Essential Bone Broth

by Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
(Your Easy Immune Health Host)

This Beautiful Bone Broth Photo<br>Shows a Delicious Beef Bone Broth Recipe

This Beautiful Bone Broth Photo
Shows a Delicious Beef Bone Broth Recipe

Bone Broth is an amazing addition to your diet. Full of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, collagen and trace minerals -as well as the stuff that builds glucosamine and chondroitin. And this is only the beginning.


Bone Broth also contains amino acids to make strong hair and nails as well as very absorbable nutrients that make for strong bones, cartilage, tendons and all of the connective tissue in the body.


We are Supposed to eat bone broth!!


In the 'olden days', meaning anywhere from 50 to 10,000 years ago- we ALWAYS used every part of the animal. A bone broth recipe was ever present and ever changing as animal scraps would go into the eternal pot simmering on the stove.


While this was mainly for the economy of having meat when there was not much of it, people understood that these bubbling pots contained important nutrients that you just can't get elsewhere.


In fact, some nutritionists believe that Bone Broths were (and still are) an absolutely essential for building bones and connective tissue in cultures that don't drink milk.

So, start making a Bone Broth Recipe today!


A Bone Broth is simple and doesn't take much time. If you have a crock pot, they are even simpler as you just throw the ingredients in and leave them for a day or two.
________________________________________________
Basic Bone Broth Recipe


* Depending upon your preference, take the carcass of a chicken or go out and buy the MARROW BONES and Knuckle Bones of Beef from the butcher. Everything MUST be Organic, Free Range, No Hormones, etc.

* Put them in a large stew pot or crock pot with water to cover at least 2 inches over the top of the contents.

* Bring to a boil.

* Turn down to simmer and leave it alone.


* Cook for 12 to 24 hours for Chicken Broth OR
24-72 hours for Beef Bone Broth.


* Pull all of the large pieces out with a slotted spoon, then strain all through a fine mesh strainer, a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Discard the chunks, compost them or feed them to a pet.

* Refrigerate for several hours and skim off the fat when it is cool


*You can refrigerate the broth for several days or freeze for several months. Freeze the broth in ice cube trays then transfer to zip loc bag for ease of use.


* Season as desired and use to make soups and stews, Miso Soup or use as a base to make rice or any other grain that requires water to make.

Comments for Essential Bone Broth

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organic in Vancouver?
by: Anonymous

I'm on the lookout for an organic supply but all I can find is what's called "all natural"????

The butcher can't seem to tell me how the beef is bred, raised, or treated but it is labelled "all natural".

Anyone know of an organic supplier in Vancouver BC, Canada? For personal use not large quantity.
fantastic stuff
by: Anonymous

Bones makes my vegetarian soups less animal friendly- but my tendons are not grouching about that!

paul

wales near london, england
sources for bones
by: Anonymous

You want grass fed beef bones. Find a Weston Price chapter leader in your area and he or she can help you locate a leader. Go to Weston A Price.org and you will fine a list (somewhere on there) of chapter leaders. Weston Price was big on broths of all kinds.
Making Bone Broth...
by: Nina and Matt

We are wanting to make the beef bone broth but we're a little concerned about leaving the crock
pot on for such a long time if we're not home.

Would we still get the same nutritional value from the bones if we cooked them for an hour in a pressure cooker? We'd love any feedback you might have.

Thanks again!

Nina and Matt
Bone Broth in a pressure cooker...
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Nina and Matt,

That's a great question and certainly a valid concern. There are definitely pluses and minuses to doing it this way. So, the IDEAL way is to do it in a crock pot. You can make really large batches, too, and freeze the extra for later.

So the ideal time to make it would be on, say, a rainy weekend when you are mostly staying in and/or a weekend when family is all around.

But I understand that this certainly isn't always a possibility. Joshua and I asked the same question and we have successfully made bone broth in a pressure cooker, although I think that the taste is not quite as good as when it's slow cooked.




When we asked this question, we looked it up and found ONE concern about cooking it in a pressure cooker and I'll add one more.

ONE: Someone brought up the possibility of a higher amount of 'free glutamate' because of the high heat used. Free glutamate is a toxin that is released when meat is cooked at very high heat. Before that, I had only heard of free glutamates from cooking meat in pans- and particularly when you 'brown' meat.

