Unlike a traditional stock, which is crystal clear and nearly free of fat a bone broth actually aims to be cloudy. That’s because with a bone broth you want bits of calcium, collagen, gelatin and fat suspended in the liquid.
Bone broth doesn’t just look different, it’s made slightly differently, too. For example, to get a cloudy broth on purpose we start with boiling water and there is no need for lots of veggies (carrots, celery, tomatoes, etc.). But, you may want to add aromatics (such as garlic, ginger, onions, green onions or leeks) for a more complex flavor. You can also boost the nutritional and mineral content by adding dried mushrooms (oyster, shiitake and porcini are the most recommended) and even seaweed (kombu is easy to get almost everywhere now) to pack more nutrients in the broth.
If you’ve got limited time and space for making and storing your pressure cooker creations, the bone broth can be used in any recipe that calls for stock. Contrarily, a crystal-clear flavor-concentrated stock can only provide a portion of the minerals and nutrition found bone broth.
Getting the goods
You can use a variety of bones for this broth – the important thing is that they come from quality-raised animals. This means organic, pastured birds and 100% grass-feed beef, veal, goat or lamb. You’ll want to have your butcher chop (or saw) larger bones into smaller chunks, to expose the nutritious marrow and more easily extract the minerals and nutrients into the cooking liquid.
If quality bones are just not sold at your local super-market, buy “bony” cuts of meat, instead. These include chicken carcasses, wings (also necks or feet), ox-tail, and pork ribs or trotters (feet).
You can also save bones from your previously cooked meals, this includes what’s left after eating a whole chicken, or the bones from a rib dinner and freeze them until you have enough to make a broth.
Larger bones can be used to make broth again, and again until they begin to disintegrate – or become very fragile. They will continue to release nutrients (especially calcium) in consecutive broths but will no longer contribute collagen and gelatin to the mix. Always add some “fresh” bones to the process if getting the broth to gel is important to you.
The Secret
When I developed this custom recipe for Instant Pot, I wanted the contents to always remain in motion – to do this the Instant Pot SMART script brings the cooker to pressure and loses it at various intervals (see the “any other pressure cooker” instructions). This breaks the “equilibrium” between super-heated bubbles in boiling liquid and the steam above them that prevents them from breaking to the surface that usually happens during pressure cooking.
Each time the equilibrium is broken, the contents simmer lightly and some-what stir the ingredients inside.
| Pressure Cooker | Accessories | Pr. Cook Time | Pr. Level | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 L or larger | none | 90-120 min. | High(2) | Natural |
(per serving)
- Serves: 8 cups (2L)
- Serving size: 1 cup
- Calories: 72.9
- TOTAL Fat: 3.3g
- Saturated fat: 1.0g
- TOTAL Carbs: 6.7g
- Sugar Carbs: 2.1g
- Sodium: 16.9g
- Fiber Carbs: 1.0g
- Protein: 4.9g
- Cholesterol: 14.9g
- 6 cups (1.5L) water
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
- 1" knob ginger, sliced into rounds
- ½ cup (30 g) dried mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster or porcini
- 3-4 pounds (1.5-2 kilos) of mixed bones
- Start the "hip bone broth" recipe script and add the water and vinegar to the pressure cooker.
- When the display says "Food" add the bones, onion, ginger, and mushrooms.Add the bones delicately, so you don't splash yourself with boiling water, by inserting half in the water before dropping it in.
- Close the pressure cooker and continue the "hip bone broth" recipe script.
- When the script is finished and the display says "donE" open the pressure cooker, strain the broth and store.
- Press [Saute] button and add the water and vinegar to the pressure cooker.
- When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the bones, onion, ginger, and mushrooms.Add the bones delicately, so you don't splash yourself with boiling water, by inserting half in the water before dropping it in.
- Close the pressure cooker and press [Manual] and leave for the default time (30 minutes) and pressure (high).
- When the program is finished let the pressure cooker go into "Keep Warm" mode for 20 minutes, or until the display shows "L00:20."
- Repeat the cooking procedure (Manual Mode default, and Keep Warm for 20 minutes) two more times - for a total cook-and-cool time of 150 minutes.
