Bone broth is stock, made patiently. It is not a cure for anything, and the collagen in it does not travel intact to your joints. It is also genuinely good food: cheap, mineral rich, high in protein and a better base for soup than anything in a carton.
At a glance
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
8 to 12 hours
Serves
About 2 litres
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg beef bones, ideally a mix of marrow bones and knuckle or oxtail
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 onions, halved, skins on
- 2 carrots and 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 1 whole head of garlic, halved across
- 2 bay leaves and a teaspoon of black peppercorns
- Cold water to cover by 5 cm
- Salt, added at the end
Method
- Roast the bones at 200 C for 30 minutes until browned. This is the difference between broth that tastes of something and broth that tastes of nothing.
- Put everything except the salt in a large pot or slow cooker. Add the vinegar and cold water and leave it for 20 minutes before you turn on the heat.
- Bring it to a bare simmer, never a boil. Skim the grey foam off the top in the first half hour.
- Hold it at a bare simmer for 8 to 12 hours. A slow cooker on low does this without supervision.
- Strain through a fine sieve, cool quickly, then chill. Lift the set fat off the top and keep it for roasting potatoes.
- Season with salt only when you use it, so the broth stays flexible.
What it is and is not
A long simmer pulls gelatine, minerals and amino acids including glycine out of the bones and connective tissue. That is why a good broth sets in the fridge. What it does not do is deliver collagen to your skin or joints in one piece, because digestion breaks it down into amino acids like any other protein. Drink it because it is nourishing and delicious, not because a label promised you cartilage.
Storage
Five days in the fridge, or six months in the freezer. Freeze some in an ice cube tray for when a sauce needs depth.
