Pressure cooker bone broth is easy to make and full of health benefits. If you have an electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot it is even easier! In this post I will show you how you can make high quality bone broth (bone stock) in a couple of hours rather than simmering on the stove for hours or even days.
Before being diagnosed with celiac disease and cleaning up my diet (not necessarily in that order), I had a myriad of health issues. The peskiest was my propensity to get respiratory infections. As far back as I can remember, bi-annual sinus infections have been part of my life. Bouts of seasonal allergies or full blown colds ALWAYS led to a sinus infection that would not be resolved without antibiotics. There seemed to be no way around it. No matter what I did to boast my immune system, it didn’t seem to do a lick of good.
I’m really grateful there are medications that cure our ills when we need them. But I also have a lot of allergies to medicines, antibiotics included, so I often wondered whether a nasty respiratory infection might be the death of me someday if there were no more antibiotic alternatives. (Okay, so maybe I was a little paranoid…)
But things have changed. Since going paleo – and minimally, dealing with celiac disease, my immune system is much improved. If fact, I hardly ever get sick. And the last two times I have gotten a cold I managed to avoid having to take antibiotics. Yes!!!
Pressure Cooker Bone Broth
A few days ago I came down with a cold and was determined to do everything possible to keep it from moving into a bacterial infection requiring antibiotics. One of the first things I did was make pressure cooker bone broth. Bone broth contains healing compounds like collagen, proline, glycine, glutamine and minerals in forms that your body can easily absorb: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and others. Read more about the healing benefits of bone broth here.
Today I am sharing a recipe for pressure cooker bone broth (stock) in the hopes it will help you get into the habit of making this nutrient-dense elixir yourself. There are two other recipes on this blog for bone broth but both are made in a slow cooker. One is “Brown” Bone Stock which is a super-rich stock with a very concentrated, gourmet-quality flavor. It takes a bit more effort but is well worth it. The other recipe is “How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock in Five Minutes” which is a really easy method using a store-roasted chicken. You could use either of these recipes with the pressure-cooker method. (Using knuckles and other joints in the process will give you the amazing gel that is so sought after in bone broth.)
The pressure cooker bone broth contains beef bones, a few veggies, aromatics, vinegar and spices. It doesn’t require roasting the bones – even though you could choose to do that. The benefit of the pressure cooker method is you can have the same rich stock in a fraction of the time of the slow-cooker method. And even though homemade beef and chicken stocks smell delicious when simmering away in the form of soup, the bone broth cooking process itself has a rather unpleasant smell after several hours. My family has complained about this funky odor many times and they were relieved when we switched to the pressure-cooker bone broth method.
My Cold and Flu Therapy
In addition to sipping the warm bone broth daily, I irrigated my sinuses using a Neti Pot with a few drops of Oregano Oil. I also drank hot water with a few drops of oregano oil added because of its supposed anti-viral and antibacterial properties. (To irrigate your sinuses you can warm 16 ounces of distilled/bottled/filtered water (don’t use tap water!) and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 4-8 drops of oregano oil. Do this a couple of times a day.) I also drank lots of Traditional Medicinals “Breathe Easy” tea and took a nightly dose of magnesium-rich Natural Calm.*
And guess what – it worked! Well, at least I managed to get well without having to take antibiotics which is highly unusual for me. There’s no guarantee following this process will keep you from getting a sinus infection. But it can’t hurt to nourish your body while you are under the weather. Certainly fixing any issues with your diet (and getting lots and lots of fluids and sleep) will go a long way to keep your immune system strong regardless of whether or not you follow other homeopathic remedies.
Do you have your own homeopathic remedies or routines you follow when you get sick? I would love to hear about those in the comments section.
Oh, and I almost forgot. I’ll be speaking at an event in Camarillo, CA on February 8th. Click the photo for more information and registration.
And finally, I’ve created a blog page specifically for my new cookbook “Sweet Paleo: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Delights” if you would like more information and links to purchase.
Learn how to make pressure cooker bone broth in the recipe below. I have used a stovetop pressure cooker in the past but now use an Instant Pot.