- When the third "Keep Warm" time has gone for 20 minutes, open the pressure cooker, strain the broth and store.
- Add water and vinegar to the pressure cooker and bring the contents to a boil.
- When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the bones, onion, ginger, and mushrooms.Add the bones delicately, so you don't splash yourself with boiling water, by inserting half in the water before dropping it in.
- Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. For stove top pressure cookers, turn the heat up to high and when the cooker reaches pressure, lower to the heat to the minimum required by the cooker to maintain pressure. Cook for 60 minutes at high pressure.
- When time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Natural release method - move the cooker off the burner and wait for the pressure to come down on its own (about 10 minutes). For electric pressure cookers, disengage the “keep warm” mode or unplug the cooker and open when the pressure indicator has gone down (20 to 30 minutes).
- When the pressure has come down, repeat the above two steps for a second time (pressure cook for 60 minutes at high pressure and open with natural release).
- When the second natural release is complete, open the pressure cooker, strain the broth and store.
Nutritional information is approximate - it will vary on the quantity of meat and bones used in the recipe.
I have made bone broth many times, and it has never turned out right until now. Also way easier, just used frozen bones, let sit in cold water with 3-4 Tablespoons of ACV. Also added chopped tumeric and ginger, and some dried mushrooms, black peppercorns and salt. No vegies. I think the difference was doing them for 60 minutes TWICE, letting it cool somewhat inbetween.
This was using chicken bones, feet and pork neck bones. I threw in some frozen tendon because I love it for eating.
Got the most gelled aspic broth i have ever made! Add chopped cilantro and some fish sauce and serve.
thank you!
Glad you liked it Marla. Yes, the key is two heat-up phases and also “shaking” the contents as it happens naturally when the cooker looses and gains pressure.
Ciao,
L
Are you supposed to sync up this site with the smartpot or something to get the scripts to IoS? it opens in the app but no recipe anywhere. Such bad programming! Will probably return for the non-smart-non-expensive one LOL!
Danica, enter the SMART recipes from this page – it will show you the image you’re supposed to click onto to get the recipe into your device and ultimately into the Instant Pot SMART.
http://www.hippressurecooking.com/category/smartcooker/
Ciao,
L
I’ve always made my broth on stove top or crock pot. After reading comments on other Instant Pot bone broth recipes saying the broth is thin and tasteless I was not anxious to make mine this way BUT I decided to give yours a try. This is a delicious, rich and flavorful broth. Once cooled it became thick and gelatinous. That’s without any chicken feet or oxtail, just chicken bones. I am hooked and will always make it this way. I did add a TBSP of Red Boat fish sauce, a carrot and a celery. Thanks for your expertise.
Anne, thanks for putting your trust in me, and trusting your stock to my recipe and method. So glad you got great results! Now, please share this method with those who have gotten watery bland broth!
Ciao,
L
P.S. Thanks for sharing a picture!!
I am using the Instant Pot DUO. Is it necessary to do 30 min cook, 20 min cool and repeat 3X?
Or is it ok to just leave it in for 90 minutes 1X, without the on/off process?
can this be canned for later use/ I have looked for a recipe like this but want to make a bunch are you saying I can mix my bones chicken beef and pork ?
Absolutely you can mix the meats! And, yes, you can PRESSURE can it. Here are the processing details:
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/stock_broth.html
Ciao,
L
I am new to all this (I have made pressure cooked stock only once) and have been trying to figure out why the instructions with my canner say not to can preasure cooked stocks. right now I am getting cloudy fatty stock via multiple day cooking, which is wonderful while the weather is -10º, but when things warm up I would like make it in hours rather than days and I would like to be able to put it up. thank you!
Antonio, your pressure canner is likely aluminum which is why it is not recommended you not pressure cook foods directly in the pot – to reduce aluminum leaching into the stock. It is designed to steam water and process jars only.
Ciao,
L
thank you for this script.
I’m making bone broth with my new Instant Pot Smart for nourishment and digestive aid.
I want to use this script but need to keep the temperature below 140 degrees Fahrenheit to help maximize the bones break down, while also not harming any of the nutrients in the broth.
