Beef stock – especially homemade beef stock is remarkably easy to prepare especially using this tried-and-true classic beef stock recipe. You don’t need purchased beef base to prepare a decent beef stock any more than you need those hateful little granules of chicken bouillon to prepare a chicken stock. Just a lazy Saturday around the house, some soup bones and vegetable scraps are all that this beef stock recipe requires.
While we mostly use roast chicken stock in our home, from time to time we mix it up by also preparing a good beef stock. The beef soup bones usually arrive in little paper packages from our meat CSA or for free at the farmers market. In this beef stock recipe, we couple those beef soup bones with leftover vegetable scraps – you know, the odds and ends of onions, the peelings from carrots and celery leaves. The inexpensive bones coupled with the vegetable scraps makes this beef stock recipe remarkably inexpensive to prepare.
A long cooking time provides ample opportunity for the wholesome nutrients present in the beef soup bones to leach out and into the water. The resulting beef stock is rich in nutrients – particularly minerals like calcium. It is also a rich source of gelatin and glucosamine chondroitin. You can read more about the benefits of bone broth.
To Prepare this Homemade Beef Stock Recipe, you’ll Need:
- Several Pounds of Grass-finished Beef Soup Bones (I routinely use 5-8 lbs)
- A freezer bag full of vegetable scraps (carrot peelings, onion tops, celery leaves etc. Don’t use brassicas or beets as they contribute an off-taste to the beef stock.)
- Fresh, filtered water.
- 2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar
- 2-3 Bay Leafs
Instructions for Preparing Homemade Beef Stock:
- Rinse an clean the bones under clean water. Pat them dry.
- Roast the bones at 400 ° F for about an hour until the bones are well-browned and fragrant. Roasting the bones ensures a good flavor in the resulting beef stock. Failure to do so may lend a sour or off-taste to the end product.
- Once the bones are browned, drain off any fat.
- Add the bones to a big pot along with any vegetable scraps you might have. Avoid using brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, turnips, brussels sprouts etc.) as these vegetables will lend a bitter flavor to your stock. Instead, garlic, leeks, mushrooms, onions, carrots and celery add great flavor.
- Add filtered water to cover and bring to a boil. Once you’ve brought the water to a boil, add the vinegar and bay leafs.
- Turn down the heat and continue to simmer for several hours. I usually simmer mine about 24 hours.
- Throughout the cooking process, skim off any foam and add water as needed.
- When the stock is finished simmering, filter through a fine mesh seive and bottle in mason jars. The stock should set just like gelatin, and the fat should rise to the top.
- Pick off the fat and reserve it for cooking, then scoop out the gelled stock and reheat to serve as soup. Note that it’s wise to serve this stock very hot as it may gel again once it cools.
See how solid the beef stock is in the above photograph? That’s exactly how you want your stock – well-gelled and very, very nutrient dense.
This recipe is cross-posted at Real Food Wednesdays.
Yummm! I loved gelled consomme
Have you ever experimented with putting tomato paste on the beef bones before roasting?
Do you think this would work made with the leftover bones after roasting a rack of lamb (and then starting at step 4, since they are already roasted)?
Definitely! Lamb stock has a strong flavor, though.
How much should it cook down in 24 hours?
About how much water did you use? I am never sure what a good ratio should be.
I like the tip about roasting the bones first. I haven’t done that before and the stock always smells a little funny although we eat it anyway.
If you are going to freeze the broth, it takes up less space the more you cook it down and condense it.
When you use it just add more hot water to make it as concentrated as you want.
Wow that is some lovely broth…
Jessie -
I’m kind of a measure-free cook, so I don’t worry about how much it cooks down. I’ll add water to the pot a few times. It’s really the length of cooking time, not the water evaporation that helps to gel the stock. Generally, though, by the time I strain the solids from the broth it has cooked down by about 1/3 or so.
Christy –
I always use enough water to barely cover the solids, but I don’t otherwise measure it.
Oh, fabulous!
You really can’t beat homemade stock — and beef stock, in particular, is worlds better made at home than purchased in the store. I love the fact that you can control the ingredients — from the type of beef used to the amount of salt in the final product. And it’s oh-so-good for you!
Definitely going to do this today. Thanks for the great directions! I have so many soup bones in the freezer, it is embarassing. We are getting our 1/2 beef soon so I need to get last year’s moved out!
Lovely! Thanks for this recipe. I didn’t brown the beef bones last time and it didn’t taste right. I’m glad to know know what to do different next time.
What a great post! I made beef stock for the first time last summer and it is fantastic. I also generally use chicken stock (or poultry stock – my last batch has pheasant bones and the batch before that had goose and turkey bones from the holidays
but the beef makes absolutely fantastic soup!
