As I was getting ready to introduce solids to my baby, one of the foods that kept coming up as a good first food option was: meat stock. I thought that was the same as bone broth and bought bones to make him bone broth. But as I read more, it became clear that these are different and should not be confused with one another!
So what's the difference?
- cook time: meat stock is cooked for a shorter period of time
- type of bones: meat stock you use bones with meat attached
- no apple cider vinegar whereas you typically use some sort of vinegar for bone broth to extract more of the nutrients, collagen, minerals etc.
If you're asking yourself, like I asked myself, "why would you want to use something that is less nutrient dense?" It's because though bone broth has more nutrients, it also has more histamines. The histamines come from the longer cook times. The longer you cook something or the more aged it is, the higher the histamine content. In someone with intestinal permeability aka leaky gut, this may cause symptoms. And guess what? Babies are born with a leaky gut. But this is part of normal physiology and development; it serves a purpose. The "leakiness" (the cells called tight junctions along the intestinal lining which aren't so tight at this time) allows for proteins, antibodies to pass through from the mother's milk into their bloodstream to help build up baby's immune system. HOW COOL IS THAT!? (if you have a leaky gut or histamine intolerance, you might want to try meat stock too).
Anyway, enough of the fun facts, here is how I made meat stock:
- 4-5 drumsticks + 1 lb chicken feet (you could also just use a whole chicken)
- onion, garlic, carrots
- ~ 1 tsp mixed peppercorn
- 1 Tbsp celtic salt (more minerals)
Put all ingredients in a pot with enough water to cover all the ingredients. Heat pan to medium high. Bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, you'll likely see foaming and impurities, scoop those out often until the stock is looking more clear. Boil for 15 minutes. then turn the heat to low simmer for 2-4 hours. No more than 4. After it is done cooking, let it cool then strain in glass jars and you can either refrigerate this or freeze it.
If you're refrigerating, use it within 5-7 days (histamine levels also increase the longer a food is refrigerated). And if you're using this as a food for baby, you can serve it to them as a cold "meat jelly." Otherwise, you can sip it as a tea, use as a flavorful cooking base.
*For beef bones ie knuckle, osso bucco, oxtail etc you'll need to cook for 4-6 hours.
And if you feel like you have gut issues/suspect leaky gut, you can always test your gut. This test is VERY informative, there's now even a test for babies and kiddos (not listed on the site yet but more budget-friendly, fill out an application if you want more information on this).