Bone Broth: Beef

Bone Broth- Beef

Ingredients:

·      Two packs of marrow bones

·      One pack of oxtails

·      Water

·      Apple cider vinegar

·      Diced garlic

·      Chopped onion

·      Two-three carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

·      Two celery sticks chopped into 1 inch pieces

·      Peppercorns or ground pepper

·      Bay leaves

·      Salt

Bone Prep

1.    Blanch the bones by placing them in a large pot and covering with 1 inch of water, bring to a boil, turn down to med-low and cover for 20 minutes.

2.    Cook the oxtails in a separate, smaller pot. Also cover with water and bring to a boil, turn down to med-low but allow to simmer for closer to 45 minutes

3.    Transfer only the marrow bones to a large baking sheet and roast in the oven at 450* for 30-40 minutes or until the meat in and on them is very dark brown.

Making the broth

*This many bones will require either a large sized crock pot or two regular sized ones. You can make the broth with just one pack of marrow bones and fit it all into the small crock pot with the oxtails.

1.    Place bones in crock pot(s) and place the meaty oxtail on top. You can also pick the meat off now if you’d like.

2.    Fill crock pot with water. A small pot should hold 8 cups, a larger crock pot might hold 16. Add in 2tbsp of apple cider vinegar per 8 cups.

3.    Drop in garlic, onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns and ½ tsp of salt. Turn the crock pot to low.

4.    Allow the crock pot to cook for at least 12 hours  

Storing the broth

1.    Turn off crock pots and pour the contents through a strainer into a stock pot.

2.    Place a few dozen ice cubes in the pot to cool the broth down quickly.

3.    Skim the fatty parts off the surface or strain through a fat separator.

4.    Pour the broth into mason jars or sealed plastic storage containers.

5.    Freeze or keep and consume in 5 days or less.

PROS for this method

·      A very rich broth with a savory flavor that would be great in many thick soups and stews

Cons for this method

·      Marrow bones create more oil and fat than poultry bones

·      This process is more time consuming using raw bones because they have to be cooked first.

Coming next month: Bone broth made with chicken bones