Does this script keep the temperature of the broth below 140 degrees Fahrenheit?
thanks again!
Is it true that when a pressure cooker is run and then stopped and then started again… that the food moves around at all? Why would switching from high pressure to keep warm then back to high… cause any movement? What is the proof that this movement happens?
I don’t KNOW the answer, but I would expect some movement.
You specify “Keep Warm”. This means you are specifically talking about an Electric Pressure Cooker.
Keep Warm does not trigger until the PC has lost pressure: It triggers at a temperature that is too low to hold pressure. I am not talking about the setting here, but the state.
So to go from “Keep Warm” to High pressure, the PC must build pressure again. Electric pressure cookers drive into over pressure briefly in order to drive off the air in the PC. During this phase, the contents will be boiling vigourously. The boiling movement will mean that the contents will be agitated, so i would expect movement, just as I would expect to see it in a rapidly boiling open pot.
Thanks :-)
A better question would be, why isn’t there any movement during pressure cooking and what triggers it while the cooker is gaining and losing pressure. : )
Basically, during pressure cooking, the pressure from the steam above the liquid is stronger than the pressure of the bubbles that usually would come up to a boil – there is an equilibrium. At any point when the cooker is gaining or losing pressure that equilibrium is broken and bubbles come up as in a normal boil (as Greg mentioned).
You can check this yourself by lightly resting your fingertips on the handle of your cooker and feeling the vibrations of the bubbles – sometimes you can hear them as well.
I explain and illustrate this a bit during the opening method segment of my Pressure Cooking School- although the point is to show how fast things move around depending on how quickly the equilibrium is broken (pressure cooker is opened).
Here’s a direct link to the interesting bit where I discuss this in the video:
Ciao,
L
Thanks very much, Now I get it :-)
I’ve always heard that roasted bones make a much better broth. Your thoughts?
Yes they do. IF you are not pressure cooking the broth.
What you get from roasting is Maillard flavours. ( the brown bits that make steak delicious!).
A pressure cooker is hot enough that you get some of them just from pressure cooking. IF you want more, just saute the bones in the PC before adding the water. This is what I usually do. I toss the bones in and start cooking. Then I chop and add the other ingredients, I like to get a nice char on the onions too. Finally I add the water.Then I lock and bring to pressure.
“- that way the cooker is gaining and losing pressure at intervals and bubbles of the boil and constantly tossing the ingredients around in the pressure cooker.”
I’m not sure what the benefit of this intriguing process does for the stock? Is it to improve flavor? Or is it nutritious or appearance?
Also do you recommend the bone from a bistecca fiorentina after it’s been grilled and eaten?
Keep in mind this is for “Bone Broth” not “stock”. As Laura says in the introduction, this is intended to be cloudy not clear. The extra agitation will ensure that the contents are cloudy. You will probably also get some extra calcium as tiny bits of bone are likely to be chipped off in the agitation.
No reason why you cannot use the bone from a bistecca fiorentina, but if that is all you use it will be a pretty thin broth. The recipe calls for 1 to 2 kg of bones. A BF is only ( “only” he says – sheesh!) around 1kg before it is eaten. So the bone from a single one is likely to be less than 50g. so it will make for a pretty thin broth. Of course if it is a whole bunch left after a beef eater’s party, then go for it. It would be better as part of a mix of other bones though. Leg bones and neck bones will add other nutrients as well.
Pam and I save all of the bones from BBQ chicken, turkey thighs, beef ribs, pork ribs etc…we just throw them into a zip lock bag in the freezer until we have enough for a batch…so we are getting the bonus of having previously cooked them mostly on the BBQ….wondering what is the amount of ACV to use in a batch and what does it add to the flavor?
Tom, usually just a dash does it – if your pot is very bone-full use two dashes. : )
Ciao,
L
I’m wondering about using the instant pot for perpetual bone broth. I would not use the pressure cooker option for this, but rather keep it on slow cooking perpetually. I bought my 8qt duo pot specifically for this purpose. What I’m not sure about is how to start it, and how best to keep it going. I just now put it on high for one hour to get it up to temperature, and now I’ve set it on the slow cook, low temp, and figured I would just increase the time periodically to keep it perpetually going. Is this what you would suggest, or is there a better way to do this?
