Eat This: Beneficial Bone Broth

I’ll confess: I could probably be considered a “Pothead”…an Instant Pot-head, that is! After getting my first one back in July, I have since acquired 2 more, and am pressure cooking on a nearly daily basis. Why? Because it makes short work of tasks that used to take much longer, like making bone broth.

I used to slow cook bones for hours, even days, to make bone broth; in my Instant Pot, it cooks for just two hours. As if that wasn’t reason enough to transition to pressure cooking bone broth, I think that the quality and flavor of the pressure-cooked broth is superior to slow cooker broth: the pressure-cooked broth is more gelatinous and has a richer, fuller flavor.

Why drink bone broth? There are a number of health benefits provided by this nourishing elixir, including its nutritional (vitamins, minerals) and anti-inflammatory properties. Bone broth may also support joint and gut health. Plus, it tastes great!

In addition to its nutritional value, I like making bone broth because it uses what might otherwise be a food “waste” product; after all, many people buy a rotisserie chicken, eat the meat, and toss the bones. It’s easy to do when you don’t hatch, raise, and process the bird that becomes your bone broth – but when you do put in that level of effort, you appreciate every bit of the animal. I try to use as much of the bird (“nose to tail” eating) out of respect for the animal that died to provide meat for my table.

Plus, making bone broth is so easy that everyone should be making it. If you (for some reason) don’t like it, your dogs would enjoy it, especially if they’re older. Older canines often experience the same kinds of age-related conditions that people do, like arthritis, and bone broth can help support their joint health, too. Health benefits aside, your dogs will love the taste of broth and consider it a very special treat…just like mine do! Even if you have a young, healthy dog, s/he will benefit from the goodness of bone broth.

While the Mercola article’s author provides instructions for making bone broth in a slow cooker – the way I used to do it – my “new and improved method” is to make it in my Instant Pot. It’s quicker and clean-up is much easier. The recipe is very simple: add bones from a cooked chicken (or duck, etc.), about a tablespoon of raw vinegar, cover with water, and pressure cook for two hours, with a natural release.

The results speak for themselves: the finished broth is an amber delight, with a thin layer of fat on top. After chilling, it firms up into a thick, gelatinous, almost aspic-like state (jars shown were taken out of the fridge). It makes an amazing base for chicken soup, which is what I’m planning to do with these jars. Any “extra” broth can easily be frozen for later use.

Now, the tough decision: do I make chicken rice or chicken noodle soup?

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