Traveling Bone Broth

This season a lot of us are spending time on the road or in airports - for some of us, living on diner and airline food for even a day isn't an option. I personally do best when I consume bone broth every day, but I was a bit stumped as to how I was going to do that while away from home, traveling by air, and staying in accommodations without a refrigerator, for four days. I think I've figured it out.


Look at this beautiful photo:


It's not the photography that makes me feel all warm and tingly, it's the fact that what you see inside that jar is pure bone broth - about 18 cups worth, give or take a few.

To create your own bone broth powder, start with strained and defatted broth prepared according to the Nourishing Traditions recipe or which ever method works best for you. Season the pot of broth as you like. When you have the broth flavored the way you prefer, strain it through a rather fine strainer to get all the bits of herbs, etc. out. (If you aren't as picky as me, you could certainly skip this step but there's just something so gorgeous about a bowl of clear broth...)

Keep the broth at a lively simmer until all the water is nearly gone - when it becomes thick and starts to make splattery sounds, watch it closely. I like to let it brown slightly, it adds a nice rich flavor. When it has reduced as far as it can without burning, pour it out onto parchment paper (cut to fit your dehydrator and laid out on the trays). Make sure you have prepared the paper ahead of time, because the thickened broth will start to harden on the sides of the pan and become difficult to scrape out if you allow it to cool too much.

Spread the broth out as thinly as you can on the parchment, areas that are too thick will remain leathery. Dehydrate it at 150 at least overnight - you can't overdo it with this, the drier the better.

When the broth is completely dry and brittle, it is done. Allow it to cool, then break it into pieces and pulverize it to a powder in a blender. I'm guessing a food processor would work just fine, and if you are off the grid or have kids who need to burn off some energy, you can use a slap-chop type chopper - I tried my Pampered Chef chopper and it didn't quite get it to a fine powder, but much better than breaking it up by hand.

To use the broth powder, add it to boiling hot water and stir til dissolved. The larger your chunks, the longer it will take. How much powder per cup of water? That's up to you, I suggest starting with a quarter teaspoon and adding another quarter as needed til you get the strength you want. Once you know how much per cup you like, label the container with the measurement for future reference.

So now your broth won't freak out the TSA or the airport police or add a hundred pounds to your cooler. It's now portable, lightweight, and requires no refrigeration, how cool is that!

coming up in my next post - a raw milk treat to bring on your trip, that you can carry in your purse or pocket.