Slow Cooker Bone Broth, Better Than Botox

The economics of Commercial made bone broth vs. homemade bone broth

Bone broth is an increasingly popular health trend in the US. Known for alleviating symptoms of arthritis, healing the digestive tract, and as a natural anti-aging elixir (Botox alternative and cellulite reducer!), bone broth is a traditional food that has helped people in every society thrive throughout human history. Additionally, the amino acids in bone broth may contribute to better sleep. According to the 2015 study in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, amino acid glycine is a safe therapeutic option to improve sleep.

At VitaClay, we love our bone broth so much we make it every week! VitaClay makes it easy to enjoy homemade bone broth every day—and making your own bone broth in VitaClay is also a big money-saver!

One question we get from our customers is:

How many cups of bone broth can I make in my VitaClay cooker?

So we decided to do a cost analysis of making bone broth vs buying it in the store.

Tetrapaks of Chicken, Beef or Vegetable broths are cheap: usually between $2 and $3 for 32 ounces. But this type of broth is not equivalent to deeply nutritious bone broth, which contains high levels of gelatin, minerals, amino acids and nutrients that are not present in the typical broth. If you purchase organic bone broth in the store, it is often found in the freezer section, and you should expect to pay $7-$12 for 2 to 3 cups of high quality broth.

When you consider that it is recommended to get in at least 1-2 cups of broth per person every day…that becomes very expensive.

But what about making it?

Soup bones, which are usually the most gelatinous, go for $2 to $5 per pound, depending on location. It is important to buy the highest-quality bones available: organic at the very least (pasture-raised being ideal). Good quality bones will cost a little more than conventional, but conventional bones can contain toxins like arsenic, hormones, glyphosate, pesticides and other nasty things that will get distilled into your broth and do much more harm than good. If you are going to the trouble to make bone broth—make sure it’s from the best quality bones you can get.

One to two large soup bones (about half a pound) can yield approximately 8-12 cups of broth. Already the savings are evident: an average cost of $10 for 2-3 cups, or a cost of about $3 for 10 cups. If you want to incorporate bone broth into your diet on a regular basis, the answer is clear: making your own bone broth makes the most financial sense.

And with VitaClay—making broth couldn’t be easier! Whether you want to make large batches or smaller ones, VitaClay is here to make your life easier and to make real, whole-food nutrition more affordable and delicious.

See how to make your own bone broth in VitaClay here including an even cheaper way to make it.

You can also make meat broth, which is richer-tasting and also very nutritious. An organic free-range chicken costs about $12: Roast the chicken and eat most of the meat, then add the rest of the carcass into the VitaClay pot, fill with water, and cook for 5-12 hours. You’ll have a gelatin-rich, delicious, nutrient-dense broth that will last you all week long, for about $0.25 per cup! Some people cook the bones again for a 2^nd batch of broth, or if the bones are “spent” (you can crumble them in your hands) they make a great bonemeal addition to animal food. Talk about zero waste!

While store-bought bone broth can be great to have in a pinch, if you want to incorporate real, nutritious bone broth into your diet on a regular basis it makes much more sense to make it yourself. Luckily with VitaClay, making your own nutrient-dense bone broth is as easy as the push of a button!

For additional information on our wide array of anti-aging and nourishing bone broth recipes, just enter "bone broth" into the search bar on our website. You'll discover hundreds of options!