So, no one has ever done a study to check for this that I know of- but it sounds plausible.


TWO: The higher heat that you cook anything at, the more nutrients and enzymes are destroyed. While I don't have any data regarding what nutrients are destroyed at what heats for how long, etc (although I'm sure that someone does). There is the possibility that you are destroying some nutrients and/or enzymes that you would not want to be destroyed.


Again, both of these are merely hypothetical situations and I don't know if they are true or not.

Joshua and I continue to make bone broth in a pressure cooker if we happen to, say, have a Turkey carcass and we're going to be out of town the next day, we'll use the pressure cooker. But we prefer to slow cook it.



Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com
Thank You!
by: Nina and Matt

Hello Kerri,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments! We really appreciate it!
Phew - we just cooked up a batch in the crockpot for 3 days!!! (We've never experienced that before.) So we did it. We'll see how it tastes after we doctor it up. Matt's a bass player and I'm a massage therapist - and we both have work related / tendon issue body pains. We've been inspired by your suggestions and by Joshua's. We'll let you know how it all works out. Again we appreciate your feedback and your suggestions!

Nina and Matt - Seattle,WA
Magnesium Oil for Tendonitis
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

I don't know how much you have read over at The Tendonitis Expert, but a really great strategy for tendonitis in the wrists/hands is rubbing Transdermal Magnesium Gel right into the wrists and hands.

Dr. Carolyn Dean, author of The Magnesium Miracle makes special mention of using magnesium oil for musicians!


Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com


PS. We have chicken broth going in the crock pot right now!
pork?
by: Anonymous

Does pork work as well?
Pork
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

I've never tried using pork, but I don't see why it wouldn't. Just make sure that you are using organic pork.





Fish DEFINITELY works, and fish heads contain the thyroid glands- which (I'm told) impart some of the thyroid hormone into the soup and therefore can help hypothyroid folks.

While I can't confirm that, organ meats DO have powerful properties (as I just finished a bowl of chicken and rice flavored with the chicken giblets). And these are things that our ancestors would have eaten.

Joshua Tucker, The Tendonitis Expert was looking over my shoulder while writing this and said, "Whatever it is, just put it in soup and get the nutrients from it!"


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Can I bake first?
by: Anonymous

Hi!

What I'd like to do, is roast the whole chicken and and then make a broth out of the cooked chicken bones, bits stuck to said bones and any giblets included with the chicken.

Does the broth work as well if I roast my organic chicken first?

Or does it defeat the purpose if the bones are already cooked?

Thanks!
Bake it, broil it, etc...
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Anonymous,

Bake it, broil it, roast it, fricassee it, rotisserie it, sun dry it... it doesn't matter. The idea is to just take everything that you DON'T eat from the chicken or pig or cow or sheep or deer... whatever.

Throw it all in the pot and get the nutrients out of it that would have just gone into the trash.

Joshua and I usually start out with bones and oxtail (because they are mostly bone). We throw them all in the stew and take the meat off the oxtail when it's tender, then make a meal of the meat that first night, then make stew the next night with the leftover meat from the oxtail, the bone broth that has been simmering for 24 hours and whatever vegetables we have around.

We'll just as easily use the carcasses from the thanksgiving turkey and ham and throw them all together in the pot along with the giblets, herbs and bits of vegetables, the outsides of the onions and the potato peels.

It's ALL got nutrients in it, don't throw it away. Make soup!


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Stock/broth
by: ELBSeattle

I'm delighted to see that bone broth is good for you. I've made my own stocks from turkey/chicken carcasses for years. It always makes the most flavorful base for soup.

One thing I've done since finding it in Cook's Illustrated is roasting the bones before cooking them into stock. Put them in a pan into the oven at 450-500? and roast them for about 10 minutes. You don't want to burn them. This imparts a really nice roasty flavor to the stock.

I am going to the store now to get an organic chicken to make into soup.

And on my way I'm going to the supplement store to see if they have Transdermal Magnesium Gel.

Thanks all

elb in seattle


_____________________________________

Note from Kerri:

They probably won't have it, but you can get Transdermal Magnesium Gel here!


Kerri
canned broth
by: Anonymous

I really cannot cook at all. But I do know how to warmup soup from a can.

