How and why to make bone broth
If you are to pursue a carnivore diet then bone broth is indispensable it provides collagen, which is an essential protein for our bones. (When we eat a steak, it is easy to be tempted to be selective and leave the chewy bits on the side) Don’t! Cut them up small and swallow them, they are necessary for the diet too.
Quite apart from collagen, we get minerals and calcium. The calcium part is important, especially if you are reducing your oxalate intake. For it will bind in the gut with the oxalic acid, and excrete it without it passing through the blood barrier in the intestines.
I used to rely on a pressure cooker of the old fashion variety where steam was being constantly released to maintain the right pressure. A number of years back I bought an electric one, it is like night and day. Far more effective and elegant, for I can program and forget for a couple of hours, and it hardly loses any liquid.
This is the model I use, I am not recommending it specifically, and I have no affiliation with the product, but it is a good example of the genre and the more fancy ones are, in my opinion, superfluous.
Making the bone broth
I will get one or two pieces of bullock marrow bone, perhaps to cover one-third of the container, to this I will add 500gms of mince meat which I will throw away at the end of cooking. The reason for the mince meat is to extricate potassium from the meat and onto the broth. You could have used diced meat or meat from any part of the bullock body. Add as much as you like, but not less than 500gms.
Fill it with water, preferably one that has gone through a filtering process, i.e. to reduce chemicals. Set it for two hours at 15 psi and forget, after a couple of hours, reset the timer; altogether you would do it four times.
Extricate the liquid and cover, when done leave to cool, then place in the fridge. There will be a thick layer of solidified fat on top, cut through it to get to the collagen.
Meanwhile, you have taken the spent meat out, and replaced it with at least another 500gms., filled the pressure cooker with filtered water once again, and repeated the pressure-cooking for 5x 120 min slots at least. This will remove the rest of the collagen if any, but just as importantly it will release into the broth calcium and other trace minerals.
When done, transfer to a bowl to cover it, wait for it to cool and place in the fridge. You will now have two containers, one pretty solid with collagen and one relatively watery but full of minerals.
This is what I do, and our diets may vary and dictate a more individualistic approach. I have 1/2 cup of the thick collagen topped up with water and boiled twice a day. I have 1/2 a cup of the more watery broth also topped up with water and boiled twice a day. To the cups, I add a pinch of salt. The four pinches will altogether amount to just under approximately 6 grams of salt which is my daily intake, there is salt already in the meat of course.
I am quite comfortable with the taste as is. You might prefer to add the odd herb, or a touch of some low oxalate ingredient to the second batch, like say, a small onion, a touch of coriander, or a bay leaf. You could even add a small tooth of garlic.
Experiment as to what is tasty for you – Feel free to ask and add your comments.
