Beef broth, or beef stock, or whatever

How to Make Homemade Beef Broth

Beef broth (also known as beef stock) is a simple additive that you can use in soups, stews, gravies, and sauces that will add a lot of great flavor for very little cost.

This recipe for homemade beef broth makes quite a bit, so make sure you’re prepared to store it before you get started.

Ingredients for Homemade Beef Broth

You will need:

  • Four pounds of meaty beef soup bones, available at any supermarket
  • Three carrots
  • Two or three celery stalks
  • Two or three onions
  • A bay leaf
  • Garlic cloves
  • Whole peppercorns
  • Dried thyme
  • Dried marjoram
  • Dried oregano
  • Water

How to Make Beef Broth

In a large roasting pan, place your big meaty beef bones. To help ensure a decent flavor you’re going to bake them for about half an hour at 450 degrees.

Beef broth, or beef stock, or whatever
Image by stevendepolo via Flickr

While your soup bones are roasting, chop up your onions, celery and carrots. Decent size chunks is okay – these will be removed before you’re done. After the thirty minute mark, add the vegetables to the roasting soup bones. If you think it’s necessary at this point, you can drain some of the fat. It’s probably not necessary. Roast for another twenty to thirty minutes, or until your veggies start browning.

Dump everything out of the roasting pan and put it in a large pot. Add ten to twelve cups of warm water to the pan and swirl it around a bit to get everything out of the bottom – pour it all into the pot. That stuff at the bottom is all flavor.

Add eight to twelve whole peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a teaspoon each of thyme, marjoram, and oregano. Throw in as much chopped garlic as you think you’d like. Slowly bring your pot to a rolling boil. Let it go for about thirty minutes.

Reduce the heat and simmer your pot, uncovered, for four to six hours, or until the water has reduced into a delicious looking broth.

Now you have to take everything out. Remove the beef bones first, and strain everything else using a collander. You may want to line the collander with cheesecloth to get a clean broth. After you strain the broth there will be a “film” settling at the top. Skim it off. Repeatedly if you have to.

Tips for Making Beef Broth

Boiling for too long is better than boiling for not long enough. Don’t be shy about overdoing it.

You can store homemade beef broth for up to three days in the refrigerator. If you have too much for the short term, freeze it. You can use this guide for storing and freezing broths, soups, and stews for a long term use.

When storing your beef broth, allow it to to cool to room temperature before moving it into the fridge or freezer.

Consider making a nice traditional beef stew – or stew made with beer – as soon as you’re done preparing the broth. A stew made with fresh homemade beef broth is unbeatable.

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