Bone broth is so last year. Why not be the first to try bacon tea. It only takes 2 ingredients, is the cheapest meal you will ever have, simple to make and incredibly nutritious.
I almost feel like I’m cheating when I am typing this recipe, but the simplest ideas are generally the best. My kids laugh at me drinking my bacon tea, they think it should have veggies, but then it would be bacon soup.
It tastes like bacon, pure and simple. So if you like bacon, I’m pretty sure you will love bacon tea. The beauty is, that once you make bacon tea, you can freeze individual portions in a muffin tin, then pop them out and store them in a resealable plastic bag in the freezer. You can defrost and re-heat 1 cup at a time. Genius!
How To Make Bacon Tea – yes, bacon tea.
Go down to the supermarket or butcher and buy some bacon bones that still have a fair bit of meat on them. Mine cost me $6.95 NZ for enough to fill my slow cooker to the brim. Cover with boiling water, turn the slow cooker on, and a few hours later you will have bacon tea. You can enjoy bacon tea for weeks as it can easily be frozen then defrosted when you want a cuppa.
What results after the hours of cooking is the most amazing liquid (tea) and bacon pieces. Drain the liquid through a sieve and this is your bacon tea. Allow the bones to cool a little before picking off the meat. Be sure to remove any tiny bone pieces. You can now do a few things with everything you have just made –
- Drink the bacon tea warm when it is finished cooking
- Keep some bacon tea cold in the fridge and it will set to the most amazing jelly ever. You can eat this cold or heat it up and drink it. Once heated it will return back to it’s liquid form
- Reserve the bacon pieces for a snack
- Freeze any excess bacon tea in muffin tins. Once frozen, pop them out of the muffin tins into a freezer bag. 2 frozen pieces from the muffin tins should be enough for 1 cup of bacon tea. Defrost in the microwave until hot or on the stove top gently
- If it’s summer and you don’t want to drink anything hot, you can still have bone broth by setting it with meat and vegetable into a jelly (aspic) using a decorative mould then serve with salad or cold meats as a side dish
So what is all the hoopla about broth or bacon tea? When you boil and simmer bones for a very long time, they release their wonderful gelatine (this is what makes it set), collagen, glucosamine, anti inflammatory and gut healing proteins, and other fabulous minerals and nutrients such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium.
The liquid that results, is jam packed with nutrition and is an incredibly cheap and easy. Our ancestors knew the magic of broths and soups for generations. Many swear it helps brighten skin and hair, boost your immune system, soothe tummies, reduces joint pain, reduce inflammation, and even helps you get over the common cold. How? The old remedy of drinking chicken soup when you have a cold really works, it inhibits the neutrophil migration. Nature gets it right yet again.
I've just discovered bacon tea!! Find out how to make bacon tea with only 2 ingredients and a slow cooker.Isn’t it just the same as stock? Stock and soup generally have a variety of vegetables and seasonings. I like bacon tea as it requires absolutely zero preparation and so I actually get round to making it. With all the best intentions in the world, sometimes not having all the vegetables required to make a soup means it doesn’t get made.
But by all means, add vegetables if you like then you have created a wonderful and healthy soup for the family. And if you have never tried bone broth before, adding vegetables may be a gentle introduction to it. Do whatever you feel you would enjoy. There are no rules, just maybe different names for the results. Enjoy x
How To Make Bacon Tea
Instructions
- Pop all the bacon bones in the slow cooker.
- Pour on boiling water and cover.
- Cook on SLOW for 6-12 hours or HIGH for 4-8 hours.
Notes
So next time you are at the supermarket or butchers, buy some bacon bones and make some bacon tea for the weeks ahead. There are so many ways to eat and drink it, and so many benefits.
