This is an unpopular opinion but hear me out for a second. Some have wondered about an Instagram post that I recently made stating that I don't use Instapots anymore. There is a reason for this.
I see homesteaders the world over making bone broth and other foods in their Instapots, and I can't help but wonder how healthy is the food you are cooking under pressure.
Let me get to the point. If you cook your bone broth under pressure in the Instapot, then turn around, and pressure can it, what nutrients are left? You have literally obliterated the nutrients to death.
However, by slow cooking your food, you are letting the nutrients slowly release out of the food. Then by freezing the broth you are preserving the nutrients in the best form as possible.
I am all for connivence products, don't get me wrong, but sometimes you gotta…
Well, it's the beginning of soup season my friends. I make it a practice to save the bones of different meats that we eat all the year, but most intensively during the summer months. This allows me to bring out the bones during soup season (AKA Fall/Winter) and use them up.
I especially love using meat that has bone in for soup purposes as well, as you see pictured here.
When I started to homestead, I always made chicken stock. Then I read the Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon-Morell, and learn the error of my ways. It made so much sense. Don’t get me wrong, chicken stock is great! It has its place in EVERY kitchen., but the nutrient profile is not as rich. I have lots of chicken stock, as I love to cook with my own homemade chicken stock, and I use it throughout the year.
However, this time of year, I really put a lot of effort into making soups that deeply nourish me and my family. That’s why I am about to offer you a very unpopular opinion. Are you ready for it?
I don’t use Instapots. As a matter of fact, I threw mine away.
There I said it.
I prefer the slow cookers. Yes, I know the Instapot has that ability to use in that way, but the flavor profile is so much deeper, richer tasting to me than when I use my slow cooker. It really brings out the flavor of the bones and everything that has been added to that soup. I feel something is lost on us not just in flavor, but in patience. By being patient and waiting for that bone and meat to slowly release all of their goodness, it allows us to, and really frees us to use our time and energy to get nestled into that slower time of year that Fall and Winter requires from each of us.
This world is in a rush to move on to the latest and greatest thing, but there is something to be said about a food that has been around since the beginning of time. Why change it. Low and slow, low and slow.
Nourish yourself, your family, and your soul.