So....can I buy canned broth and get the same benefit?

Thanks for the article and the help!
Ummm. Really no.
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

The whole point of this bone broth page is to show the difference between canned soup and real food. Canned soup broth are a bunch of chemicals that are designed to taste like real broth that your grandmother would have made (ie: bone broth).

So, if you feel that opening a can of soup is the best way to get your nutrition and that cooking food is too difficult, then I invite you to join the growing population that is getting the PREVENTABLE diseases of:

Heart disease
Cancer
Diabetes
Obesity
etc, etc.

from eating the crap that most people call 'food'. Good luck with that.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Bone Broth with Gout
by: Tim

How would this broth affect my condition of gout.

I have tendonitis issues and try to eat smaller portions of meat because if I eat to much, I get a gout attach.

How would this broth affect gout sufferers?
Bone Broth and Gout....
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Tim,

While I don't have any solid data on that, I DO know that gout is actually less a problem of meat and meat products than it is a lack of magnesium, b6, vitamin c and other nutrients.

New research has shown that those with gout tend to have lower vitamin c intakes- which correlates with a higher level of 'acidity' in the blood which promotes the formation of uric acid crystals.



Vitamin C and magnesium can help to put the uric acid crystals into solution. So, theoretically, the uric acid from the meats would go into the broth, but I learned about bone broth via the Weston A. Price Foundation and the cookbook 'Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats' and there are plenty of anecdotal cases about people's gout being relieved on this 'paleolithic' diet.

And here's a quote from Dr. Thomas Cowan of the Weston Price Association who actually uses bone broth to treat his patients with gout!

"In In my years of treating patients with gout, a program of decreasing protein intake along with liberal use of all the usual animal fats and the regular use of gelatinous stocks has been the key to preventing uric acid buildup and further attacks of gout."

So, using bone broth as well as increasing magnesium, b6, Vitamin C Supplements and cherry juice could actually solve the underlying problem of why you are forming gout crystals in the first place!


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: Don't forget to get your FREE Ebook when you Sign Up For My Newsletter
Can You Recommend Something for Me?
by: Carol

I am a long time vegetarian. In the last year I have become hyperthyroid. I am also being bothered by tendonitis in my right ankle.

Any advice? (If I was starving I know that I would drink bone broth.

However, I am not starving, --just being highly irritated).
Tendonitis..
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Carol,

For your ankle tendonitis, you can go to my partner's site at The Tendonitis Expert and he'll help you with your ankle tendonitis.

As for your hyperthyroid, if it's an autoimmune issue then take a look at my pages on Gluten Sensitivity and Increased Intestinal Permeability to see why these problems are often much of the root problem in autoimmune disease.

And if you have any questions, open up a thread on those pages as I'll try to keep each thread on topic- and since you won't eat bone broth, then let's get you off of this topic quickly... ;)


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Thank you for visiting my site!
How much per day?
by: Anonymous

Hi,

I just found your site and I am going to try the bone broth. I have very painful tendons from my feet, hips, shoulder biceps, wrists, fingers, under the chin and rib pain. Sometimes it flares up all at the same time and I'm desperate to try anything. I would like to know how much should I eat for best results. Thanks for the info.

Ginger
There's no dosage. It's food...
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

My partner and I get asked about how much we should eat all of the time. There is no 'dose', it's food.

Just make the bone broth and eat/drink as much as feels good to you. When I first started eating bone broth, I CRAVED it and wanted it all of the time and ate it 3 and even 4 times per day for the first month or so.

But then my desire for it 'calmed down' and I don't eat it nearly as much any more. Maybe once a week or even just a couple of times a month. Just let your body tell you how much to eat.



But I don't think it sounds like tendonitis is your problem. You don't get 'all over' tendonitis. You have 'body pain' and that's much more likely to be a combination of a couple of problems:

Vitamin D Deficiency

and/or

Magnesium Deficiency

and/or

Gluten Sensitivity


You have a 'systemic' problem and NOT a 'localized' problem. Tendonitis is a 'local' problem such as carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, etc.

So, you're going to have to do more than eat bone broth if you want to get rid of your pain. When you Sign Up For My Newsletter, you'll get my book called 'The Essential Guide to Lasting Pain Relief'.

