Beef Stock Ingredients
6 pounds beef soup bones from grass fed beef 2 large onions, organic
4 large carrots, organic
1/2 cup water, filtered
4 stalks celery, including leaves, organic
1/2 cup chopped parsnip (optional if you can tolerate), organic
1/2 cup cubed potato (optional if you can tolerate), organic
8 whole black peppercorns, organic
6 sprigs fresh parsley, organic
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, organic
14 cups water, filtered
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Slice onions. Chop scrubbed celery and carrots into 1 or 2-inch chunks. In a large shallow roasting pan place soup bones, onion, and carrots. Bake, uncovered, about 60 minutes or until the bones are well browned, turning occasionally. This process is very important to beef stock (versus chicken stock). It produces browning (the Maillard reaction) which produces the rich flavor of the stock. Roasting also releases fat. A little beef fat is good, especially when it’s rich in Omega-3′s from grass fed beef, but even then too much ruins the taste of things.
- Drain off fat. Place the browned bones, onion, and carrots in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Pour 1/2 cup water into the roasting pan and rinse. Pour this liquid into soup pot. Add celery, tomato, parsnips, potato parings, peppercorns, parsley, bay leaf, salt, thyme, and garlic. Add the 14 cups water.
- Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5-8 hours depending on how concentrated you want the flavor. Strain stock (we used unbleached cheese cloth as it’s the most natural way to strain. You can also use a strainer or seive). Usually you discard meat, vegetables, and seasonings. I picked out the meat pieces and used them in a soup the next day. You’ll definitely want to use fresh veggies though.
- To clarify stock for clear soup: In order to remove solid flecks that are too small to be strained out with cheesecloth, combine 1/4 cup cold water, 1 egg white, and 1 crushed eggshell. Add to strained stock. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Strain again through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. You’ll be good to go!