The most important part of this recipe is to source some good bones, in fact the bones and the water are the only ingredients that are absolutely essential in this recipe. The more jointy the bones are the better – what we want is the connective tissues, like the ligaments and cartilage so knuckle bones, joint bones, spine bones, feet bones, rib bones…. are excellent. It is worth it to spend the money and get some grass-fed bones if possible, but at the very least get organic bones.

• 4 pounds bones, try to get joint bones or marrow bones. Pork, beef, lamb, venison, chicken…. are all fantastic bones to make a good broth with, you can also put in a whole chicken.
• 10 – 12 c filtered water
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• small handful black peppercorns
• small handful coriander seeds, optional
• 3-5 bay leaves, optional
• 1 stick cinnamon, optional
• 1 handful star anise, optional
• 1 T whole cloves, optional
• 2 inches fresh ginger, optional
• 2 leafs kombu (kelp), optional

Method:
Rinse the bones. Fill the stockpot with water nearly to the top. It doesn’t really matter how much water you put in, if it is too watery, it will simmer for so long you can reduce it. I like to make a relatively large stock. If using marrow bones I will use 6-8 2 inch long bone sections and fill my 5 gallon stock pot nearly up to the handle bolts.

Add 1 T apple cider vinegar and let sit about 1/2 hour.

Bring to a boil, and simmer. Skim the gray foam that rises to the surface. It is a good idea to try to make sure you do this as the stock will make a cleaner soup later. Sometimes I forget to check on my stocks in time. You can still use it, it just isn’t quite as delicate.

Once all of the impurities are skimmed off (this may take about 1/2 hour on low simmer) you can then add your spices. I like to add all or some of the above list of spices, plus whatever else I have in the kitchen. I always think the more the merrier. Sometimes I even add Pau d’arco or rooibos tea, things that do well with long simmers like roots and spices are the best for making tasty, nourishing stocks with.

I put the lid on my broth and turn it down as low as possible while allowing it to still be simmering. Putting the lid on saves energy. I simmer my broths for around 18 hours. Which is one reason I don’t put vegetables in it. Simmering veggies for that long isn’t necessary and they do much better being used as a soup in the delightful broth this makes.

I can usually make two pots of soup with this amount of stock. We use a lot of stock so I generally don’t freeze it. Also I always break my jars when I try to freeze stock so I have stopped trying unless absolutely necessary. We love soup, especially while on the GAPS diet. Easy to digest and very nourishing.

This recipe was added to the Monday Mania Recipe Carnival.