Make Your Own Bone Broths

Bone broth — that traditional concoction of bones, water, heat and time — is seeing renewed popularity. Served up from urban street-side stands or brewed up at home, Bone Broth is hotter than ever, but this old-timey food trend is tried and true. Back in the day, people wasted less food and made what they had stretch, and bone broths are more than just terrific waste-savers. They can transform your cooking and, some say, your health.

Simmered low and slow — some broths stay on the heat for an entire day — bone broths take their time teasing out every last bit of flavor and goodness into the pot. The resulting elixir has a deep, rich flavor that is delicious enough to enjoy straight up but also brings a magnificent complexity to anything from soups and stews to braises and sauces. The long warm bath melts the bones’ collagen into the brew giving it a silky, unctuous quality that adds luxurious body to any dish.

As Sally Fallon Morell, founding president of the Weston A. Price Foundation, wrote in her 2014 book, “Nourishing Broth,” it is the dissolved collagen, cartilage and marrow that not only give bone broth its palate appeal but also supply us with vitamins, minerals and amino acids essential to our good health. Science is only beginning to analyze the nutritive benefits of bone broth but you won’t find many who deny the healing goodness of a bowl of homemade chicken soup, aka “Jewish penicillin.” Across many cultures, broth is administered like medicine to the young, ill and aging for its preventative and curative powers. Devoted broth sippers report clearer skin, decreased joint pain and burly immune systems as just a few of the benefits of enjoying a daily cup.

You can source the bones specifically for the purpose (chicken feet make particularly good broth) or just save up the bones as you go. The bones from your roasted bird, the hock from the ham (I’ve even collected the bones from our dinner plates) can be stashed away in your freezer until you have a potful. Feel free to mix and match different types in the same batch of broth.

The key to good broth is to start with good bones. You can use any variety that you like — chicken, turkey, beef, veal, pork, fish, even exoskeletons such as shrimp and lobster shells all make excellent broths. But because the simmering process pulls from deep inside the bone, sourcing is particularly important here.

Ready to get cooking? Follow this recipe to bone broth bliss.

Using up bone broth

Now that you’ve got a stash of tasty bone broth, what can you do with it?

• Drink it like tea: A hot cup of broth kills the chill like nothing else. Devotees say that a cup a day keeps the doctor away.
• Braise meat or vegetables in it: Give your meat or veg a good sear in a hot pan and then ladle on the broth, cover and simmer until tender.
• Soups and stews: Broth adds rich body to soups and stews.
• Risotto and rice: Use broth when making risotto or even as the cooking liquid for rice for an extra layer of flavor and just plain yummy goodness.
• Gravies and pan reductions: Restaurant-quality sauces are at your fingertips. Stir a little cornstarch into your broth (one teaspoon per cup) and add it to your sauté pan where a quick boil will transform it into a silky rich sauce.

Recipe: Basic Bone Broth

There is no single way to make bone broth. You can use raw bones for a light, delicate blond broth or roasted bones for a brown broth with more pronounced flavor. Beef bones particularly benefit from a good roasting to bring out their full character. Chicken, turkey, beef, veal, fish, pork, the addition or lack of vegetables — the choices are up to you. Each choice yields a variation on the theme — a little twist that makes the broth your own. But the basic method is the same and here it is:

Ingredients

At least 2 pounds of bones
Flavorless oil, such as organic canola or grape seed, if roasting the bones
Salt
Enough water to cover the bones
Vegetables such as onion, carrot, celery or garlic peels, ends and skins (optional)

Note: For brown broth, roast the bones as directed. For blond broth, skip the roasting step, instead placing the bones directly in a large stockpot and proceeding with the simmering instructions below.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Place the bones in a heavy roasting pan large enough to hold them in a single layer without crowding (avoid disposable aluminum pans — they won’t allow you to scrape up the “fond,” the beautiful brown bits on the bottom of the pan, when you are done roasting).
3. Drizzle with just enough oil to coat and sprinkle lightly with salt. Rub the oil and salt into the bones so that they are all thoroughly coated.
4. Roast until well browned, about 1 hour. Remove the bones to a large stockpot and set aside.
5. Place the roasting pan on a burner. Add 2 cups of water to the pan (or 1 cup of water and 1 cup of wine) and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Use a spatula to scrape up all of the dissolving fond from the bottom of the pan. Add the liquid to the stockpot full of bones and proceed as follows.

Simmering Instructions

1. To simmer either the blond or brown stock, add enough cold water to the pot to cover the bones by 2 inches.
2. Slowly bring to a simmer, skimming any scum that forms in the first hour.
3. Continue to simmer very gently for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
4. Add any vegetables that you’d like in the last 2 hours of cooking (vegetables cooked for more than 2 hours will go bitter).*
5. Scoop out the bones or strain the broth through a colander into a large heatproof bowl. Strain again through a fine mesh sieve into a large heatproof bowl or container.
6. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
7. Ladle the fat off of the top of the chilled broth and reserve for another use.

Store the Stock

Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Freeze for up to 6 months. If you pressure can the stock, it will be shelf-stable for up to 1 year.

*Except fish stocks — bones or shells and any veg go right into the pot all together and only need to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Bone Broth Variations

Turn Basic Bone Broth into a tasty little sip by simmering up these combos:

• Spicy chicken: Chicken bone broth with grated ginger, minced garlic and Sriracha
• Ready for ramen: Pork bone broth with Five Spice Powder and a nub of bacon
• Tasty Thai: Shrimp shell broth with lime peel, lime juice and cilantro
• French-ish: Beef bone broth with red wine and caramelized onions
• The Cure: Turkey bone broth with sautéed mirepoix (finely diced onions, celery and carrots)