I’m wondering if I should use the pressure cook soup/broth option first, and then put it on low, or even if the “keep warm” option is enough for perpetual broth. What I want is to benefit from keeping it going and cooking for days, replacing the bones weekly to refresh it. Can you help?
I just did perpetual broth for a week with my thanksgiving turkey bones, but did it on the stove top with a low flame on the burner. It was WONDERFUL! I want to do this with the slow cooking in the instant pot, but am not sure how to start. On the stove top, I’ve always brought the bones in the water to a boil, and then just turned it down to the lowest setting and left it. That’s why I did the high temp slow cooker setting for 1 hour, and now have turned it down. What I’m not sure about is if the low slow cooker temp is still perhaps too high, compared to the “keep warm” setting for perpetual broth. I’m wanting to get the best benefit from the bones, continuing to draw out all of the nutrients, and I’m not sure how to best do this perpetually. I hope that also helps clarify my question.
Oh…and the bones have been pre-roasted in this case, coming from a roasted chicken with meat pulled off. However, I see in comments above that if they are uncooked bones, I should pressure cook them, yes?
Kim, what model do you have? Generally, you can have “keep warm” turn on after slow cooking and -depending on the model it could be the same temp as the slow cooking settings. The “Keep Warm” can go for 24 hours, so that will give you some padding for when you can get there to re-set the cooker.
I’ve never heard of “perpetual bone broth” can you share more about it and its benefits? It sounds interesting!! Maybe if I understand it better, I can provide more ideas on how to make it work in the Instant Pot.
Ciao
L
I have learned that I can just keep the instant pot on slow cook, low, perpetually. The idea of perpetual bone broth is that you are extracting as much from the bones as possible. I keep adding water to the pot each night, after dipping into it each day for broth. I then replace the bones weekly. The broth is fairly weak by the end of the week’s time, but I know I’m getting the most possible out of it, and it ensures that I’m drinking 2 cups daily, as well as my children! I am loving it!
Wow, that’s really something. I personally make large batches of double/triple concentrate broth and store in the fridge and then dilute to use (that way I can use the pressure cooker for something else) but I have to admit finding whole “perpetual broth” concept fascinating! Thanks so much for sharing with us how you keep it going and use it.
Ciao,
L
I’m curious if there is a reason you use the InstaPot over a Crock Pot/ slow cooker. It doesn’t sound like you are using the pressure of the IP just the lengthy low temp which it seems a slow cooker could provide as well. I only bring it up because like Laura I worry about having my IP tied up all the time and it’s cheaper to get a slow cooker then it is a second IP. Also have you done this with beef bones/broth or only chicken? I’m wondering about the strong scent this might create permeating throughout the house 24/7…
Tried this recipe on Sunday. I didn’t have dried mushrooms so those were omitted. Started a little after 4pm. I had a frozen turkey carcass so it took a while to get broken up enough to get into the cooker. So, say about 5pm I turned off the saute function and started the first 30 min pressure cooking. Don’t know if you account for each time of pressure reduction, then coming up to pressure again or not. But, this procedure took over 5 hours to complete. I was not up to straining at after 10pm. Plus, there was a lot of meat to separate from the bones. I thought it’d be done by about 8pm. I am using a 6qt Go-Wise. I didn’t track each pressure buildup time, but for natural pressure drop til the time the keep warm turned on was 40minutes for each cycle. I do have a nice gelled broth, but don’t think I’ll do this recipe again. Too much babysitting and way too many hours. I have back issues and by the end I was in much pain.
Don’t have an Instant Pot so I don’t know if it goes to keep warm before the pressure drops or not.
Making this recipe without the SMART is a bit of a hack – why not just use these same ingredients but do the basic pressure cooker stock, instead?
Pressure cook for 1 hour with natural release.
