Experimenting with stock simmering times?

[tanyalynn]

Has anyone experimented with how long they simmer their stock? I've always used the long-simmer guidelines in NT, but GAPS/Campbell-McBride feels that much shorter times are better for gelatin and other connective tissue to dissolve into the water (without breaking down), and I think that's where I need to focus now.

So, has anyone actually experimented and seen a difference?

[Koalamom]

The only difference I see in the gelatin is what I use. Meaning free range, natural, or just regular chicken, etc.

[kjbrown92]

Mine seems the same in consistency whether I do it for 4 hours or 24 hours or 36 hours. However, if I use less water, I definitely get a "richer" and more full-bodied stock. So I'm not sure what that means. I had some chicken broth (36-hour) in the freezer. And I had some grilled chicken breast leftovers from last night. So I put in about a quart of my good broth, then added another quart of water, and the additional chicken breasts, and cooked it all for another 4 hours. It tasted good! I don't know about the gelatin difference though.

[CaraboosMama]

Not sure how "scientific" this is...but if I know I am going to simmer a shorter time - I make sure to break the bones a bit (chicken bones) to ensure marrow getting into the broth. My gram used to do this - cut a little hole in the end of leg bones - to open up the marrow.

[Peek-a-boo]

How long do GAPS etc recommend simmering for?

[AJP]

I've always ended up with a much more gelled stock when I've started with a raw chicken and simmered for no more than 8 hours. When I use bones that had already been cooked (like carcasses from roasted chickens), no matter how long it simmers there's always been less gel, and long cooking times starting with raw chicken seems to result in less gelling for me also. Aside from the gelatin issue, I prefer the taste of stock that simmered for less than 12 hours, over that and it usually tastes a little bitter to me.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by Peek-a-boo

How long do GAPS etc recommend simmering for?

I think it's around 4 hours, more or less, maybe beef slightly longer, but not much. And one of the links I read did mention raw instead of cooked like AJP described above.

I did my first batch of short-simmer beef stock today, but I think boiling it after I take the bones out in order to reduce it would defeat the purpose. And that's a bummer cause I had a lot of bones saved up in the frig (may reduce it down tomorrow anyway).