“Even though I know it’s so good for me, I do not enjoy cooking a pot of bones… especially with chicken feet! 🙂 Can I use a quality powered gelatin and achieve similar healing results?” asks Jenny M. for today’s #AskWardee. I’m sharing my answer below!
I broadcast #AskWardee live each Wednesday at 10am Pacific (1pm Eastern) on Periscope and Facebook Live. Both the podcast and video replay of this week’s show are below. Enjoy!
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The Question
From Jenny M.:
“Hi Wardee! I am loving your scopes each week! I’m learning so much! My question is: If I am trying to heal my leaky gut, can I use Vital Proteins powered gelatin instead of making my own bone broth? Even though I know it’s so good for me, I do not enjoy cooking a pot of bones… especially with chicken feet! 🙂 Can I use a quality powered gelatin and achieve similar healing results Thank you so much for taking time to answer this. You are a blessing!”
Are The Benefits Of Gelatin As Good As Broth?
This is a quote from The Gelatin Secret by Sylvie McCracken:
“But, even these quality gelatin products don’t compare to the whole caboodle that is bone broth. … When you cook down bones and other animal parts containing collagen, the collagen is released as gelatin. This gelatin is very rich in proline and glycine that your body can absorb. Bones aren’t just good sources of gelatin though! Broth made from bones is also rich in nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, and potassium. Not surprisingly, all of these are great for your bones. The bone broth itself is a liquid and rich in electrolytes, so it is also very hydrating.
Ideally, we’d all consume a few cups of homemade bone broth every day. The broth would provide us with a healthy dosage of gelatin along with the many other nutrients from the bones.
It turns out gelatin is one of the best foods you can eat for your gut. It basically acts like spackle and fills in holes in the gut lining. No wonder bone broth, with its high amounts of gelatin, is considered the go-to remedy for any digestive problem!”
The bottom line is: Whether it’s bone health, joint pain, overall nutrient profile, gut health… broth is a whole food and delivers a whole package of minerals, vitamins, and nutrients along with the gelatin.
It’s better to have broth rather than gelatin only.
I don’t want to leave it there, though. Let’s talk through some ways that you can get broth into your home without feeling squeamish about it (or whatever else is the issue on why you don’t care for making it).
#1 — Tweak the broth-making so you can stomach it.
Here are 7 ideas:
- Don’t use chicken feet! Just use chicken bones!
- Or use bones that don’t give off a smell you can’t stomach (if that’s the issue). Perhaps roasting the bones first (which makes an amazing dark stock) makes the process more palatable. I have great recipes for chicken, beef, or fish stock inside the Traditional Cooking School Premium Membership.
- Can you make your stock outside or in a garage where you’re not smelling it all day long?
- Can you delegate broth-making to someone else in the family?
- Barter with a friend or family member. They make broth and you make something you enjoy, then trade!
- Use an Instant Pot (pressure cooker) to make broth more quickly, therefore shortening the hands-on time.
- Make a big batch once per week or month and freeze so you aren’t making it so often.
#2 — Get your broth pre-made.
A great place to order broth online is from Wise Choice Market. It’s a quality broth shipped frozen straight to your door!
Benefits:
- Safe and chemical-free, bone broth is cooked, stirred, and packaged with stainless steel.
- Healthy and nourishing, organic bone broth is rich in amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and gelatin.
- The rich, balanced flavor of bone broth is perfect on its own or in other dishes.
- Shipped frozen to your door, their beef bone broth is hassle-free and stores easily.
- Real bone broth takes days to make, and their beef bone broth is slowly cooked for 48 hours.
- It’s compliant with organic, pastured, GAPS, Paleo, etc… a true, quality, nutrient-dense healing food.
#3 — Continue to supplement with gelatin.
The best combination for healing your gut is to have broth daily and also to supplement with gelatin/collagen.
You’ll find recipes in The Gelatin Secret.
Here are sources of quality gelatin online:
Gelatin (Great Lakes — red can) is great for gelling things like Kombucha jello, homemade gummy vitamins, custard, pudding, etc. It needs to be warmed to dissolve it in order for it to work as a gelling agent.
Collagen (Great Lakes — green can) does not gel, but it also doesn’t need to be warmed to dissolve. It stirs right in. I add it to to my tea and herbal coffee, and also to smoothies.