Terrie Jackson says
I think here in the states what we call a ham hock would work? There is also a place that sells left over ham bones for sale after they do the trimming. There is a lot of meat left. However it’s called Honey Baked Ham, should I be suspicious of sugars and how much do you think it would actually be a hindering factor to using them. Thanks
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I think you may be right, that sounds exactly like what I buy. I wouldn’t be too concerned about the honey cured, it is only the bone and the extra meat that is left over. Once this is cooked in litres of water it will be heavily diluted. Obviously it would be better to find bacon without the sugar, but if that is what is available, I’m sure it won’t add too many carbs to your day.
Fran says
Often they smoke pork bones to create bacon bones here, rather than cutting bacon off them. So I’m thinking you could ask for smoked pork bones and get something similar. Ive often used them in soup prior to LCHF, but will definitely do this!!
djnikkik says
Can the bacon tea be used during fasting the same way as bone broth?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Yes that would see you through the fasting period. As weird as the name sounds, it’s basically bacon broth. Yum.
Mary Schenten says
Am I the only one who has never heard of bacon bones? Do we know them by another name? I know if I ask in our meat market they will say they don’t have them and I need to say something they will understand. Help?
I totally love the sound of bacon tea. Love anything pork.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I’ll take a photo next time I buy them. They are absolutely amazing.
Lynette says
I wonder whether I could use a smoked ham hock which has quite a lot of meat on it and some bacon bones(they usually area bit bare of meat)
Di says
I prefer to use a pressure cooker rather than the slow cooker. Is there any reason why this wouldn’t work for this recipe?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I’m sure it would work. I need to get a pressure cooker to have a go.
Elena says
Add to your broth salt, black pepper and a leaf or two of laurel for flavor during simmering time. Discard laurel when done. Cool the broth and pass it through a cheese cloth where you put some smashed cloves or garlic. Add back the meat bits to the broth. Refrigerate. Now is a good time to skim the fat on top, only if fat scares you. Next day you have what all Eastern Europe knows as a headcheese and is cooking since ancestral times. You can use pork neck bones, pork feet and/or hooks, any meat with lots of bones and skin (where the collagen is). Here in Canada it is called sometimes button pork.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Thanks Elena for your tips, and lesson on broth. It is so obvious that man has been cooking animal bones since the beginning of time, knowing all the goodness and nutrients contained within them. We also honour the animal by using as much of it as possible and reducing waste. I can’t wait until the winter arrives here and I can start making it again.
Sara says
i must admit I did double check the post to see if this was written on 1 April…
Sounds yummy though and hey… it’s BACON!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Nice one Sara for reading the post. A lot were totally grossed out or confused as to what I meant, but if they read it they would see it’s just another name for broth, but who wants that huh? Maybe they thought I was putting chunks of bacon inside a tea bag? Now that would be gross 😉
Charndra says
Thanks, love the ‘new’ name. Just finished making some, though I think it was in the slow cooker for 20 hours +. The bones simply broke into pieces when I was picking off the meat; all those delicious minerals are now in the tea! And it tastes delicious.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Yeah the name has thrown a few people who haven’t read the post. Others have really taken to it and think it’s hilarious. I’m glad you liked it, and yes, those minerals and goodies do last pretty darn good huh?
Dee Reddan says
Hi, I saw these bacon bones at the butcher last week – now I know what to do with them! My experience with making broths and consomme is to add some celery, carrots, leeks and even turnips. ( I know that the carrots and turnips are a no-no for strict banters), but having reached my goal weight it some not impact on my weight- it only adds to the depthness and flavour.
Nicky says
is bacon bones the same as gammon bones please?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Take a look at this page discussing everything bacon “It turns out that there is very little difference between Bacon and Salted Pork or Ham. The difference between them is primarily in the brine used to cure the flesh.”
Hélène says
we dont have bacon bones here in the US.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
They may be called ham bones or bacon bones.
lindalivingnaturally says
I thought bacon came from the pork belly?? When I ask the butcher, where should I ask for the bones to come from? The back?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
They may be called ham bones or bacon bones.
Karen S says
I have never heard of bacon bones. What are they?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
They are the bones left over once the bacon has been sliced from them at the butchers.
Barrie Walsh says
Now why didn’t I think of this?