Thank you for the information! I thought some simmer their broth for 24 to 48 hours to soften and release the bone marrow. Seems like a long time, I would do it if necessary. What bones do you consider the best for nutrients?

Thanks:)

Use some long bones like legs and wings-that's where marrow is made and stored. Backs are good and cheap, too.

Add feet/hoof for collagen.

I make, strain, and drink broth. Tip: add some vodka for a great cocktail.

Haha, seriously John! I would never have thought of that:)

Ok one more question. Has something been done wrong if your broth does not have gelatin after refridgeration?

Nothing wrong if your broth doesn't set up with a lot of gelatin. Bone broth is more about the minerals.

If you want a gelatinous stock, use bones and feet. Start with cold water and bring the stock up to a very gentle simmer, just a couple bubbles. Skim scum and don't stir it up, ever.

Cool quickly in an ice bath, then strain and refrigerate overnight to 24 hours.

You can then skim the fat from the top.

There are some interesting techniques to clarify broth, if you are after a clear liquid. If you are willing to have a cloudy broth, then you can simply put bones, meat, water and salt in a pressure cooker and blast it on high pressure for four to five hours, which will be the equivalent of a whole day and night simmering. Then strain a couple times. I'm impatient enough that this is what I do. Asian stores usually have pigs feet, neck bones, etc for pretty cheap.

Of course, I can't make that picture go where I want it to go, but I did manage to get it here from Photobucket, which is a miracle. Anyway, this is what mine normally looks like, just made from soup bones, no extra hooves or anything. If you got 'em, though, toss 'em in the pot!
I raise my own grass fed beef, organic pork, chickens, etc., plus have a big organic garden and I'm not wasting one iota of that hard work or the animals that gave their lives to sustain me. So, among other things, I make stock.

I usually roast the bones first, it gives a nice "depth" to the stock. I'll save bones from meals in the freezer in a ziplock bag until I have enough and then make stock, or I ask my processor to package the "soup bones" for me, and make stock from those. I add chicken feet, that makes a nice chicken "jello" kind of stock, and having my guy cut beef bones crosswise gives me the good stuff necessary for beef stock to jell up too.

I've found that the easiest way for me is to drag out my big 18 quart Nesco roaster, toss in the bones, turn it on about 400F and let it roast a couple of hours. Add a hand full of carrots, couple of sticks of celery, an onion (don't even bother to peel it, just half or quarter and toss it in), a couple of bay leaves and salt and pepper, enough water to cover everything, turn it down to about 250 or 300 and let it cook until it tastes good. I'll often start my batch in the morning and let it simmer all day and all night on the counter, then can it the following day. You could freeze it if you'd rather.

Have fun, and good luck.

Annie

Thank you all for your advise! I have been in touch with a local farmer who raises chickens and cows organically and can get me pigs feet from another local farmer. I am excited to make the broth and enjoy the health benefits. I will let you broth veterans know how my first batch goes:)

Found some pics...

Sheet pan of roasted bones and veg. The sauce pan looks like lobster/shrimp shell stock.

Simmering bones and veg...using a pasta pot w/colander is an easy way to remove the solids...

Most important to chill quickly after straining. Mine thickens like jello when cool like Annie's. Like Grainlady mentioned, a thick jell is a good sign that all that good stuff is in your broth. (it returns to liquid when heated)

Maybe the next big thing will be chilled 'broth shots'...with vodka, lol

Broth-shot martini, virgin broth mary

So, I'm curious - what are the health benefits of drinking broth? Any useful links I might consult?

My broth cocktails are served warm. it is sort of an evening/wintertime drink. If served cold, the broth gels up and can't be drunk. I suppose enough vodka would solve that, but at a cost. I could also see broth as a Bloody Mary component.

If you make gelatinous broth, you can go on and make aspic. This is an interesting dish. I had a dinner party once where I served a couple varieties of aspic. The reactions were mixed. I guess it is not unlike serving lutefisk or some othe acquired taste.

Another use for gelatinous broth is xiao long bao or soup dumplings. These are a sort of holy grail among Asian dumplings. Not easy to make well. I make mediocre ones.

Had my favorite soup dumplings last week on Mott st. , HopKee

A co-worker thought the only way to get the soup inside was fat. Nope, it's the paws and bones. I've had the best success at home using extra paws.

Pure bones have no taste.

Pork skin makes the thickest gelatin.

