Bone Broths in the Pressure Cooker
I get a little giddy when I see gelled bone broth. According to some, gelatin is the tell tale sign of a nutrient-rich broth.
The truth is, even if your broth doesn’t gel, a traditionally slow-cooked broth will still be full of the important minerals and amino acids (like calcium, magnesium, collagen, chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine) necessary to prevent wrinkles, eliminate cellulite, ease digestion, and heal arthritis.
To make bone broth, you really only need a couple things: bones and water. Everything else is helpful (like adding something acidic to help leach the minerals out of the bones), or tasty (like adding onions and other aromatics to the concoction). But at it’s heart, bones and water are the foundation of a good broth.
And finally, to get the most nutrients out of your broth, you’ll want to source good bones from healthy, pasture-raised or wild animals.
As a good rule of thumb, you want at least half the bones to be jointy bones, if not more. (HINT: I buy extra feet and necks from my farmer for $1 per pound. They’re cheap because nobody else wants them. GO FIGURE.)
YOU NEED JOINTS. They’re full of the connective tissue that breaks down into gelatin.
You want to look into your stock pot and see it FULL of bones, barely covered by the filtered water you added. For chicken bone broth, this comes to about 3-4 pounds of bones (about 2 whole carcasses) per gallon of water. For beef bone broth, this comes to about 7 pounds of bones per gallon of water.
People used to reuse their bones. If you JUST reuse bones, it is a much weaker broth obviously, but fmailies used to pass their bones along to their neighbors.
Ensure the boil is only a rolling boil, If it boils too forcefully, it will break down the proteins in the gelatin into their constituent amino acids.
The Players
2 medium leeks, cleaned and cut in half crosswise
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into three pieces
2.5 pounds of assorted bones (I use a mixture of chicken and pork bones from the freezer or cross shanks and oxtails)
8 cups of water (enough to cover the bones but not more than 2/3rd the capacity of the pressure cooker)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of Red Boat fish sauce
The How-To
Dump the veggies in the pressure cooker (make sure it’s at least 6-quarts).
PRESSURE COOKER BONE BROTH
December 21, 2017 by Kristen Michaelis CNC 65 Comments | Affiliate Disclosure
Want to know how to make gelatinous, perfect bone broth in your pressure cooker every time? So did I! So, I turned to Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo. It was her post on making homemade bone broth in her pressure cooker that cemented my desire to solve the riddle of whether or notpressure cooking is healthy once and for all! Michelle has generously offered to divulge her broth-making secrets with you. She shares how to make her Pressure Cooker Bone Broth below. Thanks, Michelle!
There’s nothing I like more than a nice steaming mug of bone broth to get me through the cold winter months. It warms me from the inside out and it’s so good for you: check out why in these great posts by Mark’s Daily Apple and Balanced Bites.
I have a recipe for simmering bone broth in the slow cooker and my mom routinely makes a pot on the stove but sometimes I just want a bowl RIGHT NOW. If you haven’t guessed, patience ain’t one of my strong suits.
Enter the pressure cooker.
According to foodie scientist, Harold McGee:
A pressure cooker is a special pot that seals tightly and traps hot steam to build the pressure and temperature.
In other words, stocks and stews that normally take hours to cook are finished in just 1/3 the time in a pressure cooker. I don’t use my pressure cooker for everything but I do love stewing braised veggies and meaty bone broths in it. Why? Because these dishes just turn out better and faster. It’s quite remarkable how pressure cooking can transform meaty, collagen-filled cuts like oxtail and cross shanks into fork tender cuts in less than an hour.
(Although the new generation of pressure cookers are safer than the old ones, please read your instruction manual carefully and check out these helpful tips from Mr. McGee. You do need to babysit the pot and you can’t wing it.)
I’ve got great pressure cooker recipes for Welsh Beef Stew and Phở that I share in my iPad cooking app, but here’s a simple recipe for a flavorful bone broth that’ll be ready in less than an hour. And, yes, it does gel in the fridge. Just throw in a few chicken feet or joint bones and your broth will be all jiggly.
PRESSURE COOKER BONE BROTH RECIPE
(This recipe is cross-posted at Nom Nom Paleo.)
