Delicous homemade bone broth
Although I’m not fond of cooking (I’m lucky to have a private chef at home, my hubby!), I enjoy coming up with menu ideas and most of all, shop fresh ingredients. It applies to our furry kids as well! That said, I really like cooking for our dogs! I know that’s weird, but I love getting gross stuff for them like livers, hearts, chicken feet, beef necks, etc. You would have told me that a few months back, I would have said “no way, I would puke!” I had cooked for them before, but it was not as balanced as it should be. I was still giving them freeze-dried food, so it was not that bad. But after making more research and deciding to completely switch to a homemade diet, I know it’s crucial to give them everything they need and that includes stuff I would have found so very disgusting in the past! Making it all myself is the only way to make sure what they fill their bellies with fresh and healthy stuff. No preservatives, no crap added you find in most pet foods. And what I love most is to make bone broth!
Bone broth is not only full of nutrients and minerals, but it is also loaded with collagen, a natural glucosamine and chondroitin supplement, essential for healthy joints and even helps easing the arthritis pain of seniors! Besides, it detoxes the liver, promotes a healthy gut, aids digestion and is just damn good healthy! Perfect to boost the natural defenses. Just like for people, it peps up sick doggies and the smell and taste of it will definitely entice the finicky ones to eat. We’re approaching the end of the year, we (the humans) will start to make broths for ourselves as well! With a nice homemade baguette and why not, some pâté, yummy! Can you tell we have a French heritage ;p?! But I digress…
Anyway, this is why I just love making bone broth; I know it will boost the seniors and keep them all healthy! It’s never too late to eat well.
All the gross but good stuff for a bone broth: chicken feet, beef marrow bones, beef necks.
This was before I bought a crock-pot: chicken feet, oxtails, pork neck and marrow bones simmering in a big old pot.
I kept part of the meat around the marrow bones to add it to their meal. Funny how they always stick around when I’m busy in the kitchen…
Yummy homemade bowl: beef chuck, chicken thighs, beef liver, chicken hearts, sardines, eggs, cauliflower, green beans, kale, apples, sage, topped with cottage cheese!
So I start by going on a shopping hunt to find all the gross stuff, like bone marrow, neck, feet, even heads (only fishes when I make a quick stock full of omega-3s), and even if I sometimes let a “eww” go, I secretly like it! I usually find everything I need at the butcher’s, though I often have to try two or three different ones to really get all I need.
Once back home, this is when the easy part starts. But I have to admit, at first, I made a few mistakes. First, I did not have a crock-pot (quickly bought one, makes the whole process much easier), so I used a big stove pot. Nothing wrong with it, but I only let it all simmer for about 5-6 hours on the stove because I didn’t want to leave it unattended. I mean it’s great already, but it doesn’t fully extract all the goodness (the collagen and minerals) of the bones. Not that I’m a scientific, it’s what I’ve heard :). And, second probably bigger mistake, I didn’t allow it to cool off to remove the fat rising at the top before adding it to their food. I used that broth to cook the meat directly after and added a few dollops of it once all the rest was stirred (vegetables, organs, fishes, etc., you can see the full recipe here) and freezed the rest for the next time I cook again. So when that food was ready to be served, it was a big compact magma because the grease bound everyting together, yuck! Not that they didn’t like it, mind you, but I think some had loose stools because of it. And I felt bad… Of course, when I used the rest of the broth that’d been put in the freezer, this is when I could remove that thick layer of fat. Also, make sure you don’t overfill whatever recipient you use to store the broth, otherwise the lid will pop up when the fat thickens and rises on top. You learn from your mistakes!
So, here is the right recipe so you don’t make the same error! You put all that gathered gross but good stuff in the crockpot, add enough water to cover it all, 3-4 table spoons of apple cider vinegar (this is crucial, since it will pull all of the minerals and nutrients out of the bones), 3-4 garlic cloves and that’s it! I don’t add any herbs or vegetables because I do that when I prepare their food, but of course that’s an option.
My spanking new crock-pot!
Just add water, apple cider vinegar, garlic if you want and it’s ready to go.
Let it all simmer for about 24 hours.
I put it on high for the first hour, then on low and let it simmer for another 20-some hours. The kitchen will definitely smell and the dogs will most likely want to squat the area! Funny how they all gather when I spend time by the stove, they just know that I only cook for them the little monsters!
When the broth is done, I remove the bones, strain it to make sure even the tiny ones and meat/skin residues are out and let it cool. I then place it in the fridge for a bit. You’ll see a thick layer of fat appearing on the surface, skim that off and you’ll discover all the goodness of these hours of cooking! The broth will look like jelly, full of good gelatin that will benefit those joints and fill the holes of leaky guts! I then make portions in jars, keep one or two in the fridge that I’ll use in less than five days and freeze the rest. You can also make ice cubes so you can better manage what you need.
When it’s ready, I make sure to remove all the bones.
Then I let it cool. You can already see the fat coming on the surface.
When it’s all cold, you can finally remove that thick layer.
I then make severam portions in jars that I’ll use in their food.
I always put two to three spoonfulls of it in their bowls (that I previously heated a tiny bit before adding to their food that was stored in the fridge, so that it’s all at room temperature), add some dairy and supplements when needed and voilà, a 5* meal! They can hardly wait to gobble it all, arthritic seniors jump like youngsters!
You know you made a good bone broth when it looks like jelly once out of the fridge. And it smells nice!
High five for a delicious and healthy natural supplement! The cats get their share as well!
Our partiallly disabled rescue, having a hard time getting around because of deformed legs and wrecked joints.
Back on all fours after a short few weeks of bone broth! Her left rear leg hardly ever touched the floor before! And yes, she awlays has that sad face, even when she’s happy…
Talk about the magic of bone broth, our partially disabled rescue Elfie, who has deformed rear legs and wrecked joints (she always hops, only walking on three legs), started to use the leg she hadn’t for years! Of course she won’t frolic, but she can put pressure on it without the joint getting loose! I was flabbergasted the first time I saw her walk on four legs again! So yeah, I am sold, bone broth is really super regenerating!