Bone Broth in Pressure Cooker page 2

[Neckhammer]

I'm resurrecting this thread to see if those who used pressure cooker continue to use such with good results and to see if there is anything they would like to add....tips on time for beef or chicken broth, and so on. I have a huge slow cooker and ever dwindling counter space. Would like to give this a few tries.

[breadsauce]

I've used my pressure cooker for stock recently more than the slow cooker and I do find I get much firmer "gel". Also, I don't find I need to use vinegar or lemon juice - the bones soften so much that I'm sure lots of minerals etc are leaching out already.

It is ideal for stock from one or two chicken carcasses, and for smaller beef or lamb bones. I give chicken about 40 minutes; haven't re-used the bones yet but will do next time. I doubt if the 2cnd stock will have much gelatine left but will certainly have mineral content. Beef and lamb I give longer, about an hour.

BIG beef bones - I have some in the freezer - I am going to cook in the slow cooker (they don't fit in the pressure cooker at all well), and if I can split the bones into smaller pieces after they have been in the slow cooker,do the 2cnd stock attempt in the pressure cooker.

I don't put ANY veg with the bones, just a few black pepper corns and bay leaves. The stock is delicious (slightly salted) as a drink, and awesome for soups and casseroles.

[MN_John]

I use my pressure cooker to make broth and soup/stew weekly. Its so easy and so good for you.

Typical beef broth
* One onion - cut in quarters, not pealed (though I rub off the dry peel as it probably has no nutritional value)
* One garlic head - cut the top and bottom off and cut through the middle, yes, we like garlic
* Celery - all the leafy tops from one package, the 4-5 small stalks in the middle, and some of the white part at the bottom.
* Carrots - all the leafy tops from 4-5 carrots (warning, this tends to make the broth greenish, don't use if this bothers you), plus 3-4 carrots
* any left over vegetable trimmings stored in freezer (not cruciferous vegetables as they'll stink it up)
* up to 4-5 left over steak bones
* 2 or 3 1 1/2 inch beef marrow bones
* 1 fair size (4") soup bone
* 2 or 3 "beef feet" (this is the part right above the hoof and below the leg/marrow bone. Your butcher knows what it is). The "beef feet" produce a lot of gelatin, glucosamine, etc.
* I add a teaspoon of sea salt, 6-7 pepper corns, and sometimes a tablespoon of rosemary
* fill with water (preferably filtered) to the full line on your cooker

Cook on low steam release for 4 - 6 hours (I don't set the timer until it starts producing steam), I sometimes stop it half way to add more water; if you keep the heat as low as possible to produce just minimal steam this really isn't necessary; also try to let it naturally depressurize so you don't lose even more liquid. When its done I strain the broth from the bones and muck in to another stock pot using its steamer insert to catch the large chunks, clean out remaining goo in the pressure cooker pot and strain stock back in to it using a fine mesh metal sieve. I use to use cheese cloth as well but find it really isn't necessary for my uses, the sieve catches most of the muck. I also don't remove the fat. I just put all the leftover bones and muck in to a double plastic grocery bag, tie it up and throw it away. The bones are probably too soft to give a pet, unless maybe you grind them up in to their regular food, best to ask an expert. You could certainly scoop out the leftover marrow for them, they'll love you even more if you do!)

I find this process to be fairly painless, no pealing, no trimming of meat, no nit picky filtering or fat removal. I then use this to make a stew. The stew is different every week and allows for experimentation. Last week it was curry beef (with extra turmeric), the beef was browned in coconut oil after being dredged in arrowroot and curry. Other ingredients were; more garlic, carrots, onion (browned with the beef in the coconut oil), fresh green beans, remaining celery, broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, turnip, spices (rosemary, thyme, more curry, turmeric, fresh pepper, etc). Google "best roast for stew" and try to get grass-fed (though I don't always do that), what you want is is the tough, lean cuts without a lot of fat, but with a lot of collagen. Cook in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes. Excellent soup, and makes about 12 servings (in my 8 quart Fagor pressure cooker).

Chicken, turkey, lamb are fairly similar. For chicken and turkey I usually open the cooker about half way through and break the bones with pliers.

IMHO the pressure cooker is the best way to make broth. You can cook more with pressure than heat so less is destroyed by the process (or so they say). The only draw back is the steam noise, modern "open concept" homes are meant for people that don't cook much; but we just crank up the volume on the TV.

Bone broth, the true breakfast of champions!

[RobbyJ]

I just finished making a soup with chicken stock. I started on Sunday by cooking 2 whole chickens in the oven, in a large ceramic dish. I stripped the meat for stir fry.. and on Monday I put the bones & all the drippings from the dish into a pot. I don't have a pressure cooker yet so this one's for the long haul. 48 hours later, Wed, I sifted through the stock & crushed all the bones (although I think a brisk stir with a metal serving spoon would have broken them up at that point). Another full day later, tonight, I put the stock through a strainer to remove the bones & little bit of meat, then used a wire strainer sifter to get some of the remaining chunks out. I sampled it at this point.. delicious! Not too much flavor, as I only added some pepper to it, but a good clean flavor and a thick feeling on the way down.

I then took 8 medium organic carrots, a bag of celery, 2 very small onions and 4 fully peeled cloves of garlic over to the cutting board. I started to cook the onion and garlic in bacon grease from my fridge, and then added the carrots and celery prior to filling the pot with stock. I happened to have some turkey, I'd say about a quart perhaps.. a few pounds anyways, in my freezer in a sealed container from a few months back. I dropped the meat in the pot and filled the rest of the space with stock, leaving a few cups to freeze for another meal. I almost forgot, I added some parsley and salt. It finished simmering for a little under an hour and is very good.

I have two improvements:

1) cut up the whole turkey breast before you drop it in the stockpot, it's really big.
2) don't simmer it as long. carrots should not feel like pudding in the mouth.
3) buy a good pressure cooker.. seriously.. waiting this long with the home smelling so good is terrible.

[MN_John]

For those that are afraid of pressure cookers from your grandmother's stories, don't be. Get a new one with modern safety features built in. Mine is a Fagor 8 quart. It has a self regulating pressure valve, just adjust the stove so you get a slight steam hissing sound. If you turn the heat up to high the valve will just release more steam which will eliminate all your liquid. In addition if the valve can't keep up (or for some reason malfunctions) and the pressure builds it has two independent over-pressure release valves. It also has a locking mechanism and visual indicator of pressure so you can't take the lid off if its still pressurized. Much, much safer than the pressure cookers of old!

[dell500]

Pressure cooker all the way. I've been doing it for the last year and I've noticed that cutting the chicken bones in half help get a lot of the marrow out when cooking. I usually let them cook at high pressure (15PSI) for about 1.5-2 hours. Bones come out very hollow. Can always reuse for a less gelly broth as well. I also have an All American 921 which makes A LOT of broth at once. Last run was 4 chicken carcasses, 3lb beef stock bones, 3 onions, 2 celery stocks, 1lb carrots, few bay leaves, bunch of peppercorns, and some oregano. Yumo!

[windypasswheeler]

Pressure cooker bone broth is my new staple. Good in everything, or just by itself. I think it supplies nutrients that can help repair connective tissues and cartilage.

[breadsauce]

Pressure cooker bone broth is my new staple. Good in everything, or just by itself. I think it supplies nutrients that can help repair connective tissues and cartilage.

Agree. It FEELS healing! As well as being delicious. Today in my pressure cooker goes a carcass from roast pheasant, two chicken carcass from the freezer and the bones from 4 sets of pork ribs. Should be interesting - BBQ sauce flavoured gamey stock!