Follow the instructions in the book and you'll likely feel a heck of a lot better.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: Don't forget to get your FREE Ebook when you Sign Up For My Newsletter. Thanks for visiting Easy Immune Health.
3 rotator cuff surgeries
by: lld

I have had 3 surgeries on my right shoulder. When one heals the other tendon goes. I've also had tendonitis with surgery on both elbows in the past 12 years. I am only 50 years old. I am not overweight 5'6" at 123lbs. Like to play sand vollyball, bike and walk. I am willing to try anything to get back to having fun. Any other suggestions besides the bone broth (which I will try) will be helpful.
Outta My League...
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

My partner's website would have better information for you and he's also got a Q and A that you can ask questions on as well.

Go to the Tendonitis Expert's Shoulder Tendonitis page to see some great information that will help you out. Then ask Joshua a question about your shoulders if you don't find the answer you are looking for.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: Don't forget to get your FREE Ebook when you Sign Up For My Newsletter. Thanks for visiting Easy Immune Health.
These bones aren 't easy to find!
by: Lisa

I live in Harrisburg PA and growing up I never thought my state had any shortage of cattle farms (as I grew up on one) or butchers but geesh - finding bones is proving difficult. I'm going to have to track down some butchers at the farmer market type places I guess. My only concern is, well, how do I know that what I'm getting is organic? And if the bones are not from organic cattle then what happens to the benefits of the bone broth?

I went to two stores this weekend and all they had were either packages of marrow bone sliced up into rounds, or one gigantic big-as-my-forearm marrow bone. Since I was at a loss and wanted to make the bone broth for my onion soup I just gave up and got the marrow bones, used some babyback pork rib bones leftover from the night before, bought a few regular pork ribs w bone in, and a pound of turkey necks. Anything for bone! I left it simmer for 24 hours but I didn't get the heavy jello-like consistency. Wiggly and kinda gelatinous sure but not as much as "jello".

Can you give me tips on what bones to ask for and who has been the best source for you, i.e. straight from farmers, grocery store, local butcher? Thanks!
Any Bones are Fine
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Lisa,

ANY bones are fine as long as they are organic and preferably pasture raised. You'll just have to ask around to find a quality source. But whether it's marrow bones, turkey necks, etc it just simply doesn't matter.

But when you use beef bones, simmer them for 48 hours instead of 24. You can do 24 hours with poultry, but 48 hours is better for beef bones. Also, if you don't get the consistency you are shooting for, you might just have added too much water. Just boil some of the water off and cook it longer next time. Also, again, don't forget to add a tablespoon or two of vinegar or wine, as the acid will help to leach the minerals out of the bones and into the broth.

Marrow bone is particularly awesome because the marrow will float to the top of the broth. Scoop that stuff out, season it, and eat it. It's delicious and incredibly healthy.


Kerri Knox, RN
Bones that aren't Organic
by: Anonymous

Would the bone broth provide any benefits if it wasn't made from organic poultry or beef? What damage does the antibiotics, etc cause that would make bone broth from an non-organic animal ineffective?

If all I can get are bones from the grocery store, is it worth making and eating the broth? Thanks for any help.
You NEED to have organic
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

You MUST make bone broth with organic and preferably pasture raised free- range animals, and if you are not eating animal products from ONLY these types of animals, then you should switch to them immediately.

Animals that are 'factory raised' are shot full of hormones and antibiotics to make them grow faster and not get sick in the unhygienic conditions. They are also given feed that is non-organic and full of pesticides.

Bone broth concentrates all of these impurities because it leaches them all out into the water. So, if you don't mind a bowl of concentrated hormones, pesticides and antibiotics then you can eat animal products from battery raised animals, but personally I won't touch an animal product that isn't pasture-raised, organic and raised without hormones or antibiotics.

We'll drive a hundred miles to stock up on the higher quality food and pay 3 times more for them and will ONLY drink raw milk and eat raw cheese because of the terrible quality of animal products from battery farms.

In fact, to tell you how badly malnourished animals from battery farms are, chicken broth will often not even 'set' into a firm jello like substance when chilled because the bones are so nutrient poor.

Please stop eating animals from battery farms if you are concerned about your health. Paying more for FAR FAR better quality will pay off for your health in the end....

