Grandpappy's Campfire Survival Cookbook
Chapter Thirty-Four
Bone Soup Recipes
Copyright © February 2, 2023 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
If a person has not been really, really hungry at least once during his or her life then that person will probably not read this chapter until the person is actually starving to death.
However, in my opinion, this chapter is one of the most important chapters in this book. When food begins to become scarce a person can remain healthier for a longer period of time if he will stop throwing away animal, poultry, and fish bones. Instead he should start using the bones to make bone soup. And he should start consuming the bone soup in addition to whatever other food he has to eat.
This chapter explains how to extract all of the nutrition from the bones of animals, birds, and fish. Detailed nutritional information and the health benefits of bone soup are at the end of this chapter.
The Difference Between Broth, Stock, and Soup
Broth, stock, and soup are different in the following ways.
- Broth: It is usually made using meat.
- Stock: It is usually made using meat and bones.
- Soup: In this chapter the term bone soup will be used to refer to the process of removing the nutrients from the bones. No meat or vegetables or spices will be added to the bone soup as it cooks.
History of Bone Soup
Bone soup has been consumed by people for thousands of years because it was an easy and practical way to add whatever was in the bones into the meals of the person who consumed the soup.
Vinegar and Bone Soup
It is not necessary to add vinegar to the soup water. For thousands of years people have been making healthy bone soup without vinegar.
However, if you wish to add vinegar to your soup then you may do so. Some people believe that adding vinegar to the water helps to remove more of the protein and nutrients from the bones. But if you simmer the bones long enough then almost all of the protein and nutrients will be extracted from the bones even if no vinegar was added.
If you add vinegar then you will be adding vitamins to your soup. However some of the vitamins in the vinegar may be reduced when exposed to the heat required to make soup. And some people do not like the strong flavor of bone soup when it contains vinegar.
In a campfire survival situation you may discover a variety of more practical uses for any vinegar that you may have.
Uses of Bone Soup
- Bone soup can be consumed as a hot beverage.
- Bone soup can be used instead of plain water to make extremely healthy, nutritious, and delicious sauces and gravies.
- Bone soup can be used instead of plain water to add a little meat flavor to pasta or rice as it is being cooked. The flavor will correspond to the type of bones used to make the soup, such as poultry or red meat.
- Bone soup can be used instead of water to add a little meat flavor to a homemade vegetable soup.
How to Select Bones for Making Bone Soup
Bones and their connective tissues are used to make bone soup. Different bones contain different amounts of bone marrow.
- Low Marrow Bones: The neck bones, rib bones, knuckle bones, and shin bones of an animal contain a small amount of marrow.
- High Marrow Bones: The femur, tibia, and shank bones of an animal contain the most marrow. If the marrow in these bones is manually removed then the marrow must be properly cooked for it to be digestible and healthy. However, if these bones are used to make a soup then the marrow will be extracted from the bones into the soup as the bones are cooked.
- Recommended Bones for Soup: In a campfire survival situation the best bone soup can be made by using all the bones of an animal including the neck, rib, knuckle, shin, femur, tibia, and shank bones. This will yield a bone soup that has the maximum amount of all types of nutrients. However, the weight of the marrow bones should not exceed the weight of the other bones in the soup because too much marrow will result in a greasier soup with less flavor.
Bone Soup Recipes
Do not add any salt to the soup because the sodium that is already inside the bones will be extracted into the final bone soup.
If you simply boil the bones then they will become tough and rubbery and you will have ruined the bones.
Bone soup should be made by covering the bones with about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) of water in a cook pot. Bone soup should be brought to a boil and then the heat needs to be immediately reduced. Bone soup needs to be slowly simmered over very, very low heat. The amount of time it needs to be simmered is based on the type of bones you are using to make bone soup.
This chapter contains three different recipes for bone soup that is made from animal bones, or from bird bones, or from fish bones.
Recipe 1: Animal Bone Soup
animal bones
water
Bones: You may use bones from beef, pig (wild boar), lamb, turkey, deer, big game animals, and small game animals. You can even use a mixture of bones from different animals. You can also use the hooves of animals.
Meat Removal: Begin by scraping off any tiny pieces of meat that might still be clinging to the animal bones because the meat may have spoiled. Put the animal bones in a cook pot that is big enough to contain the animal bones.
