another 1-2 inches with water. I add sea salt, bring it to a boil, then lower it to a quiet simmer and let it do its thing for six to eight hours (I usually let it go overnight). I then give it a squeeze of lemon juice (half a lemon does fine) and let it continue simmering for another hour. This does brighten the flavor a tiny bit, but the operative clause here is "extract calcium." The acid from the lemon juice works quickly to grab what minerals remain in the stewed bones.

I made MikeO's 'soup' today and put sweet potato in it. Cooked it until the s/p was done. Threw it all in my VitaMix and blended it until it was a creamy soup. It was really really good.

I use whatever bones I have available- usually "leftover" bones from my cooking. I save the  bones when I serve meat on the bone (such as a whole turkey breast, or chicken bones  before I switched to the GTD) and then make soup with those cooked bones. Other times, I have raw bones available- sometimes I'll cut the meat off a  turkey  breast before cooking, then use the raw bones to make soup. I often use a mixture of  raw and cooked bones, if that's what I have in my fridge and/or freezer that week.

I put the bones in the crock pot with some spices- whole peppercorns, always an onion (or three), sometimes ginger, sometimes garlic, sometimes carrot peelings, sometimes celery- whatever I have available. Then I add some apple cider vinegar and fill it up with filtered water.

I've used tap water in the past, but I've noticed that my food tastes better when I use filtered water for everything. It didn't taste BAD before, but it's just better with filtered water.

You don't HAVE TO use vinegar, but using some kind of acid in the water helps get the minerals out of the bones faster. You could use lemon juice, or skip this part and just let it simmer longer.

Is bone broth okay for Warriors?

beef broth has no lectin
http://www.dadamo.com/forum/archive8/config.pl?read=41205

but what does your swami say?

I can't imagine how bone broth would be problematic, as long as it's made from compliant ingredients. For example, a Gatherer probably shouldn't have chicken broth, since chicken isn't allowed-  but turkey or beef broth should be fine.

Quoted from Acceber

Also, do people have tips on getting bones in the land of chain supermarkets where the meat comes already pre-butchered?  I even asked a beef farmer at the farmer's market, but he doesn't sell bones!

My personal favourite choice for soup bones is Turkey necks. You get small, soft bones as well as very tender, dark meat. Any supermarket that does its own butchering will have them either packaged or on request. Ditto for a farmers market I assume.

The supermarket I shop at has them packaged once in a while. I guess they let them pile up and then package them.

Quoted from shoulderblade

My personal favourite choice for soup bones is Turkey necks. You get small, soft bones as well as very tender, dark meat. Any supermarket that does its own butchering will have them either packaged or on request. Ditto for a farmers market I assume.

The supermarket I shop at has them packaged once in a while. I guess they let them pile up and then package them.

At our independant the butcher here will cut whole turkeys into parts.   Depending on how many necks...usually around eight...means eight turkeys cut up.   Yes, they make wonderful soup.    Turkey parts are hard to get here.  You have to be the first or other wise you are left with the breasts.  I soooooo love the dark meat.  Speaking of which...I am having for lunch on foccaica bread with tons of baby spinach and tomatoes.   Yummilicious.

Debra

I agree -- turkey necks are really optimal and you get more gelatin from the connective tissue, tendons, etc. I brown mine lightly before boiling.

I also use lemon juice to draw out the minerals, and it must be done before cooking. I let mine sit in the water and lemon juice for a few hours before I start gently heating it up.

Quoted from debra+

Turkey parts are hard to get here.  You have to be the first or other wise you are left with the breasts.  

I have read that there is a chronic problem in the Turkey industry around supply and demand. There is a very high demand before Thanksgiving and Christmas and much lower during the rest of the year. So producers adjust their output accordingly.

Quoted from jPage

I also use lemon juice to draw out the minerals, and it must be done before cooking. I let mine sit in the water and lemon juice for a few hours before I start gently heating it up.

Sounds like a good idea that I wiil try next time. Lemon juice is acidic, as is vinegar, but a better food choice. Since Ca is alkaline (CaOH is basic) it should draw out the Calcium.

Quoted from shoulderblade

I have read that there is a chronic problem in the Turkey industry around supply and demand. There is a very high demand before Thanksgiving and Christmas and much lower during the rest of the year. So producers adjust their output accordingly.

Sounds like a good idea that I wiil try next time. Lemon juice is acidic, as is vinegar, but a better food choice. Since Ca is alkaline (CaOH is basic) it should draw out the Calcium.

Yes, around Thanksgiving and Christmas there is a very high demand. Most people eat it only then.   People give me a perplexed look when I say I eat real roasted turkey (not the deli sliced c**p), at least, three times a week.   We have a great butcher here who will cut some up if you give him a day or two notice.  If he is on he knows that I like the thighs and will set a few aside for me.   I would take the thighs, legs and necks from all eight turkeys if I could get there on time.  I'll share though.

I put in lemon juice in my broth about half an hour before it is finished.  Not sure which way would be better.

Debra

I am so jealous of you people with independent butchers nearby!  I keep thinking I should buy a quarter cow just so I can get the bones and organ meats that you can never find at the grocery store (and nice local grass fed meat).

Me too, but I have local grass fed beef.  It's the turkey I have difficulty with.  I also learned something new, I had no idea about the lemon juice.  I will definitely use on my next batch of beef bone broth.

I asked around all the local butchers for turkey and they laughed at me, thought I was referring to some of the staff, or making a joke.  (They only get it around Christmas over here).  

Though there is a large wholesale butcher 20 k away who may have some, and also in some Woolworths (supermarket chain) they are now stocking Turkey steaks (breast & seasoning), drumsticks, ground turkey mince.  Will have to look for turkey necks now, after reading this thread, imagine what the butchers will say about that?!  

Have seen a few recipees for broth on the internet and they say add the acid before cooking and soak for an hour first.  Didn't do that with mine, but still got alot of goodness out of it, I'm sure.

Quoted from debra+

I put in lemon juice in my broth about half an hour before it is finished.  Not sure which way would be better.

I'm not too sure about this either. Conventional wisdom seems to go for pre-soaking but you would think that after cooking awhile the bones would be a little softer and more porous thus easier to extract minerals from.

Also, as per beef bones they are really hard and thus much more dense as compared to Turkey neck or Chicken bones. Can't see them as being a first choice for soup bones.

My Swami says Bone Soups are an avoid.  Any Warriors have bone soup as neutral or avoid on their swami?

I have bone broths as an avoid too.