We certainly notice the difference in the nourishing aspects of food since we have been eating following the principles of Weston A Price as outlined in the book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Your support allows me to keep this site running and educating as many people as possible. Thank you!


You wouldn't Buffalo me, would you?
by: Glen Steven Johnson

This is actually a question; I'm very interested in the beef bone broth to add to my nutrition regiment and do something about this tendinitis. Is there any reason that American Bison bones wouldn't work ideally for this recipe?
As long as they are pasture raised..
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

As long as they are pastured on non pesticide grass and they are grass fed, then ANY ANIMAL is fine. I would happily use deer, elk, moose, mouse, squirrel, coon, opossum, etc if those are the bones that you have- as long as I knew how they were fed and on what food then ANY bones are fine...


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Your support allows me to keep this site running and educating as many people as possible. Thank you!
Bone broth question
by: Jordon

Kerri -

First off I want to say how extremely helpful and interesting your website has been. Probably one of the best sites I've seen on personal health in quite some time.

My question is about bone broth with respect to treating my tendonitis. I am a 30 year old male who is very active with fitness and sports and, unfortunately, I have been experiencing tendonitis pain in my knees and on the sides of my upper calf area for the past year or so. I am going to try 100% organic and natural beef bone broth for the first time later this week and my question is: how often and how much bone broth should I be consuming?

I want to make sure I am drinking enough to combat the tendonitis so I can go back to working out pain free! I look forward to hearing from you and thanks in advance for your time!

Jordon
Read the Thread again
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Jordon,

For the answer to your question, simply read the thread again and see the response that I gave to Ginger who asked the same question.

Also, I just want to caution you against thinking that bone broth will be the 'magic bullet' that you need in order to fix your problem. It's unlikely to make any major changes in pain, etc all by itself. It's a wonderful tool to include in an ARSENAL of change that includes:

* Managing stress
* Improving food quality
* Going on a Gluten Free Diet
* Cutting out all processed foods
* Adding in more animal fats
* Resolving any nutrient deficiencies

etc. But JUST eating bone broth is likely to simply make you very disappointed if you are trying to use it to heal.



Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Side Effects

 


PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Your support allows me to keep this site running and educating as many people as possible. Thank you!
Fish Broth Questions
by: Susan

I've got a bunch of halibut "scraps" in my freezer from when we bought a whole fish directly from the boat. We froze everything (bones, head, tail) in a bag intending to make stock out of it later, but before I do that, I have a couple of questions I hope someone can answer.

I've since read that using the gills makes the stock bitter. I've also read that while the longer the simmer the better for beef, chicken, etc. a shorter cooking time is best for fish stock as the delicate flavour is lost with over cooking.

Now of course, both of these points were made on recipe sites and obviously we're more concerned with the healing properties of the resulting broth rather than culinary etiquette.

I'm quite prepared to overcook my fish stock/broth if that's required to get all the goodies out of it, but do you know if it's actually necessary to cook it longer in order to extract all the nutrients, given how small the bones are in comparison to say, beef? Or can I cook it for a shorter time?

Also, if anyone has experience with how the gills do or don't alter the flavour, that would be good to know ahead of time, so I don't render an otherwise excellent broth unpalatable!
Daily dose?
by: Frank

Hi,
I found your site from the tendonitis expert. I have chronic tendonitis and I'm looking for anything new that will help. My question is: how much broth would be in a serving, or how much would I need to ingest daily to replace my pill supplements?

Thank You
Please read the thread again
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Frank,

Please read the thread again, that question has already been asked and answered in the thread above... although I don't know what you mean by 'enough to replace your pill supplements'. Bone broth is a 'tendon supplement' that will give you elements that you can't get in other foods that will help to build your body up. It is NOT going to 'replace' a multivitamin, and you shouldn't try to make it to that. It will also not replace other vitamin supplements like vitamin d, omega 3 fatty acids, B complex vitamins, etc. That's NOT why I recommend that you eat it. It doesn't 'replace' anything.... And especially if you have tendonitis or other chronic health problems you SHOULD continue aggressive supplementation of the supplements that we recommend AND aggressive eating of bone broth until such time as you are sufficiently not in pain anymore or have resolved your health problem.
knee osteoarthritis
by: Anonymous

Can you give insight into this broth as a replacement for the supplement of glucosamine chrondrotin. Also I have heard where the necks along with chicken feet are a wonderful source for this. I have made it once and the chicken feet made a wonderful gellatin soup. I would rather get my glucosamine through a natural source. I have painful osteoarthritis of the knee and possible meniscus tear. thanks.

