The Paleo Community loves their bone broth. It is said to be chock full of good vitamins, minerals, and various joint-building compounds like glucosamine, collagen, etc. One book I read (Deep Nutrition) says that cooking bones is one of the “four pillars” of traditional nutrition. PaleoPathologist is a bit, shall we say, ADD about cooking and has always had difficulty managing a crock pot recipe. Imagine the joy when this pressure cooker bone broth recipe crossed the old computer screen!
So in the old pressure cooker went a beef soup bone from King Soopers grocery, probably about the size of a large fist, soon joined by a slab of Elk ribs. Also there is a “bone bag” in the freezer for the bones from chicken–often PaleoPathMate brings home roasted chickens and after gnawing the bones, in the bag they go. Then PaleoPathologist just sort of “hunter gathered” in the produce drawer and came up with a couple of green onions and some celery (stalks and leaves) to throw in along with a tablespoon of vinegar to leach some of the good stuff out of the bones along with a tablespoon of salt and an experiment, half a tablespoon of Thai Fish Sauce. PaleoPathMate had some in the pantry; amazing how well she keeps us fed!
Britta filter water filled the pressure cooker to about 2/3 full, and then high heat until it starts to jiggle on top, turned it down and pressure cooked for an hour. Man it is smelling good, rich, nourishing, and did I say good?
Done now, it is in the refrigerator after being strained. The meat that was on the bones is OK, sort of washed out tasting, but the broth is really good and rich. Might add more salt next time…let’s see, a tablespoon of salt is about three teaspoons, and my Knorr broth has about 800 mg of sodium in a cup. A teaspoon of salt has 2.3 gm of sodium. So maybe a tablespoon and a half next time?
PaleoPathologist is learning that it not only is ethically incumbent on him to use the whole animal if he kills it, but also it is healthier. Do you have a favorite bone broth? Does the thought of it bother you?
Shelley makes bone broth in the slow cooker, but it takes 24 hours and you have to have the heat way way down (had to buy a new slow cooker to get it low enough). If the heat is too high for too long, the collagen breaks down and it won’t gel. I’ve got a pressure cooker, I’ll have to try that!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my electric pressure cooker–an “Instant Pot”. You load in the ingredients in the stainless steel inner pot, put on the lid, press a button, and walk away. In about an hour, you have bone broth–clear, rich, delicious, gels like crazy. The pot will keep the broth warm for up to 12 hours, so you don’t have to babysit it or rush it under water to slow the cooking. Perfect for the ADD among us.
I always add salt AFTER cooking, it’s too hard to estimate the right amount before because there’s some evaporation, even with a pressure cooker (i.e. steam release).