To make it cloudy, like this bone broth, I recommend bringing the ingredients to a rolling boil for 30 minutes when it’s done! ; )
I hope your back feels better soon. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Ciao,
L
I learned and have used a process that cooks the chicken bones so well they disintegrate and become part of the broth. There would be very little to strain out. I have only used it to make dog food though, this is where I learned the process, so stuff gets added to the broth including chicken meat back in and I haven’t actually tried the broth alone. It is dark and certainly cloudy. Can anyone think of a reason not to make the broth this way for consumption? Any reason we shouldn’t use bone broth that includes the disintegrated bones and would it have more or less nutrients for any reason? Seems like it would have the best of everything.
The process uses the manual setting on high for 90 min, opening the pot and using a masher to mash the bones as much as possible and then cooking on high for another 90 min. There may still be some left to mash a bit but not much, this is when I would add other things including meat, lentils, barley, rice, kale, veggies etc and cook another 20-30 min whatever the longest need was for additional ingredients. I always made sure there were no bone pieces left that could be big or hard enough to cause a problem but it really wasn’t necessary because the bones were just sand if anything.
The only reason to be cautious is that supermarket chickens are raised to have their meat, and not bones consumed. Apperently, lead concentration in the bones, skin, and cartilage is “a thing”. Here’s an interesting bit I found…
https://chriskresser.com/bone-broth-and-lead-toxicity-should-you-be-concerned/
I definitely think the consumption of bones from bone broth merits more investigation – good subject to research for a future nutrition summary.
Ciao & Merry Christmas!
L
Laura, thank you for the recipe. I have wanted to do this for a few weeks, but lost my nerve. After reading this now, I took my saved bones from last month’s butcher order and added them to the pressure cooker. It is cooking now. You mentioned that you make concentrate. Would you kindly explain how you do that? I know that when my chicken soup stock is too thin, I boil it to reduce, but I have never tried to make a concentrate.
Thank you in advance and thank you for your site and all the information you provide.
Wishing a Happy New Year to you and yours, Ricki
I don’t make “a concentrate” I concentrate it. If you put in less water at the beginning of the stock-making process it’s a lot less work than reducing it later – and the flavor is the same. All my stock and broth recipes, including this one, ultimately just-cover the ingredients with water this already give s a double-concentrate stock.
My cookbook (Hip Pressure Cooking: Fast, Fresh & Flavorful) gives more details on how to concentrate stock further and dilute it in recipes – if you already have the book, check the “Know Your Strength” box on pg. 49. : )
Ciao,
L
Hi Laura, just one question, maybe silly but I didn’t get it, so by using the smart recipe that you mentioned in your video the instant pot will automatically turn off or change to slow cooking to keep the ingredients inside moving or do I have to still do it manually??
Well apparently I am no able to use the instant pot smart since it is one of the only models that is only manufatured in 120v and I live in Australia where we use 240v, is there another instant pot model with the same automatically function to make bone broth??
They sell 240v Instant Pots (though I don’t think they sell the SMART) in the UK.
Ciao,
L
Can I water bath can this?
I don’t understand the question.
If you are asking can you can this broth using an open pot, then the answer is NO. You should follow the PRESSURE canning instructions linked to above
Hi there! I know you don’t have the scripts anymore on your website, but perhaps you can share the instructions? By that I mean the instructions for the scripts themselves so that I can program them into my smart? I would love to make this, and make use of my smart, even if the app doesn’t work anymore.
I just purchased an Instant Pot Ultra 8qt, & making bone broth for my diabetic dog is one reason why. Do I follow your instructions for ‘other pressure cookers”? Are there any additional tips I should know for making this in an Ultra? Thanks.
If not using a smart and just pressre cooking it in ip ultra for two hrs or so is it safe to do?i read before that where lots of fat collects at top without movement its less safe pressure cooking..should i be concerned with bone broth?can it be done at low pressure and if so for how long?also my store sells frozen grass fed bones as 3kg frozen packs so i wonder if this is too much in terms of how much fat it releases?
Hi Laura
Love the site & the hip book, can you please tell what makes the broth taste bitter, directly after cooking (sometimes not always) the broth has an unpleasant bitter taste to it, this is using bones from a regular roast. Many thanks in advance for your reply.
I get that when I have cooked the broth too long. I suggest shortening the cooking time.