A 390 g jar of bone broth concentrate makes 9.75 litres of broth. Both Gevity Rx and Best of the Bone print that figure on their jars, and it works out to about 39 mugs, which changes the arithmetic on a $33.95 jar. It also explains why the broth shelf is a confusing place to stand: pouches, glass jars, gels, powders, and three or four words on the labels that seem to mean the same thing.
They mostly do. Stock, broth and bone broth overlap far more than the marketing suggests, and the differences that do exist come down to what went in the pot, how long it simmered, and whether anyone salted it. Once you know that, the choice between a $9.40 pouch of chicken stock and a jar of concentrate stops being about which is better and becomes a question of what you are cooking tonight. The rest is detail: what went in, why it gels, how far a jar goes, and who makes it.
Stock, broth and bone broth: what the words mean
Cooks have argued about this for a century. The three distinctions that come up most often: stock is made mainly from bones, broth mainly from meat; stock is cooked longer and tastes more concentrated; stock is left unseasoned for use in other recipes, while broth is salted and can be drunk from a cup. Any product might fit two of the three and contradict the third, so the terms get used interchangeably, even by people who make the stuff for a living.
Bone broth is the newer term, and usually means a stock simmered much longer than usual, made to be sipped as well as cooked with. Across the makers on our shelves the simmer runs from 8 hours to 48, most between 12 and 24. The Stock Merchant draws the line more sharply than most: their stock is bones plus market vegetables and herbs simmered 10 to 12 hours, while their bone broth is "made from bones alone. No onions. No herbs. Just bones", simmered a full 24 hours and unsalted, so you add a pinch yourself.
A concentrate is any of the above with most of the water taken out, by simmering with very little water or by reducing afterwards, until it is thick enough to spoon. A powder is a broth that has been dried.
Why bone broth gels, and why it sometimes doesn't
Connective tissue, the stuff in joints, knuckles, feet, cartilage and skin, converts under long gentle heat into gelatin, which dissolves into the liquid and sets it to a jelly when cold. That is the whole mechanism. Byron Bay Bone Broth, who use joints, knuckles, feet and marrow bones and hold their pots below a rolling boil, say their broth "gels firmly when refrigerated" and call that firm gel the most reliable quality indicator a buyer has.
We would put it slightly differently. Gel tells you how much gelatin is in the liquid, which matters for the body it gives a sauce, and little about flavour. A broth that stays liquid in the fridge is not a failure; in our experience the usual reasons are too much water for the bones, too few connective-tissue bones, or a hard boil, which breaks the gel. Several makers add a little apple cider vinegar early in the simmer; Byron Bay says it lowers the pH slightly in the first stage of cooking, and we will leave it at that.
Concentrates and powders: how far a jar goes
A jarred concentrate is bones simmered with a limited amount of water so the result comes out thick, and salt does double duty as seasoning and preservative. Best of the Bone's Original is 88 per cent beef bone and marrow concentrate and 12 per cent sea salt, which tells you concentrates are salty by design and meant to be diluted, never eaten from the spoon.
The dilution rates are consistent across brands: one teaspoon in a mug of hot water to drink, or one to two teaspoons per cup of liquid when you cook. At those rates a 390 g jar gives 9.75 litres or 39 serves, so the Gevity Rx Natural Body Glue 390 g at $33.95 works out to under a dollar a mug, and the 200 g jar at $14.95 is the sensible way to find out whether you like it. Refrigerate after opening.
Powders are a different process. Nutra Naturals roast the bones, cook them with water and apple cider vinegar for 48 hours, strain, skim the fat and dry the liquid into a powder. Mitchells in New Zealand slow-cook bones with vegetables, then freeze-dry under vacuum; two heaped teaspoons to a cup of hot water. Powders cost more per gram than anything else here; the trade-off is a light, shelf-stable tin you can keep at work.
How to read the label
Three things are worth checking. The ingredient list, which should be short. The salt: compare the panel per 100 mL as prepared, which means diluting a concentrate or powder at the label rate before you set it beside a pouch. And the certification: some of these are certified organic, some use organic ingredients without naming a certifier, and some are conventional grass-fed. We have noted below where a maker states one.
The makers on our shelves
Gevity Rx was founded in 2012 by husband and wife Mark and Atlanta Fowler, who began making it in 100 kg batches from their Gold Coast cafe at midnight and now make around 20 tonnes a month; it was previously Meadow & Marrow. The Natural Body Glue is grass-fed and finished beef bones from Australia and New Zealand plus naturally evaporated sea salt, made without meat or vegetables, and the flavoured jars such as Lemon 390 g use the same base. They also make olive-oil-based, egg-free sauces built on the concentrate, including the Bone Broth Mayo; two tablespoons equals one serve of Body Glue, and the sauces contain psyllium husk, chicory root, guar gum and resistant corn fibre. The whole range is at Gevity Rx.
