How to Store and Preserve Bone Broth

Preparing bone broth is very easy; a fact which has already been established. But making it takes a very long time, with a minimum of 18 hours. Most people tend to make it in excess so as to keep for another day especially if it is a component of your daily diet. Some other people make the bone broth and save it for a rainy day. When their kids come down with a cold or a child is sick and needs recovering, the preserved bone broth in the home can be a source of fast relief and accelerated recovery.

Also, if you want to shed weight with the bone broth and plan on taking it everyday, you obviously don’t see yourself preparing the bone broth everyday. Your excesses and leftovers has to be available to you for another day’s use.

Preservation and storage are important factors after making the bone broth, especially at home. If you want to really feel the benefits of bone broth, then having it around is of great importance.

How Then, Can you Preserve and Store Bone Broth?

Preservation and storage methods need good considerations when it comes to prolonging the shelf-life of any food. Some questions you might have before reading this article could be; “How can I preserve or store my bone broth to last longer? How do I preserve or store the bone broth so it still retains its nutritional value? Can I preserve the bone broth without a refrigerator/freezer?”

This article will answer all your questions concerning preserving and storing your bone broth.

There are different methods of preserving bone broth. This article would go down to explaining each one of them with their pros and cons. You just have only to choose one or more of preference to you.

 Freezing Bone Broth

This is about the easiest form of preserving bone broth. You get to put it in the freezer and leave it there. The bone broth freezes within 6-8 hours and all your preservation worries are over. You can store bone broth in a tight jar or in a compartmentalized container (like ice cube trays) where your bone broth is divided into sections of reusable sizes.

Pros

1. This method can store bone broth for up to a year.
2. You don’t have to worry about microbial buildup in your bone broth because the low temperature ceases all microbial build-up.
3. Freezing Bone Broth in a compartmentalized container makes reusing it very easy.
4. If you’re one looking on how to store bone broth for a long period of time, this method is good for you.
5. This method keeps your nutrients intact so you get to reap the benefits of bone broth.

Cons

1. The method requires that you have a freezer.
2. Freezing bone broth is not an energy conserving method.

Storing the Bone Broth in a Refrigerator

Preserving bone broth in a refrigerator is just as easy as freezing bone broth. The shelf-life of bone broth stored in the refrigerator is about 6 months which makes it less than the freezing method in terms of period of storage.

After cooling your bone broth, you can put it in a glass jar or a plastic container before placing in the refrigerator. How about we look at the pros and cons of the refrigerating method used to store bone broth.

Pros

1. It is a very easy and stress-free process.
2. The shelf-life of your bone broth is long.
3. It is a good method for you if you have no need to keep your bone broth for more than 6 months.
4. It preserves the nutritional value of your bone broth.

Cons

1. It is not as effective as the freezing method when it comes to prolonging the shelf-life of the bone broth.
2. This method does not conserve energy.
3. You need to have a refrigerator to store bone broth with this method.

Dehydration Method of Preserving Bone Broth

This preservation process is a more complex one than the freezing bone broth or refrigerating. It involves the total removal of the moisture content of the bone broth to form a powder.

To make this, the bone broth is concentrated to a thick paste and spread on paraflexx sheets. The broth is then placed in a dehydrator till it looks brittle and glassy. It is broken and blended till it forms a fine powder. This can be hydrated anytime for use.

The powder can be stored in a glass jar or any hermetic container. This powdered form can last for as long as it is properly stored.

Pros

1. This method increases the shelf-life of the broth than freezing bine broth (arguably).
2. It conserves energy more than the freezing and refrigerating process.
3. Powder is easier to store bone broth after dehydration.
4. You don’t need to own a refrigerator or freezer to preserve with this process.

Cons

1. It is a more stressful preservation process.
2. Over-heating can denature some vitamins and nutrients present in the broth.
3. The bone broth flavor can be lost during the dehydration process making you loose some benefits of bone broth.

Canning

This is not a conventional home preservation method but it is possible to be done at home. It is done in a pressure canner for safety. Be sure to get rid of all the fat sediments (degreasing) before canning.

Pros

1. It is a convenient form of preserving bone broth.
2. The shelf-life is improved significantly just like freezing bone broth.

Cons

1. This method is more technical than other preservation methods.
2. During canning, heating pressure could lead to nutrient loss.
3. Preservatives added during canning can be unhealthy.

Preserving the bone broth is quite easy and convenient as you can decipher from this article. Save from the methods highlighted in this article, there are other preservation and storage methods used to improve the shelf-life of bone broth.

You can store bone broth at room temperature but this method only lasts for a week or two (under favorable conditions). Sometimes, the bone broth is concentrated into a thick paste to reduce the moisture content. Reducing the moisture content would give it a longer shelf-life even when stored at room temperature.

Final Words…

Bone broth is a healthy diet option with numerous benefits. There are various bone broth meal plans available to you, all of which are easy to prepare.

You can have the bone broth available to you at all times after preparation with the easy preservation and storage techniques highlighted in this article.

Go on ahead and preserve your bone broth with these techniques for continuous availability. I sincerely hope this article has answered most of your questions on bone broth preservation.

The bone broth is your healthy companion to a healthy life.