I didn’t brown my bones last time and it was very sour – no one wants to eat it! Now I know…hopefully I can disguise it with lots of carrots and celery when I make a finished soup with it. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the great post; I especially appreciated the pic of the gelled stock. DH has *finally* come on board with this lifestyle, but he was still doubtful–especially when it came to simmering stock on the stove overnight. He’s one of those compulsive types that makes sure the coffee pot is unplugged before we leave the house, so keeping the stove on 24 hours really blew his mind, LOL!
The longest I’ve been able to simmer my stock has been about 8 hours; it produced great flavor and some gelling, but nothing like your pic.
I feel inspired, and am heading to the freezer now to pull out the soup bones….
Jen – Instead of doing it on the stove, use a crock pot. If you have an electric stove, it costs more to run the stove for 24 hours than it does to run the crock pot for the same amount of time. Also, crock pots tend to be safer unwatched, especially if you have children or pets around.
Jen, I’m the same way. I use crock pots for that very reason, that and I believe they make me sick (not kidding everytime I use mine, and I’m home, I feel nauseous all day). I’m a working mom, and my hubby works outside teh home too, so it’s not feasible to leave it on all day.
Yeah, so I couldn’t use the oven for 24 hrs either lol. And I don’t run anything while I’m away. Just wisdom, and past experiences, I suppose.
Here’s my question: can I eat that yummy looking marrow or should I really save it for the stock so the whole family can enjoy the benefits? Your roasted bones picture made me drool for that glob of deliciousness!
Thanks!
Why remove the fat before and after? I mean, I understand the skimmed would be lovely to use for cooking later but wouldn’t both still be good in the stock?
My stock did not turn cloudy. Did I not boil it long enough? I’m using grass fed beef soup bones, but only have two. It’s probably 1-2 pounds. I didn’t have carrots, either and added about 1/6 c. of white vinegar, along w/ celery, onion, peppercorns, and some thyme. Have I ruined my stock? Is it salvageable?
I though NT recommends 72 hours simmering…. and I seldom make it, because it is just such a long time to keep the stove on… I could very happily do 24 hours… but how do you fit 8 lbs of bones in a crock pot? I always end up going for my largest stock pot… and ending up with about 6 qts…
This will probably sound obvious, but I wanted to be certain. Can you freeze the stock?
Thanks!
The fat that is drained off from the roasted bones, can that fat be used for cooking?
After roasting the bones I found about 1/2 inch of melted fat in the pan. It cooled into a creamy white solid. Is this fat something I should save and use?
For some reason I can’t view the pictures. Any ideas? I’d love to see if I am on track when making this. Thanks!
I made beef broth and it gelled nicely but the color is weak and it doesn’t taste good. I browned the bones first to the point that the marrow was soft and oozing out and then simmered it for 24 hours with carrot peelings and herbs. Do you think that my bones were bad? I was expecting something rich and savory and it came out kind of watery and gamey tasting. I’m new to stock making and haven’t had much success so far. I guess I’ll try a chicken next and hope that is more foolproof. Any tips would be appreciated.
I made beef broth and roasted the bones and it still tastes sour. Did I do something wrong?
Thanks for the recipe. I omit the cider vinegar but it was great. I just made gluten free gravy with some and way better than any store bought or any that I have ever tried.
I’ve attempted to make beef bone broth two times now, I’ve simmered it anywhere from 24-72 hours and all I end up with is an un-gelled mason jar full of what I can only relate to a latte. It is so cloudy you cant see through it, milky white with just the palest hint of brown. I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. Roast bones, add veggie scraps, ACV, kombu strip etc simmer and strain. I dont even know if my finished product is worth eating? Any suggestions would be great!
@Elizabeth – How high do you turn it up? I don’t know if it really makes a difference but I notice that my stock only starts to get that golden brown hue when it’s simmering pretty rapidly. I low simmer overnight and when I’m gone from home but turn it up to a medium flame to really get things going. When it starts to reduce a little that’s when I notice the color change.
Also, how many pounds and what kind of bones are you using? I typically throw in 7-8 pounds of shank (marrow), knuckle and oxtail.
Great information. Can you also use a pressure cooker to get the same results in a shorter period of time?
I don’t recommend pressure cookers.
I learned on another site to use a large electric roaster to simmer my broth safely during the night – I think that mine is a 18 quart size. It works very well and I have had great success using this method.
First off I want to apologize if someone has already asked these questions. I have neck bones and back bones that I don’t know what to do with from the side of beef we ordered. Can I make broth from this? Even if there is meat on the bones. Can i just boil it like regular with the meat on or what are your suggestions. How do you suggest I store it?