Turkey Bone Broth

The first step I'm taking in preparing for going on the GAPS diet is to make bone broth.  As described by Hilary Boynton and Mary Brackett, bone broth differs from stock in that it is made with less meat and more bones, cartilage, connective tissue and marrow and it is cooked much slower and for longer -- typically up to 24 hours -- to extract the maximum amount of nutrition.

Bone broth is very soothing and healing to the gut and is drunk by the cup during and between meals instead of coffee or tea. Contrast this with stocks, which include more meat, vegetables and seasoning and are cooked for only a few hours.  Stocks are used in the GAPS diet as the basis for the various soups that make up the bulk of the food allowed in stages 1, 2 and 3 of the introduction diet.

Since bone broth takes a relatively long time to prepare and I happen to have the frozen turkey carcass left over from Thanksgiving, I thought I would get busy and start it now, let it slowly cook overnight and pressure can it tomorrow.

The basic recipe for poultry bone broth from Boynton and Brackett calls for a couple of chicken carcasses (I figure one large turkey carcass will work), a few carrots and celery stalks, an onion and 4 quarts of water.

Put the carcass in the 4 quarts of water, add 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar and let sit for 30 minutes to allow the vinegar to start leaching nutrients from the carcass bones.  The carcass I have is still partially frozen at this point and is slightly too big for the pot, but once it starts cooking down, I will remove it, chop it up and add it back in so I can cover the pot with its lid.

Once the 30 minutes is up, add the chopped vegetables, turn the heat on high and bring the pot to a boil.

Now that the broth is boiling, I remove the carcass to a cutting board and break it apart into several smaller pieces which I then add back into the pot and cover it with its lid. I don't like the idea of leaving the pot on the stovetop with a gas flame running all night, so I will finish the broth off in the oven.

Fortunately, my oven has a "Slow Cooker" setting that allows it to act as a giant crock-pot.  It has a "Hi" or "Lo" temperature setting, just like my actual small, but well loved crock-pot.  I have it on "Hi" at the moment and the broth is lazily bubbling away and smelling wonderful.  I will turn it down to "Lo" before I go to bed tonight and tomorrow afternoon, I will christen my new Presto pressure canner and can this lovely broth ready for the start of the GAPS diet.  Stay tuned!