First post, so hello everyone! Won’t bore you yet with a history, but will say been eating low carb for about one year and down 55 pounds. Been experimenting with 24 hour fasts and would like to drink a cup of bullion at work (in middle of fast). Standard off the shelf bullion cubes are convenient for me as can easily pack for work, then drop in coffee mug and run hot water from the Keurig. I have read the ingredient list though which gives me pause. OTOH, its only about one cubic centimeter. So, I guess I really have two questions, has anyone really done a cost v. benefit analysis on these, and are there any “keto friendly” bullion cubes on the market. Not interested in make your own recipes right now, I prepare a lot of food and the convenience factor is important right now. Thank you!
Hi! and Bullion cubes Q
Most of them will contain ~5 cals. I use a powdered one from knoor, chicken flavored. It’s got both sodium and potassium. 1 tsp has 5 cals 1g carbs 820mg sodium and 210mg potassium. Mix mine into a bottle of water and drink. I happen to like the flavor and don’t mind it’s not hot. I also take 1 tsp of Redmond’s real salt and wash down with water once a day. 1 tsp 0 cals 2120mg sodium. Trying to keep my sodium up there 5+ grams a day. After looking into “the salt fix” and listening to the interviews about sodium intake and then add in keto.
I sip bullion regularly during dinnertime for social reasons when I’m doing extended fasting. It has no effect on my glucose (and therefore presumably insulin) level. There is a brand called Better Than Bullion that comes in a jar. In my opinion, the chicken flavor is a little better than the cube varieties, but the beef flavor is significantly better than the cubes.
I tried bullion but it was so expensive! It literally cost its weight in gold and was very heavy 
Maybe I’ll try bouillon (sorry).
@BryanS While he’s a big advocate of home-made bone broth, even Dr. Phinney carries stock cubes with him. So I wouldn’t worry. I doubt that even the ones with the most carbs could possibly do enough damage to outweigh their benefits.
it’s the ingredients in boullion cubes and even in the Better Than Boullion. I used to love that stuff, so easy to use.
I am at my father’s for a while, and my brother made soup with boullion. Here’s what’s in it: Hydrolyzed corn protein, sugar, corn syrup solids, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil.
PASS.
I put a small cornish hen in my Instant Pot and have a ridculous amount of broth in the freezer now. It has none of the ingredients mentioned above. I froze them in portion size containers so I can just thaw and drink or use for recipes.
I recently spent some time comparing bouillon cubes and was really happy to find the Kallo line of organic ones - a bit pricey, but paying for the convenience is something I do when travelling! Plus, it’s nice just to have a box in the cupboard for if you catch a bug and haven’t got bone broth on hand.
Kallo makes an impressive range of flavors - chicken, beef, mushroom, french onion, onion & garlic, yummy!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OH9IES/ref=ox_sc_act_title_14
Here’s the nutrition info:
Ingredients: sea salt, maize starch*, glucose syrup*, palm oïl*, raw cane sugar*, yeast extract, chicken meat powder*,(2.5%) chicken fat*, (2.5%) natural flavouring, roasted onions*, tumeric*, Pepper*, parsley*, Rosemary* *certified organic;
Can one cube make you 2 broth drinks, or just 1 ? (I am looking to drink a cup per day to avoid extreme Keto flu etc.)
I don’t think I would be using those personally. If you want convenience, how about making big pots of broth and freezing it into into serving sizes? Or if your freezer area is small, really cook that broth down, and freeze in ice cube trays, one or two to a cup of hot water?
When I travel, I either buy stuff after I get somewhere, this is by air travel primarily. If going in the car, I just take things like salami, cheeses, Whisps, pork rinds with me…
A less expensive option other than actual cubes are containers of “Soup Base” found at most grocery stores. It’s in powdered form, usually in Beef and Chicken flavors, but sometimes you can find Shrimp. It’s just like the cubes.
A cup or two at bedtime, especially in the Winter, usually zonks me right out.
thanks Ken, do you have a brand that you use? A lot of brands have maltodextrin and MSG in them etc. That Kallo one mentioned above looks pretty clean.
I like the Better Than Bouillon as well. If I buy it at Costco, I get more for my money. Not sure how it would do if you can’t keept it in a fridge after opening the jar. I’ve used bouillon cubes too. Cheap and convenient.
Orrington Farms is what my Walmart carries. One g fat, two g carbs. Per cup. Not enough to be significant.
Oh, they’re excellent when one is too busy to do much quality kitchen focus (as I have been, the last two years) - or when travelling - or in summer when simmering broth is the last thing one wants to do. I’ve actually made lots of bone broth in times past 
Plus, most stock cubes and bouillon jars contain crap fats and industrial sodium chloride instead of sea salt - along with chemical additives/preservatives, most unfortunately. I had to search a lot to find something with truly old fashioned quality.
If you examine the nutrition info on Kallo cubes, the carbs are miniscule - 1-2 net cabs per - and all organic ingredients, in the classic european style.
I much prefer quality stock over snack shop keto snacks - to get a good dose of sea salt and micro-minerals.
But whatever works for you!!!
I use one cube per large mug, for a very flavorful and salty broth. You could stretch it too if you wanted, but I like the fact that one cube equals a good teaspoon of salt!
I try to add grassfed collagen peptides powder to it as well - it’s very tasty! I take a liposomal Vit. C. while drinking it in order to have max uptake/absorption of the collagen.