_____________________________________________

Kerri's answer: I don't know if it will be a 'replacement' for it, but it may work in many of the same ways as glucosamine/chondroitin. It contains silica which is different, but may give some of the same benefits.

However, please read my pages on Vitamin D and gluten sensitivity. Osteoarthritis is a 'systemic' problem that can very often be relieved by eliminating 'inflammatory' foods such as gluten, pasteurized milk, processed foods, sugar, etc. and getting on a 'whole foods' only diet...


Kerri Knox, RN
How many chunks of bone?
by: Lisa

Hello,

I have elk bones and am wondering how much bone per crock pot of broth. My crock pot is a medium size and we will be cutting the leg bones into approx. 3" chunks. I assume I can just make a batch of broth with some of the chunks but freeze the rest of the chunks until I can make another batch?

Thank you!
Stop overthinking this, it's JUST SOUP
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Guys, you need to STOP OVERTHINKING this bone broth issue. It's JUST SOUP. Make it how you like it. If you REALLY REALLY feel the need to have an 'exact' recipe to follow, there are probably hundreds of thousands of recipes out there on the internet.

If your stock is too strong, add some water. If your stock is too weak flavored, then boil it with the lid off. This is 'not' a prescription, it's not medicine, it's not an exact science and there is no 'right' way of doing it. Just boil some (organic or otherwise 'non toxic' non-hormone, no antibiotic laden) bones until the stock will 'gel' like jello in the fridge. That is the ONLY requirement to know if you've boiled it long enough to get 'enough' of the good stuff out. Then and add stuff till it tastes good- really, that's IT. That is the WHOLE recipe.

You can't even cook it 'too long'. Remember the kids song: "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in a pot 9 days old".

People used to just throw leftovers (including the carcasses of elk, pork, beef and even squirrel, possum, pheasant, and other animals, ad nauseum) in a pot on the wood burning stove and would leave the pot on the stove most of the winter adding more 'stuff' every day and taking more broth off every day.

Really guys, stop trying to figure out the 'right' way to make this and just make some soup...


Kerri Knox, RN
Back to My Bone Soup Pot Again
by: Flying

Great page, great thread, haha, stopped us all from asking further. Thank you for all the info. I used to have a bone pot I left on the stove all winter. Turned it off when we went to bed, turned it on in the morning and kept throwing bones in. The old bones kept getting smaller and smaller.

I am inspired to do this again! Thank you. And my knee thanks you, it is why I ended up on this page...researching.
Re: Organic in Vancouver
by: Anonymous

Hopcott Meats in Pitt Meadows/Maple Ridge...
It's not as far as you think and well worth the drive (30-45mins depending on where from) You can order freezer packs of diferent cuts of meat as well. All their beef is raised on the family farm next door, and other meats brought in (ie. Chicken) are free range and locally grown. No hormone, anti-biotics, etc. They also have fresh in season local produce for sale from all over the lower mainland. The staff and family are amazing!
Evaporated Water
by: Ex athlete

Hi there! I have one question. If I cook the broth during 24 hours I think the water in it will get evaporated. Is it OK if I add water to the pot during process of cooking ?

_________________________________________________

YES!!!! Please add water as needed: before cooking, during cooking, or after cooking. Make it strong or weak, put vegetables, meats or spices or nothing, put a little wine or vinegar or miso in it if you like. IT'S 'just' soup. Adding water to soup is perfectly fine. That's what soup is made of- mostly water. As I said before, the ONLY requirement is that you cook it long enough to Gel in the fridge when it's cooled. That's IT. Anything else that you want to do to it is all perfect.

A great big thank you!
by: Beth

This is a great site and resource. I am inspired to try many of these suggestions. I have already contacted a local natural fed beef farm called Nooherooka in Snow Hill, NC and have found that they sell marrow bones to the general public. Of course; they sell beef as well. I love your site and will share with others. Keep up the good work and I will let you know how it goes with me.
Just cooked my first one
by: John

Hi there, I've had this injury for a very long time in my right ankle, I've had it nearly all my life, and no one really knows what it is. I've had so many scans , been to so many different people and still no improvement.

