Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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The last few batches have been closer to gravy in consistency than jello. Im kinda confused. Normally I make bone broth with the bones of a whole chicken that has been roasted. This time I bought some chicken carcases and feet from the meat guy at the farmers market. I made bone broth as usual. Same amount of time, in a crock pot and using the same standard additions (onion garlic etc). Even this last batch in which I added a few leg bones that had been roasted.. still.. gravy???

Can anyone explain this!?

flag	asked Aug 28 at 21:15 ancestral_stars 2,892●8●22

Jill E. · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-29 12:17:52Z UTC

Sometimes when you cook bone broth for a long time the gelatin "breaks down" in a sense and doesn't gel, but it's still there (with all its nutritional goodness). I've heard this before, and it's the only explanation that makes sense as to why sometimes my stock gels and sometimes it doesn't, even when using the exact same bones/recipe and cooking time. If I only cook my broth for 6 hours, it gels perfectly, but I can't believe there are as many minerals.

Trelow · Answer 2 · 2012-08-28 21:33:20Z UTC

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Cook it longer and put in a little vinegar.

answered Aug 28 at 21:33

Trelow
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Are these gravy batches any good or should I toss them? – ancestral_stars Aug 28 at 21:38

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One one reason or another, you simply extracted less collagen/gelatin. I suppose you could argue there's less mineral content as well, but not reduced so much as to throw it out. It would have to be rancid before I'd toss it. – Matt Aug 28 at 21:55

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They are fine. I've had it happen before. – Trelow Aug 28 at 22:09

Im not really gonna toss em. I was just irritated that all that time was for naught. Im trying to get to the bottom of WHY I extracted less gelatin when I did everything the same as always.. – ancestral_stars Aug 28 at 23:36

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How many feet did you use? I don't use vinegar, but I always get gelatin so long as I have 3-4 feet mixed in with the other bones, crockpot on low, about 14 hours. The only bones with meat that I use are the backs & wings, usually 1 back & 2 wings per pot. (Meat gives a richer tasting broth, but doesn't have the collagen) – Robin Aug 29 at 11:02

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Christine M. · Answer 3 · 2012-08-28 22:06:05Z UTC

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Keep the broth. My limited experience is that I get more gelatin when I cook just bones - when there's a lot of meat, I get less, even with vinegar and cooking it for multiple days in the crockpot.

answered Aug 28 at 22:06

Christine M.
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David · Answer 4 · 2012-08-28 23:32:56Z UTC

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Interesting. As other have mentioned did you leave out the vinegar?

I've found that the best thing to make bone broth from is cow's or pigs feet.

answered Aug 28 at 23:32

David
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I never use vinegar. Its always worked fine in the past! – ancestral_stars Aug 28 at 23:35

Diane · Answer 5 · 2012-08-29 01:25:43Z UTC

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I love it when my broth is more like gravy. Much tastier.

answered Aug 29 at 1:25

Diane
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RevRigel · Answer 6 · 2012-08-29 04:11:44Z UTC

Get a pressure cooker. Collagen breakdown accelerates significantly at higher temperatures (a 15psi cooker is by definition at 250 F). One hour is enough to get solidly gelled chicken stock every time as long as the raw ingredients have plenty of cartilage on them.

hardeepsura · Answer 7 · 2012-08-29 12:25:44Z UTC

i have done bone broth in the pressure cooker for 40minutes to hour after the pressue top pops up and i put it on low heat. this was with lamb (neck) but with the meat on however still had some gelatin set nicely in the fridge. let the broth cool then pour and sieve into glass jars and place in fridge overnight. thats what i do and it works :D

Why are my latest bone broths NOT gelling up like they are supposed to? They are normally like jello but lately like gravy??

7 Answers