How To Make Beef Stock
There are 2 kinds of beef stock in the world. The kind I make when I am thinking about all the soups and sauces I am going to cook and the kind I make when I am hungry. Either way, I end up with a nice beef stock and, aside from a stint in the oven, the techniques are practically the same. In the end, bones and meat are boiled.
How To Make Beef Stock – The Classic
When I am just making beef stock, I roast meat and bones, then put them to a gentle simmer with some aromatics and skim, skim, skim. Although every bit as easy making vegetable stock or chicken stock, beef stock takes a bit more time. A beef stock can simmer 24 hours, but that is unrealistic. 8-12 is better, but that is tough to do, too. I try my best to hit 5 hours and consider anything over that a bonus. For this reason, I wait until a very rainy day to make beef stock.
Beef Stock is powerful stuff though. What I mean is that it great for making all types of dishes delicious. Soups, sauces, gravies, etc. all are made better with fresh beef stock. The nonsense that it is powerful nutritionally is just that, nonsense. It is udder (get it?) rubbish. Not only is gelatin one of the most incomplete proteins, the nutrients in broth or stock are very low. Stick to stock for making dishes taste good and eat a well balanced diet low in saturated fats and sodium and rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and you will be much better off then relying on a few cups of broth for your nourishment.
How To Make Beef Stock – Stock and Dinner!
When I am hungry, I make a stock with a bunch of ingredients that I can eat after a few hours of simmering. Perhaps you have heard of pot-au-feu? It is essentially, simmered meat and vegetables. I simply add some bones and aromatics to it, simmer it, albeit for less time, strain, reserving the liquid, meat and vegetables. I store the liquid as stock and serve the meat and vegetables with all variety of pungent sauces (sauce raifort, whole grain mustard, chimchurri, etc) cornichon and course salt. It gets 2 jobs done – dinner and stock making!
Sure, we may miss out on some of the roasted notes, but an equally delicious beef stock can be made without a roasting step. Also, there is a trick that can help bolster the color – burn the onion! Yep, you read right, burn the onion. Cut 2 onions in half, place them flat side down in a sauté pan. Turn the heat on high and let the onion halves burn. Add these to the liquid when you add the vegetables.
While not classic to pot-au-feu, some tomato can be added to give an added bit of umami that might be expected from a beef stock. This is totally optional. I usually stick to tomato when I am making my roasted stock. Also, I don’t salt my pot-au-feu. I want a salt free stock and I leave the seasoning of the meat and vegetables to the diners.
Here are both recipes.
A Classic Beef Stock
- 5 lbs of beef bones - beef knuckle or beef shank.
- 1 lb of carrots
- 2 medium leeks
- 1/2 lb of sweet onion
- 1/2 lb of celery
- 1/2 lb of tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 oz of parsley
- 1/2 tsp of black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- vegetable oil
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots into large pieces.
- Peel and quarter the onions.
- Clean the celery, chop the stalks into large pieces.
- Clean the leek. Cut the leek into large pieces.
- Clean the tomatoes and roughly chop them.
- Place the bones into a roasting pan. Coat the bones in vegetable oil. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a large bowl, toss all the vegetables except the tomato in tomato paste. Add the vegetables to the roasting pan. Continue to roast, stirring occasionally, another 30 minutes or until the bones are brown and the vegetables are caramelized.
- Transfer the bones and vegetables to a large pot. Using some water and a wooden spoon, remove any brown bits on the bottom of the roasting pan and add this to the pot.
- Add the tomato, garlic, bay leaf and peppercorn.
- Cover the bones and vegetables with cold water, enough to cover by about 1 inch. Bring the pot to a simmer - about 175F.
- As the temperature rises a scum will float to the top. Skim the foam and discard. Skim throughout.
- Simmer for 8-12 hours adding water to the pot to keep the water level constant.
- Strain the stock into a bowl and let cool over an ice bath so the stock cools as quickly as possible. Cool the stock in the refrigerator overnight, skim the fat layer and discard it. The stock can be frozen in 1-2 cup allotments. It will last in the refrigerator for a few days and in the freezer for a few months.
Beef Stock a’la Pot-au-Feu
- 2.5 lbs of beef short ribs
- 2.5 lbs of bottom round roast (pot roast) or brisket
- 4 lbs of beef knuckle or beef shank
- 8 carrots
- 2 medium leeks
- 4 celery stalks
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 oz of parsley
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- about 12 Cups of Water
- Tie the short ribs together with butchers string.
- Peel the carrots. Cut 4 of the carrots into large pieces. Cut the other 4 whole carrots in half, tying them together in a bundle with butchers string.
- Using only the light green and white part of the leek, trim the end of the leek only enough so that the leeks stay together. Cut 1 leek in half and 1 in quarters. Tie the quartered leek together with butchers twine in a bundle
- Clean the celery stalks. Cut 2 in to large chunks. Cut the other 2 in thirds and tie together into a bundle with butchers string.
- Slice the onion in half. In a sauté pan, place them flat side down and raise the heat to high. Burn the onion halves. When they are burned remove them from the heat. They can also be burned directly over a gas flame or burner while being held with tongs.
- Make a bouquet garni by wrapping the garlic, bay, parsley and peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it closed.
- Place the meat, knuckle, chopped carrots, chopped celery, halved leeks, burnt onions and bouquet garni in a very large pot. Cover with cold water.
- Turn the heat on high. As the water warms a scum will rise. Skim and discard the scum. Skim throughout.
- The goal is a gentle simmer. When the water reaches about 175F lower the heat and maintain a gentle simmer for about 3 hours.
- After 3 hours of cooking, add the bundled carrot, celery and leek. Make sure they are covered with liquid. Let simmer about 30 minutes until they are tender.
- After the bundled vegetables are tender, remove them from the pot along with the meat. Strain the liquid into a bowl over an ice bath and let cool. Discard the chopped vegetables and bouquet garni.
- Cool the stock in the refrigerator overnight, skim the fat layer and discard it. The stock can be frozen in 1-2 cup allotments. It will last in the refrigerator for a few days and in the freezer for a few months.
- Serve the meat and vegetables with coarse salt, grainy mustard, sauce raifort, cornichon and even chimchurri.
These are 2 great ways to make beef stock. Both are very easy, but do take some time commitment. The effort will be worth it though, because the dishes that you make with them will be extra delicious. I especially like the pot-au-feu version as it is a delicious meal in itself. Having a dinner and my stock done makes me happy! You can even serve some the pot-au-feu stock as a soup appetizer – a perfect supper with a grainy bread! I hope you enjoy!
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