For the folks in a hurry for the recipe who just want the instructions without it’s life history, you’re in luck. Recipe first then I’ll tell the story!

Recipe:

• 500-1000g of raw or cooked meaty bones. Ideally this includes 6-8 chicken or duck feet or a deer hoof or a pigs trotter
• 150 ml of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• teaspoon/small bunch each of any dog-safe herbs or spices (curly parsley, ginger, turmeric etc)
• large soup pot (4-6 litre) to boil in
• water to fill the pot (4-5 litres)

Method:

• add the bones, herbs (if using), vinegar and water to the pot
• bring to the boil and boil vigorously for 30 minutes
• turn down and simmer for another 2-4 hours, until liquid has reduced to 1/4 or less of the original volume
• sieve the broth and *discard* the bones
• pour the broth into sterilized glass jars (previously in oven at 120C for 30 mins, or washed out with boiling water). You should get 500-800ml (2 medium jars)

• let cool (scrape off the ontop fat layer before use) – keeps in fridge for 1 week or freeze in silicon moulds/icecube trays and store in the freezer for up to 6 months
• You can dilute 1:1 with water, kefir, or pureed fruit or veg to make frozen shapes

That’s it! Really easy-peasy bone broth.

How I Came to Make Bone Broth

Every raw feeder and/or anyone with an interest in dog nutrition will stumble across bone broth sooner or later. It’s ubiquitous in Instagram #rawfeedinginspo bowl photos, where its normally presented in the form of cute wee paw shapes. I suspect the Instagram love of bone broth has a lot to do with the cute factor, but don’t let that that deter you. It’s an amazingly nutritious food supplement for dogs (and cats) and indeed for humans too!

What is Bone Broth?

“Bone broth is a liquid gel, extracted from selected bone and connective tissue that contains natural proteins and minerals that are not always associated with your pets diet.

Helping your pet overcome food Intolerances & Allergies.

Help with Improving the joint health & regeneration of Cartilage.

Helping dogs with arthritis, joint pain and hip dysplasia

Supports the immune system & helps with sick & recovering pets.

 Supporting the bone structure of growing pups & kittens.

As a maintenance plan to aid dogs over 4 years old or known to suffer from future arthritic problems.”

Source: Alexander’s Natural Bone Broth/The Natural Vet website https://www.thenaturalvet.co.uk/products/alexanders-natural-bone-broth-paws accessed 28-01-2022

What’s In It?

I’ve yet to find a commercial bone broth that actually lists the amounts of calcium, glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen, trace minerals, vitamins etc it contains (that good old “natural product, batches may vary”) I guess? However, it’s bound to be nutritious stuff, as it’s got all the nutrients from the bone marrow, the bones, the cartilage in the joints, and the connective tissue around the bones. As it’s all natural “boiled off” the bones the nutrients will be more readily assimilated, “bioavailable”, to our pets than synthetic tablets (for joint supplements etc).

Why Should I Feed Bone Broth?

Bone broth is a tasty way to get liquids into a poorly dog, a great way to keep (fluffy) dogs hydrated in the summer, a tasty way to tempt fussy dogs to eat, and a low fat filler for greedy dogs! It’s probably wonderful for maintaining their joint health and for helping with tissue repair after injury. It’s an easily digestible and nutritious add-on to any diet type (kibble, wet food, cooked, or raw) and because you can choose the bone varieties used, you can tailor it to avoid triggering allergies or intolerances. I feed Sally a couple of frozen shapes at a time, or use 2-3 tablespoons of the jelly poured over her meal.

It’s also frighteningly expensive to buy. Typically RRP £3-4 for a pack of a few wee paw shapes or £7-10 for 300-500ml. Why? Because the purists will tell you the bones should be simmered for days to extract all the nutrients. Long boiling times of up to 72 hours are normal for commercial recipes. For home cooks Dogs Naturally suggest 24 hours (in a slowcooker crockpot) and this is about the quickest of the online recipes I’ve found, most are of the opinion that longer boil time=better.

I don’t have a slow cooker (or an Aga, or want to leave my electric oven on at 120C for 4 days – all methods to be found online). I have an ordinary domestic kitchen with the usual kitchen utensils, but I wanted to try making bone broth.

My First Attempt

So what I had was a big soup pot. One evening I put everything in it and turned it onto boil. It had about 3 hours boiling time when I turned it off at midnight (as I was scared to leave the gas running overnight). It had also reduced to about 1/4 of the original volume. Imagine my amazement the next morning when I came to turn the pot back on (I’d assumed I’d need to keep going for 24 hours boil time) to find in the cold kitchen, the nascent broth had turned into a solid jelly! I’d made bone broth. And not just any bone broth, but the holy grail of home-made bone broth: a solid translucent wobbly jelly! No need to boil it for days! – Note your broth will only be a jelly at low temperatures, it will turn back to liquid if warmed, to set it, store in the fridge overnight.