The Stock Merchant began in Melbourne in 2010, founded by Kate and Ben, and is the maker we point people to for cooking rather than sipping. Beef bones come from grass-fed, free-range cattle in Victoria and New South Wales, chicken bones from certified free-range Victorian farms, and the vegetables from Victorian markets. The 500 g pouches of Free-Range Chicken Stock, Free-Range Beef Stock, Traditional Vegetable Stock and Snapper Stock (contains fish) are the 10-to-12-hour style with vegetables and herbs; the Chicken Bone Broth and Grass-Fed Beef Bone Broth are the 24-hour, bones-only version. The Concentrated Beef Bone Broth is halal certified. The range is at The Stock Merchant.
Star Anise Organic Wholefoods was founded in Sydney in 2010 by Soulla Chamberlain, a former corporate lawyer, and runs a Broth Bar & Larder in Bronte. The Beef Broth 500 mL is filtered water, 100 per cent grass-fed beef bones and pink lake salt, simmered 18 to 20 hours, Australian Certified Organic, and sold only in glass; there is a Chicken Broth 1 L too. The jars keep 12 months in the fridge unopened; once opened, use within seven days, and do not freeze the jar.
Best of the Bone is Australian made from Australian and New Zealand grass-fed and finished beef bones. The Original concentrate 390 g is the two-ingredient jar described above, and the flavoured jars, such as Organic Mushroom, are the ones we reach for as a quick soup base.
Byron Bay Bone Broth was started by two chefs and lifelong friends, Peter and Andy, hand-filling jars. The broth is simmered 8 to 24 hours at a low, steady temperature from certified organic, pasture-raised Australian bones, the chicken frames and feet from Inglewood Organic Farm. The Chicken 500 mL and Beef 500 mL are the ones that set firmest in the fridge.
Nativ Meats comes from regenerative farms in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The Chicken Bone Broth 250 g is certified organic chicken bones and vegetables with organic apple cider vinegar, Celtic sea salt, herbs and spices, in a mug-sized pack.
Undivided Food Co, from Lane Cove West, was formed by Tony Adams, Janine Adams and Briar Macky at the start of 2015. Their Good Bones beef broth 250 mL is the only shelf-stable pouch here: filtered water, 36 per cent beef bones, carrot, onion, apple cider vinegar, garlic, sea salt, pepper and herbs, simmered over 24 hours. No fridge until opened, and it goes straight into the microwave.
Cherry Tree Organics is a certified organic butcher in Beaconsfield, Victoria, and its Chicken Broth 1 L is the largest single container we sell. Simmer times and the full ingredient list are on the pack, not online.
The Broth Sisters began in Melbourne with a stockpot and a family recipe and remain a small family business. The Vegetable Stock Concentrate 170 g is vegan and made without onion or garlic: celery, carrot, tomato, zucchini, sea salt, extra virgin olive oil and herbs. One teaspoon to 250 mL of hot water. Contains celery.
Nutra Naturals, formerly Nutra Organics, was founded in 1998 by Mark and Darlene Powell at their kitchen table and is based in Murwillumbah in the Northern Rivers; the rename kept the products the same. We stock the powders, including the Chicken Miso Ramen 125 g. Read the ingredient list: the beef powder contains added hydrolysed protein and tapioca starch, so it is not simply dried broth.
Mitchells is from Mount Maunganui in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, founded by Rob Mitchell, a former professional snowboarder, on a family recipe. The freeze-dried Bone Broth Protein Unflavoured 500 g is 100 per cent grass-fed and finished New Zealand beef bones, vegetables and apple cider vinegar, and at $84.60 a tin it is the most expensive item on the shelf, though the tin lasts a long time.
Storing it
The food-safety rule for opened or homemade stock is three to four days in the fridge or two to three months in the freezer. Sealed products follow their label, and concentrate jars go in the fridge once opened. Never freeze a full glass jar; the liquid expands and the glass cracks. Freeze in ice-cube trays or flat in zip bags with a little headspace, and you can drop a cube into a pan without defrosting the lot.
Questions people ask
Is bone broth just stock?
In technique, largely yes. The term signals a longer simmer, a bones-first recipe, and something meant to be drunk from a mug as well as cooked with.
Why is bone broth more expensive than stock?
More bones and more hours on the stove for the same volume of liquid, as The Stock Merchant puts it. A concentrate is dearer per jar but cheaper per serve once diluted.
How do I use a concentrate in cooking?
One to two teaspoons per cup of liquid the recipe calls for. Stir it into hot water first so it disperses evenly, and taste before you add salt, because the jar already has plenty.
Every pouch, jar and tin above is on the website for delivery around Sydney, and in the fridges and on the shelves at Leichhardt and Crows Nest, where we can point you to the one that suits what you are cooking.
