Two articles in the past few weeks have focused on the medicinal uses of gelatin and ways to use gelatin in the kitchen. To be sure, using the commercially produced stuff, like Knox Gelatine, is the easiest way to go. It’s fairly inexpensive when purchased in bulk and stores indefinitely. For other uses in the kitchen, like an egg substitute or in making marshmallows, it’s really the only way to go. For the medicinal uses, however, extracting gelatin from animal bones at home is perfectly acceptable, and perhaps even preferred.
Most of us have already made gelatin on numerous occasions; it just happens naturally when saving the broth from cooking roasts or turkeys. We just might not have been paying attention or looking to save—and use—something that has to potential to be a valuable product, if not to us, to someone else.
Gelatin is extracted from animal bones and connective tissue like tendons and ligaments. Cartilage is a particularly rich source. Beef, pork, chicken, fish, lamb, even game animals—they’re all great. Skins also contain some gelatin, but they have a lot of fat as well.
There’s no set amount of bones and tissue to begin with. You can even collect the bones in the freezer until you have enough to make a large batch. Mix and match is perfectly acceptable here—beef, chicken, and pork combined. It doesn’t matter.
When you’re ready to begin, put all the bones and other tissue into a large stockpot or slow cooker and add enough water to cover the bones and then some. If you wish, you may add salt, about ½ teaspoon per pound of bones, but it isn’t necessary. The salt is totally optional.
Bring the water and bones to a boil and then reduce the temperature to barely simmer. Cook for up to 48 hours. The longer the bones simmer, the more gelatin you’ll obtain. Add water as necessary to keep the bones covered.
Strain the liquid to remove the bones, cartilage, and any little bits of meat or skin. Now return to the strained liquid to the pot and bring to a low boil. The goal is to reduce this volume of liquid to about 1/16 of what you began with. In other words, if you started with 4 gallons of water, you are aiming for about 1 quart. If you began with 1 gallon, you’re looking to yield about 1 cup of liquid.
Once fully reduced, pour the liquid into a clean jar. Let it cool and solidify in the refrigerator. When completely cool, remove any fat from the surface and discard or save for other purposes. It’s great for sautéing or making lotion bars. (Of course, if you are making lotion bars, you’ll have best results if you use pure beef tallow—don’t add in pork or chicken bones for making gelatin.)
This gelatin can be used for all the medicinal purposes outlined in the post on Medicinal Uses of Gelatin. Of course, it can also be made into stew, broth, or gravy.
Links to related posts:
Seven Prepping Uses for Gelatin in the Kitchen
18 april 2024
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