So I looked on the net the other day and came across this and thought I would give it a try, it's my first taste of it now while writing this.

I used Marrow bones, apple cider vinegar, Garlic and even added some veggies like carrots and beans to try and make it taste a bit nicer. I cooked it in a slow cooker for about 22 hrs and I got to say it doesn't taste very nice at all. I did eat it all though as I would eat anything if it actually helped me.

Just wondering is there anyway to make it taste nicer but still keep all the benefits from it as I'm hearing a few people really like it.

Any tips would be very welcomed as I'm not going to give up just yet, thanks.
glad you are trying
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi John,

I'm happy that you are trying bone broth... but it's just a soup base. You cooked it with that stuff... then you took all the garlic, etc out of it. When you cook veggies in it, etc, it's just to get the nutrition out. Once it's DONE, then make it into soup.. It sounds like you didn't even add salt or seasonings!

Get ANY of the gazillions of soup recipes out there and where it says 'soup broth', 'soup stock', 'beef broth' or 'chicken broth', etc, then use the bone broth. It's not supposed to be eaten all by itself with no seasoning, etc. It's soup broth. You wouldn't drink no added salt beef broth out of the can and expect it to taste great either, would you? Heck, even a perfectly cooked steak off the grill or barbecued chicken or steamed rice tastes bad if you don't season it.

Kerri Knox, RN
Lead in crockpot
by: Anonymous

Hi Kerri,

Great article. I am just learning about the benefits of bone broths and intend to start making them. I have a crockpot but I stopped using it when my mother told me that most of them contain lead in the glaze and that it leeches into your food. Do you think using a smaller pot inside the crockpot would work? And would be hot enough to get those minerals out of the bones!

Many thanks.
No lead
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

There's not been lead in ceramic glaze in the US in like 50 years, nor in any 'western' countries. Ones that come from Mexico or a third world country might, but if yours is from a western nation in the last 20 or 30 years, I would not even entertain the possibility that it might have lead.

I would not be recommending that you be so careful about the source of your animal products to make sure that they are healthy, and then have you cook them using a method that would poison you with lead!


Kerri Knox, RN
Lead in crockpot
by: Anonymous

Thanks Kerri for the reply regarding the lead. I don't live in the USA so I will have to check with the manufacturer of my crockpot in my country. :)
Fish bones?
by: Megan

Hi Kerri, I absolutely love your site! What a treasure trove of information. I'm so happy I found it. Thanks for making it available. I want to start my first batch of bone broth, I live near a harbor where I can get fresh fish as it comes off the boat. So I will use fish for my broths, my question is which fish should I use? The reason I'm asking is because I worry about the mercury levels in certain fish. So I was wondering which fish is best and how long should I simmer it for? I will be consuming it as a tea since I have bone, teeth and cartlidge problems.

Thanks for your time
Megan
Mercury in fish
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Megan,

There are dozens of websites with the mercury content of fish and which to choose. Ideally, smaller is better. Even in higher mercury fish, the smaller fish contain less mercury per ounce.

Be sure to use the fish heads. You might even be able to talk to a fish monger and get the head, spine and tails of fish that they filleted for free.

The head contains the thyroid, and the 'old wives tail' says that eating broth of fish heads will improve thyroid function.


Kerri Knox, RN
Why skim the fat off?
by: Anonymous

Why would you skim off the fat? That's where the so important fat soluble vitamins are.
Personal Preference
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Just depends upon your personal preference. Some don't like fat globules floating on top of their soup. I personally eat the fat when I drink it as it is out of the pot. But I skim it off if I chill it to use it in recipes.

Again, these are not dictates, they are just recommendations. These are recipes, not laws or commandments. Please, don't make these instructions more than they are.

As I've said many times, it's 'just' soup!


Kerri Knox, RN
Systemic indeed
by: Sufferer

First, I'd like to thank you for the bone broth soup recipe. I'll be making that for sure - even I can make that!

