Have you heard of ‘Bone Tea’ before? It is simply the combining of two very different ideas – bone broth and tea. While it is a modern trend, is not simply trendy. This is a fantastic idea that brings the power of ancient traditions into our modern ‘tea & coffee’ cultures.
[Download the One Page Bone Broth PDF Guide]
I borrowed the image above from the WellnessMama so that I can promote her site a bit. I also have a link to one of her many bone broth posts at the end of this article, along with videos and articles from the Weston A. Price Foundation, and others. Bone broth is a very popular topic. But what is it?
| A “Bone” broth is slow cooked at low temperature for about 18 to 24 hours, creating a uniquely nutritious and healing liquid (broth). The end result, when cooled, is often very gelatinous – like jello. This is then used as your base for making soups, stews, sautés, ‘bone tea’ and more. Think of it as your soup stock or bullion cubes, but with little flavor, no bad chemicals, and lots of nutrition. | By contrast, a “Meat” broth is cooked at low temperature for only about 6 hours, or until the meat falls off the bones. In this case you start with bones that have significant meat on them, as the meat is the primary target for consumption. Such meat broths can be gentler on the stomach for some people, and can be equally as healing as bone broths. I enjoy both Meat and Bone broths. |
So then what is Bone Tea? It is a cup of bone broth that you drink like a cup of tea. Just boil some water, add it to a 1/3 cup of bone broth, add some seasonings, and enjoy it like you would enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. My favorite way to drink it (every day!):
- 1/3 cup of chicken, beef, lamb, or pork bone broth
- Salt (Himalayan Pink Salt or other healthy sea salt)
- Black Pepper
- Turmeric powder
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Mustard Seed
- Minced garlic
Add the seasonings to suit your taste. And of course feel free to add any other healthy seasonings to your bone tea.
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The Secret to Success? Bone ‘Tea’ is an amazing healing liquid because of its nutritional content. However, that is not why people are successful at healing with it. It is successful because it is cheap & convenient, and it can fit into almost anyone’s lifestyle. Flavor it as you like and bring it with you in a thermos so that you can sip it all day. Have it with meals as a drink or cup of soup. Or just enjoy it as a you would a breakfast or afternoon tea. |
Before we can make Bone Tea, we need to make the Bone Broth. So let’s look at making Bone Broth:
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- That simple recipe above is all you really need. But there are many other small details and options, so here is a longer explanation:
- You start with the bones, or bony parts, from naturally raised animals, such as pastured chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, etc. You can use any bones, but many will agree that the best broths come from these parts…
- Chicken feet make the best chicken broth. But you can use a whole chicken, a chicken carcass, or any other parts that are handy.
- Pigs feet make the best pork broth. We just made some the other day and added the bones from some delicious ribs that we ate. Yes… save your bones from other meals!
- Oxtail arguably makes the best beef broth, but there are so many good bones that we can use for beef broth.
- Whole fish, or fish heads can also be used to make a fish broth, and they only need to be cooked about 9 hours at most.
- *If you are using beef, pork, or lamb, you can improve the flavor by roasting your bones (and meat) first. This is one advantage of using leftover bones from a meal.
- Put your bones into a slow cooker or pot, add carrots, onions, and celery. I like to add some ginger and turmeric root. Salt and pepper too. Fill the pot with cold water to cover everything, and add about a 1/4 cup of raw apple cider vinegar. Stir the pot and let it sit for an hour or so. The vinegar helps to pull the minerals from the bones, and helps to dissolve any skin, meat, etc.
- Turn the heat on low (in your pot or slow cooker), and let it cook for about 24 hours. You want the heat low… keeping the broth at a very gentle simmer. We don’t want to boil it, but we do need a simmer.
- After the pot starts to simmer you can skim off any scum that might rise to the top.
- You can stir the pot occasionally, but it is not necessary. After it is done cooking you will notice that any meat, skin, cartilage, etc. has mostly melted away. Not completely, but significantly.
- At the end of 24hrs, about ten minutes before it is finished, add a fresh bunch of parsley. This is not for flavor, but rather to add additional minerals to your broth. It only takes about ten minutes.
- Strain the broth with a fine strainer to remove all the solids. You only want the liquid.
- Prepare containers (mason jars, Tupperware, etc.) that can hold about one week’s supply (I like 1 liter(quart) size). Then pour the strained bone broth into the containers. (Never pour hot liquid into plastic!) Let them cool, and put one in the fridge and the others in the freezer.
That’s about it. It is very simple, but there are infinite variations, so just use this as a guide, not as a fixed set of rules. Find what works best for you. I like to add some garlic at the end, but it is best to keep your flavor bland or neutral, so that you can use your broth to make many different kinds of soups, teas, sautés, etc.
Good luck.
Guidance from the Weston A. Price Foundation…