Equipment
Pressure Cooker (where to buy pressure cookers)
The Players
2 medium leeks, cleaned and cut in half crosswise
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into three pieces
2.5 pounds of assorted bones (I use a mixture of chicken and pork bones from the freezer or cross shanks and oxtails)
8 cups of water (enough to cover the bones but not more than 2/3rd the capacity of the pressure cooker)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of Red Boat fish sauce (where to buy Red Boat fish sauce)
The How-To
Dump the veggies in the pressure cooker (make sure it’s at least 6-quarts).
Toss in your bones (frozen is fine), cover with water (make sure you don’t fill more than 2/3rds capacity!), add vinegar, and fish sauce.
Lock on the lid and turn the dial to high pressure. Place the pot on a burner set on high heat. Once the indicator pops up showing that the contents of the pot have reached high pressure, immediately decrease the temperature to the lowest possible setting to maintain high pressure (low should be fine, all stay below the 200 degree temp that is too hot).
Set the timer for 30 minutes (I let it go for 50 minutes if I’m cooking meaty shanks or oxtails).
When the timer dings, turn off the burner and remove the pot from the heat. Let the pressure release naturally (10-15 minutes).
Remove the lid, skim of the scum (if you desire), and strain the broth.
I have gotten into the habit of cooking bone stock every weekend, and even splurged on the instant pot so i dont have to babysit over the flame on the stove all day.
I love this depiction here, going through the different options of browning first, and different lengths of time cooking. In the end, i want most nutrients sucked out of the bones, and a gelatinous mix.
Instant Pot Bone Broth Experiment Conclusions:
Longer pressure cooking time doesn’t always mean the bone broth will turn out better or tastes better.
Sauteed bones always produce a richer taste & darker broth color than the Non-Sauteed versions.
Preferred Method, any bones, recipe condensed:
Roast bones an hour to 350, coated in tomato paste or red chili paste
Place into cold water bath in pressure cooker, and saute with top off to get water hot, adding all bones and veggies to the cold water at the start
Turn pressure cooker to high, and let cook for an hour or so, allow temp to vent naturally
Bake meat along with any dressings
Set pressure cooker to low, and put bones back in and leave for another day or two, however long you can wait
Details:
2.5 – 3 pounds (1198g) bones (combination of 554g pork, 644g chicken)
Optional: 5 – 6 (212g) chicken feet
2 onions (252g keep the outer layers), roughly diced
2 (215g) celery stalks, roughly diced
2 (265g) carrots, roughly diced
2 (8g) garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon (3.5g) whole peppercorn
8 cups (2L) cold water
2 tablespoons (30ml) coconut aminos or fish sauce
Your favorite fresh or dried herbs
1 tablespoon (15ml) apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon (15ml) avocado oil
Tools:
Instructions
Optional Step to Enhance the Bone Broth: Heat up your pressure cooker over medium high heat (Instant Pot: press Sauté button and click the Adjust button to go to Sauté More function). Make sure your pot is as hot as it can be (Instant Pot: wait until the indicator says HOT).Add 1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil in the pot and brown the bones for 3.5 minutes per side. You may have to do it in two batches. Pour in ½ cup (125ml) cold water and completely deglaze the pot by scrubbing all flavorful brown bits with a wooden spoon.
Pressure Cook Bone Broth: Add 5 - 6 (212g) chicken feet (optional) and the rest of the ingredients in the pressure cooker. Close lid and pressure cook at High pressure for 2 hours + Full Natural Release (~45 mins). Open the lid carefully.
Strain Bone Broth: Strain bone broth through a colander or mesh strainer to discard the solids. Set aside the bone broth to cool.
Skim Fat: Use a fat separator to skim the fat. An alternative method is to place bone broth in the fridge until the fat rises to the top and form a layer of gel. Then, skim the layer of fat with a spoon. A gel-like texture after cooling is a good indicator of an excellent gelatinous bone broth.
Enjoy Bone Broth: Season with salt (if desired) and drink it directly. Or you can use the Bone Broth in place of stock.
Storage: Bone broth can be stored in the fridge for 3 - 5 days. If you are freezing the bone broth, use within a year for best quality.
