Slow-Cooked Beef Bone Broth

Why bother with slow cooked bone broth? Slow cooking, in addition to the acid in apple cider vinegar, helps release wholesome minerals and amino acids from the bones, giving you a power punch of flavor and healthfulness.

Drink a mug of broth every morning with breakfast, use it to make a killer French onion soup, or use in any recipe calling for beef stock.

Ingredients

8-12 pieces of beef bone (knuckles, neck, marrow, etc.), preferably with bits of meat attached
2 large carrots, peeled and halved
2 onions, peeled and halved
2 stalks celery
8 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
6-8 parsley stems, with most of the leaves removed
1-2 bay leafs
2 tablespoons Katz Gravenstein Apple Cider Vinegar

Instructions

Tip: You can adjust the volume of vegetables to your liking or add any other vegetable scraps you have around the house. Just avoid brassicas and beets, which will impart an off taste.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roast the bones on a baking sheet for 30 minutes. Turn the bones over, add carrots, onions, celery and garlic to the baking sheet and roast another 30 minutes.

Place all the roasted bones, vegetables and remaining ingredients in a 6-8 quart slow cooker. Add filtered water to cover all ingredients and close the lid. Cook at low temperature for 24 hours, skimming off foam and stirring the pot once or twice during the process.

After 24 hours, strain the stock through a cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve. (A reusable coffee filter will also do.) Let it cool a bit, skim off any fat that has risen to the top and then transfer the stock to mason jars or other storage containers. Cool completely before refrigerating or freezing.

The broth will gel when chilled but will become liquid again once heated. Scoop out any extra fat that has collected at the top of the container before reheating.