Water: Add enough water to the cook pot until the water is about 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) above the top of the animal bones.
Cook: Put the pot over medium-high heat. As soon as the water begins to boil immediately reduce the heat to very, very low.
Time: Animal bone soup needs to be very slowly simmered over very, very low heat for at least 12 hours to enhance the creation of gel, and to enhance the clarity and flavor of the soup, and to reduce the greasiness of the soup. However slow cooking for up to 24 hours will extract all the nutrition that is inside the bones and it will also enhance the flavor of the soup. If you cook the bones for more than 24 hours then the gelatin will gradually begin to break down and histamines may gradually be released and some people are sensitive to histamines.
Fat Removal: The options for fat removal are discussed after the fish bone soup recipe.
Strain: Pour the soup through a strainer to remove the bones and other small particles that may get caught in your throat.
Recipe 2: Bird Bone Soup
bird bones
water
Bones: Bird bones are smaller and thinner and they will cook faster than the bones of small game and big game animals. You can also use the feet and beaks of birds. Bird feet contain calcium, collagen, and glucosamine.
Meat Removal: Begin by scraping off any tiny pieces of meat that might still be clinging to the bird bones because the meat may have spoiled. Put the bird bones in a cook pot that is big enough to contain the bones.
Water: Add enough water to the cook pot until the water is about 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) above the top of the bird bones.
Cook: Put the pot over medium-high heat. As soon as the water begins to boil immediately reduce the heat to very, very low.
Time: Bird bone soup needs to be slowly simmered over very low heat for about 4 hours. If you include the beak and the feet then simmer for about 6 hours.
Fat Removal: The options for fat removal are discussed after the fish bone soup recipe.
Strain: Pour the soup through a strainer to remove the bones and other small particles that may get caught in your throat when you drink it.
Recipe 3: Fish Bone Soup
fish bones
water
Bones: Bone soup made from fish bones will yield a light color soup. You may also use the head and fins of the fish if they are fresh. In addition to a variety of other nutrients, fish bone soup will also provide iodine which is something the human body needs.
Meat Removal: It is not necessary to scrape off any fish meat that might still be clinging to the fish bones if the bones are fresh. Put the fish bones in a cook pot that is big enough to contain the fish bones.
Water: Add enough water to the cook pot until the water is about 1/8 inch (0.3 cm) above the top of the fish bones.
Cook: Put the pot over medium-high heat. As soon as the water begins to boil immediately reduce the heat to very, very low.
Time: Although fish bone soup can be boiled it is better to cook it slowly. Fish bones are small and thin and they only need to be simmered over low heat for a short time. The bones from an oily fish should be simmered for one hour because the oils in the fish can impart an unpleasant taste to the soup if the soup is cooked too long. The bones from a non-oily fish should be simmered for 90 minutes. If you have added the fish head and fins to the fish bones in the pot then increase the cooking time to 2 hours for oily fish and for non-oily fish.
Fat Removal: The options for fat removal are discussed next.
Strain: Strain the soup through a fine mesh cloth before drinking it.
Fat Removal Decision for All Bone Soup Recipes
While the bone soup is simmering you will need to make a personal decision about what you will do with the layer of fat that rises to the surface of your bone soup.
- Normal Meals: If most of the food you currently eat has too much fat and too much salt then periodically skimming the fat off the top of the bone soup would enhance your long term health by eliminating this extra salt and extra fat from your diet. Removing the fat will also result in a lighter soup that has a better flavor.
- Campfire Survival: If the food you acquire from nature has very little salt and very little fat then skimming the fat off the top of the soup would reduce the amount of fat and salt that you could be adding to your meals from the bone soup. In a campfire survival situation leaving the fat on top of the soup could enhance your long term health. However, if you allow the fat to remain in the soup then the soup will be thicker, darker, and it will have a different flavor. Only you will know how much food you currently have at your campsite and only you will know if you can afford to discard the fat that is on top of the soup you are cooking. If you decide to leave the fat on top of the soup while it is cooking then periodically stir the fat back into the soup. When the soup has finished cooking and after it has cooled enough for you to taste it then you can decide if the flavor of the soup is acceptable or not. If it is acceptable then you can consume the soup with the fat stirred into the soup. If it is not acceptable then you can wait for the soup to cool and the fat will gradually rise back up to the surface. As a layer of fat appears on the surface of the soup you can skim it off. You can continue skimming off each layer of fat as it forms on the surface of the soup until no fat remains.
