Nutritious and delicious homemade stock 

Homemade stock, is nutrient-dense, incredibly easy and inexpensive to make. There is no comparison to the store-bought versions which often contain MSG or other chemicals and which lack gelatin and some of the other health-boosting properties of homemade broth.

In selecting the bones for your stock, look for high quality bones from grass-fed cattle, pastured poultry, or wild caught fish. Since you’ll be extracting the minerals and drinking them in concentrated form, you want to make sure that the animal was as healthy as possible.

There are several places to find good bones for stock:

• Save leftovers from a roast chicken, duck, turkey, or goose
• From a local butcher, especially one who butchers the whole animal
• From local farmers who raise grass-fed animals (ask around at your local Farmer’s Market)
• Online from companies like Riverford Organic or Able and Cole.

This recipe for broth is my favorite and is an adaptation of the recipe in Nourishing Traditions

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs (or more) of bones from a healthy source (2-3 chicken carcasses)
• 2 chicken feet for extra gelatin (optional)
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 gallon of water

Optional ingredients, for flavour:

• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 tablespoon  of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• Additional herbs or spices to taste
• 2 cloves of garlic added in the last 30 minutes of cooking

You’ll need a large stockpot to cook the broth in and a strainer or colander to remove the pieces when it is done.

Method:

1. If you are using raw bones, especially beef bones, it improves flavor to roast them in the oven first. Put them in a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes at 200 °C / 400 °F / Gas mark 6.
2. Place the bones into your stock pot. Pour water over the bones and add the vinegar. Let the bones sit for 20-30 minutes in the cool water. The acid in the vinegar helps draw out the nutrients in the bones.
3. Rough chop the onions, carrots and celery and add them to the pot.
4. Add any salt, pepper, spices, or herbs, if you are using them (except the parsley and garlic).
5. Now, bring the broth to a boil. Once it has reached a vigorous boil, reduce to a simmer:
   1. Beef broth/stock: 24 hours
   2. Chicken or poultry broth/stock: 12 hours
   3. Fish broth: 6 hours
6. During the first few hours of simmering, you’ll need to remove the impurities that float to the surface, like a foamy layer. Check it every 20 minutes for the first two hours to remove this. Grass-fed and healthy animals will produce much less of this than conventional animals.
7. During the last 30 minutes of cooking time, add the garlic and parsley, if using.
8. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before straining.
9. Use a fine metal strainer to remove all the bits of bone and vegetable. When cool enough, store in a gallon size glass jar in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze for later use.

How to use your homemade stock

1. Homemade stock can be used as the liquid in making soups, stews, gravies, sauces, and reductions.
2. It can also be used to sauté or roast vegetables.
3. To drink, just like tea. In cases of stomach bugs or vomiting, bone broth often calms the stomach very quickly and helps shorten the duration of the illness.

Make homemade stock a regular part of your kitchen routine. It’s health boosting, inexpensive and easy once you get into the routine.

Information provided by Bump and Beyond Nutrition.