Turkey necks make wonderful "chicken" stock.

dcarch

The health benefits seem a bit overblown especially with heat and cooking for such a long time. As i mentioned before, it being so trendy, the benefits are so better for you than alternatives. And if it gets people back in the kitchen and learning basic stock making skills, all the better. It seems most people toss out allot of free food after a meal. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/02/10/384948585/taking-stock-of-bone-broth-sorry-no-cure-all-here

I find this 'new' fad rather amusing - it's really ancient, isn't it? And I've read so many Victorian-era stories that mention beef tea.

I just use chicken necks, wing tips, backs, etc. & several bay leaves for my own stock (been doing it for years & years) & simmer for a couple/few days, several hours @ a time & refrigerating in between, until it turns white-ish & gels when chilled & the bones crumble easily. Hello? Aspic!

I figure I'm extracting calcium, phosphorus & definitely gelatin, probly some other minerals as well.

& IIRC there was once a popular cocktail called a Bullshot, made w/ boullion.

& I find the name 'bone broth' kind of spooky-sounding...

Bullshot

I find it a bit odd as well. : ) I think the name was given to separate it from what one grabs from a grocery shelf to use in a recipe. Using the bones, skin, paws, veggies, etc are full of good things. And full of flavor. I've never just boiled a bone...it is what is extracted from inside and on and around.

Unlike powdered gelatin/jello that is so over-processed, reduced, that is not even considered food.

I used to see Beefamato in the stores next to Clamato (which I use to make Bloody Caesars), but I have no idea was Beefamato plus vodka would be called. There is now a shrimp version of Clamato called Camaronazo, which I bought last week-end but have not yet tasted. It is from Juarez, Mexico (across the border from El Paso) -- about as far from the ocean as you can get in Mexico, which seems odd to me.
I think beef broth plus vodka would make a good cocktail, but I would probably also add tomato juice.
I haven't made beef broth in years, since Kevin will not eat it, and it is a bit time consuming.
Lars

Important parts (some of which have been mentioned throughout the preceding):

1. Bone broth is about extracting the minerals from the bones.
2. Use vinegar to help extract the minerals.
3. Collagen -- the gel -- comes from cartilage and connective tissue. That's why adding chicken feet helps. If you're saving bones from cooked chicken, make sure to save the white cartilage at the ends too, and you should be fine.
4. Don't overcook or overheat or the collagen will break down.
5. Collagen has a lot of proteins, but they're incomplete proteins, so it's nutritious but not a substitute for meat.
6. Bone broth is a way of conserving resources by getting the very most out of what you already have before you throw it away.

Plus, if you make it right, it's yummy. :)

John, add some spicy tomato juice to the vodka and beef broth and you have a Bloody Bull.

Anything else fun we can make with broth?

How about ice cream?

You can make aspic with broth ;-0

Alas, my friends appear to dislike aspic. I tried, I really did.

C'mon now. There must be more we can do with liquid meat. Popsicles? Jello shots? Meat infused rice balls?

What happens if you take a standard bread recipe and replace the water with broth?

Risotto

John, Bull Shot - great for tailgating, or after digging Fall clams. I wish I could remember the man who started us on these in Husky Stadium parking lot years ago. He was on local television back in the 70s and I'm trying to remember in what setting, it seems like childrens programming ;) The warm cocktail he was sharing a little salty, I assume he did not make his own broth.

vodka
beef broth
little bit of a squeeze fresh lemon (not a wedge dropped in, its not pretty in hot broth)
dash Worcestershire sauce
dash Tabasco sauce

John, what you're describing is substituting bone broth for stock, which is done all the time. :) They have somewhat different properties, but are pretty interchangeable. If your broth is too gelid, add water.

My broth is simmering on low as I write. I have knuckle, beef femur, pigs feet and farm fresh egg shells as well as onions, leeks , carrots, onion, garlic cloves and ginger cooking. My previous consumption of broth has reduced the inflammation in my Morton syndrome arthritic feet.

I have told family members of the healing benefits of broth from my experience and the reaction is tepid at best. Why do folks prefer meds with symptoms opposed to natural healing? Have we been that brainwashed to believe all the medication hype with devastating side effects as opposed to treating our bodies with respect and eating wholesome foods? I am reading Sally Fallons book Nourishing Broth and finding encouragement in the advantages of daily stock consumption to promote healing and immune boosting properties. Thank you everyone for your advise on how to make a healing broth.