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Have you ever been to a fabulous restaurant and had a bowl of French Onion Soup that knocked your socks off?
How do they do this? Good stock. The base of any superb and memorable soup or gravy is a rich stock.
The Best Beef Stock recipe made with herbs and vegetables. Freezer friendly and full of flavor, you’ll never buy store bought again!
If there is nothing else you take from this post, take this: not all stock is created equal. Store bought stock, the kind you get in a cardboard box, will never have the same robust flavor as homemade.
I get it, it takes a lot of time to create a flavorful stock, it is so much easier to pick up a box and add a little Kitchen Bouquet to “beef” it up.
If only once, try making your own. You will forever respect the process. Another key to this process is the quality of ingredients.
The more meat and bones, the better the flavor. Depending on the meat used, you may not achieve the same dark brown color you would get out of bullion or store bought stock, but have no fear, those generally have color added to produce the finished product.
After you apply your beef stock to the intended recipe, you will never notice the difference in color because you will be blown away by the intense flavor. The texture will also be thicker, even gelatinous when cooled.
Another pro? Stock freezes really well. Take one lazy Sunday and make a triple batch to freeze for later.
If you do decide to freeze, allow space at the top of your container to allow it to expand. You will need a stock pot or large enamel Dutch oven to prepare your stock.
But before you get started, make sure to read my How To Make Stock to ensure yours is the BEST it can be!
Recipe that use beef stock:
Apple French Onion Soup
Short Rib Soup
Beef Stroganoff
Crock Pot Beef and Noodles
The BEST Beef Stock Recipe
4.38 from 29 votes
The Best Beef Stock recipe made with herbs and vegetables. Freezer friendly and full of flavor, you’ll never buy store bought again!
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss beef bones, onion, carrot and celery in olive oil. Roast for 1 hour, turning half way.
Meanwhile, place the stew meat, celery base, garlic, turnip, parsley, bay leaves, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary in a large stock pot. Add the roasted vegetables and beef bones to the pot, although with any remaining liquid. Pour the red wine into the hot roasting pan to deglaze, loosening all the browned bits. Pour the wine and browned bits into the stock pot.
Add enough water to cover ingredients, plus two inches.
Simmer on low heat for 4-7 hours, the longer the better. About 2 hours after cooking, pull out the bones and using a potato nail or the end of a meat thermometer, scoop the marrow out and return to the stock along with the bones. The mixture might not be the deep brown color you are used to, after the mixture sits and fats separate from the broth, it will be less cloudy and more brown.
The liquid will have reduced by half, if not more. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out all solid ingredients. Line a colander or large sieve with a triple layer of cheesecloth and place over a large bowl, Dutch oven or casserole dish. Strain liquid through the cheese cloth. Discard solids. Cover and place liquid into the refrigerator.
After liquid has chilled, all of the fat will rise to the top and solidify. Now it can easily be spooned off the top leaving only deep, rich and flavorful beef stock. Now use your beef stock for something fabulous!
If you've tried this recipe come back and let us know how it was in the comments or ratings.
Notes
*My grocer sells beef bones frozen in large hunks. Apparently not a lot of people in my area make their own stock. The problem is that frozen bones rarely have a lot of meat on them, so I compensate by adding extra stew meat. If your bones are super meaty you can omit the stew meat.
Broth is stock's cousin but has some key differences. Although both stock and broth involve simmering in water, broth uses meat while stock uses bones. As a result, broth contains very little protein, a key ingredient in building flavor.
The trick with stock is to roast the bones first to get some caramelized flavor going, then to slowly heat them in water until a bare simmer, and then let them cook that way, gently, for a good long time. With beef stock, it helps to include some beef scraps or stew meat, as well as aromatic vegetables and herbs.
Add the bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off any foamy scum from the top. Reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover, and simmer for 4 to 6 hours, or until the flavors become rich and concentrated.
Like beef broth, chicken broth is a kitchen staple and makes a good substitute if you are all out of the meaty broth. This savory, salty liquid has a milder flavor than beef broth but is a good one-to-one replacement. Chicken broth also has a similar nutrition profile to beef broth, low in calories and high in sodium.
Stock has a richer, deeper flavor and mouthfeel, making it better at adding body to a dish, whereas broth might be a better choice when you want to let other flavors to shine.
Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool. Add a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the bowl and whisk until it's blended smooth. Next, bring the soup to a simmer and add the mixture back to the pot. Pro tip: Don't dump in the entire mixture at once.
3 – 8 hour simmer on stove – Simmer stock on the stove, for a minimum of 3 hours and ideally up to 8 hours. Stove is the traditional method, and it's entirely hands-off. The heat should be so low that you only get a little bubble every once in a while, and it doesn't need stirring.
Besides roasted meat scraps (and bones if you have any) and water, the other three essential ingredients in beef stock are celery, carrots, and onions. Use the celery ends and outside pieces you would otherwise throw away. This is a perfect use for carrots that are a little past their prime.
The whole point of adding vinegar is not just for flavor, but to extract calcium and other minerals from the bone. In fact any vinegar will do just that.
MISTAKE #1: TOO HOT IN HERE. A rich, full-bodied broth comes from the conversion of connective tissue (mainly collagen) into gelatin through the application of heat in the presence of moisture. ...
MISTAKE #2: ALL INGREDIENTS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. When it comes to cooking time at least. ...
Just bring to the boil then turn down to simmer slowly for hours. Remember: if you want a darker, richer stock, brown off the bones and vegetables first before adding water to simmer. If you don't have enough bones from one meal to make a rich stock, freeze them and pull them out when you do.
Yes!You can use beef or chicken stock as a beef or chicken broth alternative. What's the difference? Stock is made by simmering roasted beef or chicken bones for a long time, a process that extracts the collagen from the bones and gives the stock a slightly gelatinous texture, plus rich beef or chicken flavor.
It is made by simmering beef bones, water, and vegetables. To use beef stock as a substitute, you can use equal amounts of stock as beef broth called for in your recipe.
If a recipe calls for stock or broth (such as some of these soup recipes), and you only have one or the other on hand, you don't need to dash to the supermarket; they're pretty much the same thing.
Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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