Meat Stock: A Step by Step Guide
Meat Stock Vs. Bone Broth
Many often confuse bone broth with meat stock, but they are very different. Bone broth is made with bones and either little to no meat and is usually cooked for a longer period around 24 hours. The longer cooking time for bone broth results in extracting more nutrients from the bone and tissues. Bone broth has a higher amino acid profile and is high in glutamic acid, this can cause a strong detoxification or die off reaction. Meat stock is made using meaty bones and is cooked for a much shorter period of time around one and a half hours up to a maximum of three hours. Meat stock is very gentle on the digestive system and the gelatin and amino acids can quickly heal and seal the gut lining. We do not introduce Bone Broth until the gut lining has been healed and sealed. Meat stock is recommended for those on the Introduction Diet. For more information on Meat Stock Vs. Bone Broth Click Here.
How to Make Meat Stock:
Meat stock is an essential tool on the GAPS Diet Protocol. We make meat stock on a weekly basis in our home. It can be made alone as stock, turned into soup, and stock can be used
as the base when making many other nutritious meals on the GAPS diet. Meat stock is really easy and simple to make. I always advise clients to make two batches at one time. It is worth the investment in purchasing a large stock pot for this purpose. You can add 2-3 whole chickens (however many you can fit) and make meat stock and freeze the excess to thaw and serve later.
Always remember ro invest in organic pasture-raised chicken from a local farmer if possible. The next best option would be an organic chicken. Pasture-raised chickens are much healthier and provide more healing nutrients. Choose the best quality for what you can afford within reason.
Vegetables, herbs, and seasoning should also be organic and local if possible. We want to lessen the toxic load on the body. Use a variety of types & colors of vegetables in your soup/stock.
For chicken meat stock, you can use whole chicken, chicken halves, quarters, feet, necks, backs, etc. As long as you have 80% meaty bones, you are good to go. Chicken feet have a
lot of gelatin and can help give your stock that desirable wiggle of gel you are striving for!
Let's dive in on how you can make your own meat stock!
Equipment:
Stock Pot or Dutch Oven
Knife
Cutting Board
Garlic press
Sieve
Immersion Blender (or any blender will work)
Mason Jar or other glass jar for storage
Ingredients:
Whole Chicken (I purchase mine from a local farmer with pasture raised chicken) 1-2 teaspoons Sea Salt (or Celtic Sea Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt, etc)
Handful Black Peppercorns
Garlic Cloves
3-4 Carrots, chopped
1-2 Onions, chopped
1-2 Celery Hearts
1 Head of Broccoli
Stage appropriate Vegetables
Optional: herbs or seasoning (herbs and peppercorns removed on first stages)
Filtered water
First, I like to prep my food. If you are planning to make soup with your stock, I like to cut up all of my vegetables and get everything ready to go. You can use any vegetable allowed depending on what stage of the Introduction Diet you are on. For example, here I am using celery. This is a more fibrous vegetable, and you would not want to add this to your soups until stage 5 of the Intro Diet. You can use onion, borccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots, celery (but again being mindful that things like celery are left out until later on)
Cut your chicken at the joints, to expose the marrow. This is not essential, but it helps to release more of the nutrients into the stock. I cut my chicken right at the joint of the leg exposing the marrow on both sides (see photos)
Here is a photo of the joint cut and marrow exposed. You will now place your whole chicken in your stock pot along with the giblets, etc.
Add filtered water to the stock pot. Having clean, filtered water is an important factor that we may not necessarily think about before being on GAPS. We use our Berkey Water Filter in our house for drinking and cooking and will be using it here as well.
You will want just enough water to cover your chicken. Too much water and your stock will be too diluted and not get the "gel" you are working for. No more than about an inch over the top of your meat.
Next add your peppercorns and salt. You can use Sea Salt, Celtic Sea Salt, or Pink Himalayan Salt. Having a good quality, unprocessed natural salt can add beneficial minerals while also helping the stock taste delicious!
Now set your oven burner on high, we want to bring our water to a nice boil.
Once your water comes to a boil, you will see foam rising to the top of your pot. You will want to take your sieve and remove the foam also referred to as 'scum'. This is the impurities of the stock and we want to remove this.
Turn your stock down to a very low simmer. You want to see little bubbles coming up from under your chicken- this is what you want.
You will let your stock cook on a low simmer for 1.5-3 hours depending on the size of your chicken. I usually cook my stock for about 2 hours. After about an hour of cooking, you may remove the meat from your chicken and save it for other meals or add it back into your soup. Make sure to put the carcass (bones) and giblets, etc back into the stock for the remaining cook time. You do not have to remove the meat at all if you do not wish and can still consume it in your stock.
Once your stock is done cooking, you can remove the bones and remaining hidden treasures by running it through a large sieve or nut bag (also making sure the peppercorns are removed during this process).
At this point, you may take the cartilage and gelatonous tissues and skin and blend this back into your stock with an immersion blender. These are important tools for building the gut lining.
If you are turning your stock into a soup, I would add my vegetables either at the end of cooking or when you are done cooking and cook the vegetables in the stock for about 30 minutes to make sure they are nice and soft. You can also store stock and still turn this into a soup by cooking the vegetables later.
Lastly, you can add your minced garlic to your soup or stock. It is important to add garlic towards the end of cooking
Once cooled, you can store your stock or soup in glass storage containers or mason jars. Make sure it is not too hot or your glass may break.
Meat stock stores nicely in the fridge for about 6-10 days or in the freezer for a few months. It is encouraged to consume stock with every meal or small glasses throughout the day.
The longer your stock sits the more histamines it will accumulate. Depending on the person's needs be mindful of this. If there is a histamine issue consume the freshest stock as possible and reheat stock for no more than 30 minutes.
There are numerous possibilities for chicken stock. It is easy, delicious, and provides the essential nutrients to heal and seal the gut lining quickly and effectively. Enjoy!
References:
Campbell-McBride, N. (2010). Gut and Psychology Syndrome Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Depression, Schizophrenia. Medinform Publishing
Corrado, M. (2019). The Complete Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet. Selene River Press.
Plotner, B. Chicken Meat Stock- A Step By Step GAPS Lesson. Retrieved from
https://www.nourishingplot.com/2015/07/04/chicken-meat-stock-a-step-by-step-gaps- lesson/