Diet
[x] Flexitarian + Omnivore
[O] Vegetarian
[O] Pescatarian
[O] Vegan
[x] Gluten Free
[x] Weight Maint
[x] Keto Diet
[x] Mediterranean Diet
[x] Lectin Avoidance:
[x] Oxalate Avoidance
[O] Purine Avoidance: meats ?
HealthLine discusses the benefits of drinking or eating bone broth.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Tongs
- Sieve
- Bowl for pulling off meat from the bones
Ingredients
- 2 # Beef "oxtails" Grass-fed, pasture raised beef tails, get the larger tail portions
- 10 C Water Whatever your slow cooker allows
- 1 T Salt and Pepper Used on bones before roasting
- 2 T Apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Mise en Place
- Set up the slow cooker. This will have to cook for ~8-12 hours. Put it someplace that is not under cabinetry, can be left undisturbed, and set the heat to high.
- Put ~5 C water in the slow cooker so it can start to heat up. Add enough water to fill the slow cooker halfways. (It will be only after adding the bones that you will add enough water to fill the pot.)
- The normal water to bone ratio: 3:1 by weight. This is the minimum amount of bones to water you should use, but you can add more bones.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. And set up a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bone Prep
- Place dinner leftover beef bones you have in your freezer or fridge into the pot (no need to defrost).
- Raw oxtails should be seasoned with salt and pepper, then placed on a parchment lined baking sheet and roasted for an hour, flipping the bones over half way through the cooking time.
- Once done cooking, I use tongs to move the meat/bones from the pan into the slow cooker. I will aslo scrape out any juice from the sheet pan as well. I also add some vinegar at this point to help soften the bones and release its nutrition.
Broth
- At this point add water to cover all the meat. Place the lid on and walk away. Check every 3h or so, skimming off the dirty-foam that can start floating on the top of the water. Add more water if needed, but keep the level an inch or two from the very top of the slow cooker.
- At the 8 hour mark the beef parts will start to fall apart when you try to fish them out of the broth. You can stop here and use the broth, but I continue to cook. At the 12 hour mark I am ready to call it.
- I do not let the stock sit around to get bacteria but also do not put extremely hot food into the fridge as it lowers the overall temp. Before I move to the fridge I want the broth to be near or at room temperature.
- Strain the broth to catch all bones and meat with the liquid going into a bowl that is nestled in a bowl of ice to cool down, and then poured into glass containers and into the fridge or freezer for later use.
Meat
- I habitually pick all the meat off bones I use from broth and use that meat, with a bit of broth, to augment pet food and discard the bones. Taste the meat and if reasonably tasty and the texture is okay, save the meat to serve with the broth.
- This is a lighter broth, not as fat heavy. But still just a broth, it will need seasoning and additional work for using as a soup. But a very good base to work from.
Notes
Type of bones: Bone broth or stock is a little more viscous than a broth since we are cooking it long enough for collagen to leach from the bones. This oxtail broth is litter and less viscous since the flavor is coming from bone and meat.
Roasting bones: In the picture I am showing using larger oxtails. I want some meat too so there is flavor. Roasting the oxtails before using will help add flavor to the broth.
Veggies: I do not add anything but the oxtails, a bit of vinegar, and water to my stock. The reason I do not is that I am not sure what the broth is going to be used for in the future. I keep it plain and rely on the roasted tastiness of the tails themselves to present a base flavor.
Broth in Soups: If I am making a soup out of this broth, I will use the broth and add spice, herbs and veggies (onion, garlic, celery, carrots, etc.) to start flavoring the soup.
No aluminum soup pots: Do not use aluminum stock pans for people, like me, can taste the aluminum in the resulting broth. I prefer an enamel covered cast iron slow cooker for the deed or a tall steel stock or ceramic pot.
Nutrition
Calories: 1kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 592mg | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 6mg