Uses for the Fat
If you don't have any rendered fat at your campsite then you may wish to save the fat from the soup in a clean container in a cool place. Then you could use it for a variety of practical applications, such as greasing the surface of a skillet before you cook some food in the skillet, or use the fat to wax the string on a longbow.
Other Information
Slowly simmering the bones over very low heat is necessary to break down the muscle fibers and the marrow, and to extract all the calcium, vitamins, and minerals out of them. It also results in the gradual evaporation of some of the water and this makes the final bone soup thicker and richer in nutrients on a per ounce basis.
If you wish to add more flavor to your bone soup then you may add a little black pepper and a little onion powder to the soup about 10 minutes before you intend to stop cooking the soup.
If you allow the bone soup to cool for a long time then the fat will gradually rise to the top of the soup. If this happens then you will need to remove the layer of fat to avoid creating a greasy soup with a very poor flavor.
If the bone soup has cooled then it should be reheated before it is consumed. Bone soup should normally be eaten within 2 days of when it was made. If it is stored in a cool area then bone soup may be eaten for up to 5 days after it was made. Therefore bone soup should be made when you need it. You do not need to cook your entire supply of bones immediately. Bones will not go bad for a very long time. However, if there is any meat clinging to the bones then the meat will gradually become putrid and the meat will need to be scraped off the bones before they are used to make bone soup.
Nutrition in Bone Soup
Bones contain protein, sodium, chondroitin, glucosamine, collagen, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and other trace minerals.
Bone marrow contains vitamins A, B2, B12, E, K, calcium, iron, manganese, selenium, zinc, boron, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
The connective tissues contain glucosamine and chondroitin.
Fish bones also contain iodine which is extremely important to a person's long term good health. The lack of iodine in the diet of an average person is the reason that iodine was added to table salt.
All of the above nutrients are released into the soup water in a form that is very easy for the human body to digest and absorb.
It is not possible to determine the exact amount of the above nutrients that will be in one cup of bone soup because so many different types of bones can be used to make the soup. And the final soup can be thin or thick based on how long it is cooked and this also influences the amount of nutrition per cup.
However, it has been estimated that on the average one cup of homemade bone soup contains between 30 to 85 calories, about 5 grams of protein, and about 3 grams of fat.
Health Benefits of Bone Soup
At the current time no scientific studies have been conducted that were based solely on bone soup. However, the nutrients in bone soup have the following documented positive health benefits that have been verified by scientific studies:
- Enhanced Sleep: Bone soup contains a small amount of the amino acid glycine. Research has indicated that glycine may help a person to relax and have a more peaceful night of sleep. One scientific study found that glycine may help a person fall asleep faster, sleep deeper, and wake up fewer times during the night. Glycine may also help to reduce drowsiness during the day and it may enhance memory and mental functions.
- Improved Digestion: When collagen dissolves it forms a type of protein called gelatin. The gelatin in bone soup may aid in the digestion of the other foods that you eat. Bone soup also contains riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) and they may help in the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat. In a campfire survival situation enhanced digestion is a really important benefit of bone soup.
- Enhanced Bone Health and Skin Health: The collagen that is present in bone marrow and in connective tissues may enhance bone health and skin health. Since bone soup is made from bones it contains a variety of other nutrients that the human body needs to build and maintain healthy bones, such as calcium.
- Reduced Inflammation: Two of the amino acids in bone soup are glycine and arginine. Scientific research has shown that these two amino acids may help to minimize inflammation.
- Improved Joint Health and Mobility: The collagen in bone soup is the primary protein inside bones, tendons, and ligaments. Bone soup also contains glucosamine and chondroitin which is in the cartilage and they may help to reduce joint pain. The glucosamine in bone marrow may help to prevent osteoarthritis. And it may help to reduce inflammation and pain in the joints. Although this is supported by scientific research, it is also a logical assumption about the most probable benefits of consuming something made from bones. This is one of the reasons that bone soup has been consumed by people all over the world for thousands of years.
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Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com