There was a bit of beginners luck at work here. My next effort (chicken wings not feet) remained a liquid broth after a 4 hour boil. That’s how I learnt that for a jelly you need feet (because all the bone-joints are where the cartilage/collagen is to be found that sets the broth) and the more the better! I assume there is some trade-off with shorter boil time: my “cheats broth” won’t be as nutritious per ml as the ones boiled for longer. But as it’s so much quicker and easier to make, and as you can’t really overfeed it, I can compensate by giving her a more generous portion. Don’t worry if your broth doesn’t set. It’s still very nutritious!

Acid

The apple cider vinegar or lemon juice is essential, without the acid the bones don’t leach minerals as easily. The acid will cause any charged proteins to change shape at a molecular level, and this will aid to pull the meat away from the bones. You need the acid (it doesn’t set if you forget it). I’ve found 150ml is the minimum for a 6 litre pot. I tend to put in around 150-200ml.

Herbs & Spices

Do you like the smell of cooking meat? As someone who’s mostly veggie, I don’t. So for me herbs and spices are a way to mask the cooking smells.

I often use root ginger (1-2 cm piece grated), turmeric and black pepper (teaspoon of turmeric, quarter teaspoon of black pepper), and curly leaved parsley. I’ve found that turmeric and parsley seem to be best at making the kitchen smell more pleasant!

Some people add garlic, I don’t, as I suspect even at low supposedly safe dosages, it may cause slight levels of red blood cell lysis in Sally. If using then add 2-5 cloves (not the whole bulb, just the cloves, of crushed garlic). Chia seeds are the trendy super food de jour (also high in protein and omega acids) so these make an appearance in some commercial broths. There’s no reason not to add them to yours if you feel so inclined. You can also make a plain broth without any herbs or spices.

Should I Pre-Roast?

You’ll see some recipes tell you to pre-roast the bones in the oven to dry them out before boiling (as apparently this makes the nutrients leach into the broth faster). I tried this once, I saw no discernible difference, and there’s always the issue of meat proteins forming carcinogenic compounds if burnt while roasting, so I don’t bother with this step. However, if you are a meat eater you can use the bones scavenged from roasted meat dishes such as a roast chicken or a Sunday roast.

Those *Discarded* Bones

You can boil them up again and get another batch (store the cooled preboiled bones in the freezer if you don’t want to boil them again immediately). There’s enough nutrients left after one boiling to do another (if you can be bothered). It will still set the second time around. I’ve done this once, because I heard it was possible, and in the spirit of experimentation I had to try. However, I generally discard the bones after one go. I just feel I’ve probably got the best of the vitamins, enzymes and soluble proteins (all likely to be heat liable) the first time around. When finally throwing out the bones keep them away from pets and garden wildlife such as foxes. Cooked bones can be a dangerous choking hazard as they are brittle and will splinter if chewed.

Additional Recipes

• I mostly dilute my jar(s) of set jelly 1:1 with water (to be able to pour it into the moulds for frozen shapes).
• Mix it 1:1 with kefir and make frozen shapes.
• Mix in any dog-safe chopped fresh fruit or veg.
• I make cooked veg stew (pumpkin or leafy greens) by adding a generous scoop of the bone broth to boiling veg. Sally isn’t fond of veggies but will eat them if boiled in bone broth!

Where to Buy Bones:

Supermarket, local butchers, dog food suppliers, Asian food supermarkets (this latter normally stock poultry feet). You can use any mix of raw, cooked (the bones from your Sunday roast etc) or dried bones (sometimes sold as dog treats). As you want to extract the optimum nutrition, and you don’t want any nasties, I personally think it’s worth paying the premium for local and/or organic meat so I’d recommend asking at a butcher (if you are lucky enough to have a good one nearby) or buying organic from a dog food supplier.

Where to Buy Bone Broth

If you’d now like to give bone broth a try, but don’t want the hassle of boiling broth for 3-4 hours, then yes, you can buy ready-made. Take a look at Stefs Pet Pantry who tend to keep a selection in stock, or if your local pet store has a raw freezer, then ask if they also sell bone broth.

Can I Eat it?

Yes, if your broth is made from food-grade meat bones then it’s suitable for people too. It’s going to taste very bland to a human palate due to the lack of salt. You’ll probably want to season yours. Beware feeding any bone broth bought as human food supplement to a dog, as it likely contains added salt. Check the ingredients first!

Are you ready to try making your own bone broth? Any questions give me a shout, and please let me know how it turns out!