How to Make Bone Broth

Let me show you how to make bone broth. I love how this process fills the kitchen with amazing aromas throughout the day as the broth cooks down. There’s something so relaxing about this that I find it almost meditative. I never use a recipe for this but just go on experience and intuition. The video below is a quick overview of the process. I’ve also included the steps in written format in case that’s more helpful to you.

Video Showing How to Make Bone Broth

Written Steps For Making Bone Broth

1. Place all scraps from your roasted chicken in an 8 qt stockpot: This includes bones, skin, extra drippings or small bits of meat, and anything left in the roasting pan such as garlic cloves or vegetable remnants.
2. Add very coarsely chopped onions, celery, and carrots, plus a few cloves of garlic: Some bone broth purist will only add the bones. I like the flavor and added nutrients of the veggies. Do what you wish.
3. Fill the Stockpot with water: Add water until it is about 2-2.5 inches from the top. The broth will simmer for about 10-12 hours so you want to start will plenty of water. More will need to be added later in the cooking process.
4. Turn on heat and bring to a boil: Turn heat to medium-high, and cover until water just comes to a boil.
5. Once boiling, remove lid and turn down to a nice even simmer: The lid will now remain off for the remainder of the cooking period. You will also want to keep it simmering gently, but not boiling, throughout the process. Check occasionally to make sure you don’t need to adjust the heat.
6. Once cooking is about halfway done, add water: At the halfway point (about 5 hours), you will probably need to add water. You want to keep the water level about halfway from where you started until the end of the cooking time. This means you will need to check the water level periodically.
7. Check bone broth for completion: At around the 10 hour mark, your bone broth will be done. Liquid should have reduced to around half of what you started with. You can also let it go for another 2 hours or so, adding water as needed. Remove from heat and let it cool until it is a safe temperature for pouring.
8. Strain bone broth through colander: Set a colander inside a large metal bowl and carefully pour the broth into the colander. Lift the colander and push with a wooden spoon to strain out large solid pieces. Don’t worry about small pieces. You’ll take care of these in the next step.
9. Pour into Mason jars: Place a fine-mesh sieve over the top of a Mason jar and use a metal scoop or measuring cup to pour broth into jar. Make sure you stir the bowl of bone broth as you go to keep the fats and collagen evenly dispersed. You will periodically need to remove the sediment from sieve to keep the broth flowing. Repeat the process with more Mason jars.
10. Lid, label, and freeze: Place lids on the Mason Jars, label, and freeze for later use.

Why I Love this Bone Broth