Making Beef Broth or Simple Steps to Be a Bad Hindu

Drinking mineral-rich broth daily (or with every meal) is a wonderful way to improve your digestion.  A good bone broth will be loaded with fat, gelatin, and marrow, all prized for their healing properties.  Broth can be made from any bones, but I find beef to be the most healing for me (ironic because I'm Hindu).  About 4 months ago, I was unable to properly digest any nut.  Now pecans are no problem.  My husband has always had a problem with dairy, shellfish, and beef.  No more.  I attribute all this healing to a daily breakfast of beef soup (and a 6'3" 189 lb dose of loving).

This is just one of many methods for reference and inspiration...

Start with bones that have a little meat still on them and are cut to expose the marrow.  Some roast the bones before boiling.  I used 5 lbs of bones into an 8L pot.

Add a foot or two if you can find them. It's one of the most gelatinous parts of the animal.  I added one foot, about 3 lbs.  Handling a foot may be the grossest part of this process, but when it cooks down it becomes this huge gelatinous mass of goodness.  That's a whole lot less traumatic than handling a head.  Supposedly the head is also a treasure to eat.  I feel bad enough eating all this beef!  The last thing I need is a head staring back at me.

Cover bones with water (cold is best) and squeeze the juice of two lemons into the water to increase mineral extraction.

Let sit for 1 hour for acids to soak into bones.

Bring to a boil.  Scum will rise to the top.  Remove this with a spoon.

Once boiling, lower to a slow simmer and cook for 24-72 hours. I keep my pot covered when using my 8L pot.  For my 16L pot, I keep it uncovered to let the water boil off.  Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to add water.  Try to keep the bones covered with enough water during the simmer or else you'll end up with just fat (which isn't a bad thing if you need to stock up on some).

Remove from heat and let cool so the bones can be picked out. Remember to remove as much of the marrow as you can from the bones and savor it then if you like.  I throw the marrow back into the broth.  Some folks like to strain the broth to remove the gelatin and marrow and also separate the fat.  The GAPS diet recommends keeping these in because they are essential for healing.

Glorious fat and gelatin with beautiful globs of marrow.

Next post: Beef and Onion Soup