Bone Broth: state of the trend

[Jenise]

Interesting article in WaPo. Especially to me since it references Gabriel Claycamp, a friend here in Bellingham, Washington.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyl ... 2e9a9ac7d8

Couldn't get to the article, but all I can say is that I have no experience whatsoever with bone broth.

[Jenise]

Sorry the link didn't work. I was googling my friend's name and up popped that article.

But bone broth: so trendy, but really the opposite of what I've always tried to make. I want CLEAR broths, when I boil the proteins out and get cloudy, I consider that a failure.

Jenise said:

I want CLEAR broths

Is there a taste associated with cloudy broth that you dislike, or is your preference purely visual?

I have, over the decades, moved to more concern for the visual appeal of dishes I serve, but I don't cook anything which a cloudy broth would harm the visual appeal. I occasionally read about dishes where it would matter, aspic for example, but for what I'm likely to cook, I suspect the proteins in the cloudy broth bring flavor with them.

[Jenise]

Jim, yes, there is a flavor. As in wine, I can think of almost no situation in cooking where color, and that would include opacity, isn't flavor. Whether or not one likes or minds that is another matter, but there's a reason the French invented the rafting procedure to clarify their broths. The flavors are much more precise. A cloudy broth is more muddled.

The whole “bone broth” business annoys me. Probably because the term first came to my attention in the context of the paleo diet which seriously annoys me.
The many and varied recipes that clutter the internet are all meat stocks, as most people have been making forever and with the same degree of diversity in ingredients. Perhaps, if there is a point of difference, it is that the cooking time is extended beyond flavour maximisation to maximum gelatin extraction.
Seriously, this has minimal impact on the nutritional value which is not that great anyway, marginal protein, perhaps better mineral extraction, prolonged heat exposure is detrimental to many nutrients.
And who wants insipid cloudy erky broth anyway (well Pete Evans but ...)
Frankly people are exploiting the gullible (well people have been doing that for years with diversity of ingredients as well LOL

Eat, drink and be merry

Eat food, not too much, mostly plants (Michael Pollan)

Paleo man didn’t have the resources to make bone broth!!! And s\he sure as hell ate anything that was available and edible.

Just make stock, which is a good thing, and enjoy.

Rant over.

[Jenise]

Best I understand, the point isn't so much an extended cook as it is a higher temp cook to boil the proteins out of the bones, yielding at least twice what would be in a typical stock. But yeah, it's another fad. One that's obviously going over well in my tiny part of the world, but still.

Btw, I know my friend Gabriel is also making some medicinal quality broths. I guess there are people with intolerances--I'm trying to remember to what and I don't, but maybe it's onion/garlic family stuff--and even the slightest amount can just about level them. It's not an allergy per se, IIRC, but something that systemically discombuberates something else and causes great physical hardship, and this condition is hard to feed and treat. So some local doctors are buying refrigerators in which to store this particular type of ____-free broth to resell or give to patients to introduce them to a healthy alternative because nothing else in the market place is ____-free.

Bone broth is one of the traditional Chinese broth-making techniques, in addition to conventional broth (using meat and bones) and consomme (conventional broth clarified using a protein puree or egg whites). You wouldn't expect the Chinese to discard bones without extracting some more nourishment from them, would you? Yes, Chinese bone broth is cloudy, and it isn't something you'd find served at a fancy banquet.

-Paul W.

Jenise said:

Best I understand, the point isn't so much an extended cook as it is a higher temp cook to boil the proteins out of the bones, yielding at least twice what would be in a typical stock.

I don't think this is accurate. My understanding of "simmer" is "just barely boiling," which is the same temperature as a raging boil. The only way to get a higher temp from either simmering or boiling like hell is to add pressure, as in a pressure cooker. Turning up the heat on a simmering pot of water increases the rate at which the water undergoes the phase change from liquid to gas, without making the liquid hotter.

[Jenise]

Jim, I'm not a scientist, just a keen observer of what happens in my kitchen. And every now and then I accidentally leave the fire on a stock too high and by the time I realize what I've done, it's too late. My stock, which otherwise would have been relatively clear, is now cloudy from the proteins released by the sustained high heat and aggressive cook.

I saw a tetra-pak of commercially-made bone broth in a store today. I hadn't even heard of this food, other than as a Blue Plate Special at some Korean restaurants, until now. And here it is, shelf-stable and ready to go!