Links Mentioned:
- Free Traditional Cooking Video Series
- The Gelatin Secret
- Great Lakes Gelatin
- Great Lakes Collagen
- Vital Proteins Gelatin
- Wise Choice Market
- Instant Pot
- Traditional Cooking School Premium Membership
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I share tips and resources, plus answer your questions about Traditional Cooking!
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There’s no substitute for nourishing bone broth! Can you stomach the process of broth-making? Have you ever used pre-made broth?
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Stock is made from bones, and ckn feet are tge secret to good ckn stock…broth is made from meat.
r/
Marcel
Marcel — You are totally right. Here, I use the terms interchangeably, and I always have, and I’m referring to stock made from bones. 🙂
I thought that you were…
My husband has a phobia about chicken feet so I keep them carefully wrapped at the bottom of the freezer where I’m hoping he won’t find them. I only prepare and strain the broth when he’s not home and quickly dispose of the evidence. I hate tricking him this way but it makes the broth soooo much better! And he hasn’t expressly forbidden that I use chicken feet but one time I went out for dim sum with some Chinese friends and we ate chicken feet and he wouldn’t kiss me for 2 days. “They walk in their own poop!” he said. Men can be silly.
Try making your stock in a pressure cooker, it becomes very dense and concentrated.
BTW, chicken feet are the secret behind ‘Jewish penicillin’…
r/
Marcel
Adding to my comment…cook in the pressure cooker and let it go for at least 3-hrs…very good…
Hi Wardee,
In your opinion which is better Great lakes or Vital Proteins? By the Love your book! I’m very new to the fermenting world and went to amazon to look as some books. looked through several and fell involve with yours because it was easy to understand so I bought it. Went back to see which book that was talked about in the Gut Summit and it was yours! 🙂
Can you do a post next for someone who just doesn’t like the idea of touching bones? One friend I know thinks it’s just creepy. 😉
Real Food broth is now sold in Natural Foods (at least in Oregon). I picked up some on hand for when I don’t have some made up. So I have some frozen and some cooking in my oven currently.
I just discovered you can cook broth in the oven, so much easier. I let it soak with the vinegar for an hour, then bring to a boil, then transfer my Xtrema dutch oven to an oven at 225 degrees…which works perfect. I have a gas stove, and I could never get it to the low boil that I needed on the stove top, it was always too hot. Your oven temp will vary, this oven I have now seems much different than previous ovens. Determine your perfect temp by looking at what your broth is doing.
Hi Wardee,
It is also possible to make bone broth in a crockpot?
Kind regards,
Sanne
I use a wonderbag, bringing the stock up to boiling every 12 hours. It doesn’t let out as much of the smell, and it’s very hands off. What do you think of that, Wardeh?
Hi Karen,
This sounds like a great method!
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
Do you have a special bone broth recipe?
Hi Coralie,
Here’s a great method for making broth: https://traditionalcookingschool.com/2012/08/08/perpetual-stock-broth/
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
Great information and well presented! I look forward to implementing some of your ideas since my family has a difficult time with the smell of broth simmering on the stove.
HI Wardee,
I bought 2 lbs of Organic Beef bones and boiled them in filtered water for 24 hours with carrots, onions and celery .
My question is it does not gel when it’s cooled. Does this mean it’s not as nutritious as it should be?
Thanks.
Hi Terry,
It is always exciting when our broth gels! But sometimes it doesn’t gel. You can definitely still use this broth and rest-assured you are benefiting from it and getting nutrition. A few reasons that broth may not gel: not enough joint bones/too much meat, too much water for the amount of bones, the broth was boiled too hard.
And even with these tips, sometimes it just doesn’t gel. Use it anyway. 🙂
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
I just made chicken bone broth and it gelled fabulously. I find I enjoy eating it with a spoon–like a savory jello, but no one mentions that. Is there any reason that’s not good?
Hi, Lynn,
I think if you enjoy eating it that way that’s great! 🙂
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team
I find if I make the bone broth in a roaster in the garage or basement, my family is much happier! My husband finds the beef bone broth process worse than the chicken – ut, if I keep him away from garage or basement he’s OK with the ‘distant’ smell.