Secondly, I must tell you that I disagree w/your comments about systemic tendonitis. Because it IS possible. I have ankylosing spondylitis and enthesitis and/or tendonitis can be hallmarks of the disease; especially in females. Unfortunately, it is dismissed by most medical professionals and as women we are seen as either depressed or attention seeking or worse yet...labeled with fibromyalgia (which true cases are turning out to be a nerve type disease not an inflammatory muscle disease). No one believed me for years and years until one day a doctor finally sent me for a nuclear bone scan that lit up all over! Finally, I was on my way to a diagnosis.

All the inflammatory muscular/bone auto-immune diseases can cause body wide tendon and muscle issues. But you are on the right track because this does have to do with the immune system.

Thanks for this website!
Organic in Vancouver BC
by: Anonymous

Hopcottsmeat.ca on Old Dewdney Trunk
Road in Pitt Meaadows. Easy to find.
Website is excellent. Phone number is
604-465-7799. Just east of the Bridge.
Crack the bones...
by: Tom

Hello Kerri
I've scrolled through the comments and saw no one suggesting what I am about to suggest:

After many slow-cooked pots of bone broths, of various kinds, I've found whatever you can do to expose more bone surface, the better. Especially do you want to get inside to the marrow... so,

what I do with chicken and turkey bones is have a dedicated pair of pliers in the kitchen to crack those poultry bones up as much as I can as I am tossing them in the pot. It is relatively easy to do if you have a substantial pair of pliers.

Anyone skilled in the high art of cooking bone broths, should notice a big difference in the quality of the broth. To me, it is waaay richer.


Comnpost
by: Sherry

You can't compost animal fat. Only bones that are completely void of any meat or marrow - can be composted. Pork and beef are best. Not chicken.
Vancouver has a bone broth bar
by: Anonymous

Having read your posts maybe you aren't aware of the Bone broth bar at 235 East Broadway in home on the range organics store in Vancouver, Canada. They have the best broth in tow, hot to go.

Also the Nourishing Broth book by Sally Fallon is excellent and has tons of science on why broth is good for you.

there is another place in the West End that does broth to go called Elixer, i think.
Broths Vancouver
by: Euul

For those near Vancouver, Canada: Pasture to Plate on Commercial has pasture broths. and someone has already mentioned Organic Acres on East Broadway. You can get good bones to make your own from local farmers. Sumas Mountain Farms delivers. Remember to always ask that it is pasture. Also Wheelhouse on East Hastings near Burnaby Heights.
Bacteria?
by: Deb

This may be a really stupid question, and I am COMPLETELY new to the bone broth stuff, so I apologize if this is a crazy question. My son suffered some severe gastric infection (still not sure what) and is now being diagnosed with severe IBS. I have been told that bone broth can help with healing your guts, but my question is this. Because I am so concerned right now about further gastric issues, is cooking the bones at a low temperature safe, as far as killing off bacteria (ecoli, etc)? As long as I cook it to 165 degrees, does it matter how quick it gets to that temperature or not (boiling vs. simmering)? Thank you!!!
Low temp?
by: Kerri Knox, RN

When I say cook at 'low temp' that simply means the 'low' setting on the crock pot. The temperature will be somewhere around 200 degrees, since the broth is 'almost' simmering.

Bacteria grow at around 70 degrees to 100 degrees farenheit, which is why you don't want to eat meat left out at room temperature for very long. Even a fever, which is almost never above 105 degrees, is designed by our bodies to help kill bacteria and viruses. They don't grow very well outside that temp.

Bugs are not going to grow at 200 degrees farenheit. You have literally nothing to worry about any more than you would worry about your son getting sick when you make a pot of soup, because it IS soup!

Don't leave it sitting at room temp for days and eat it, it will make a wonderful petri dish. But you cook food to kill bacteria, it's no different with bone broth.


Kerri Knox, RN
Recipe Tease
by: Anonymous

The picture at the top looks amazing. ...such a teaser. Would love to see a link to this recipe!

[Kerri's note: HUH? The recipe is right below it. It just may not be a 'recipe' in the sense of '4 cups of something and 4 cups of something else', but it's very much still a recipe.]
Broth not gelling.
by: Vera

I have home grown, grass fed beef that we raised on our property. We cut the bones in to small pieces, and I cooked them in a large stalk pot. I have done this quite a lot. For some reason there have been a couple of times when the broth just won't be gelatinous.I add vinegar, and slow simmer it for 48 hours, around the clock.Any ideas?

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