i like the viet namese and chinese way of boiling for 10 mins. first and changing water and washing out pot and rinsing bones/meat before returning to pot with fresh water and simmering for hours. it make for a much clearer broth. i also like to add ginger slices and garlic and onion and maybe some star anise. i beef broth/shank expensive to make and now much prefer chicken broth. and i par boil the chicken bones first and clean it up also.
Well lucky you! Beef broth has a few more steps than others, but it is sooooo worth the effort.
You will need: Your bones (just a guess here, but I think you probably have less than the 25 pounds I've been used to working with) 2 yellow onions A couple of ounces of olive oil 4 carrots 4 stalks celery 6 cloves garlic 6-ounce can tomato paste Water or red wine
1. Rinse and roast the bones. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating, put the bones in a colander and rinse them under cold water. While they are draining, trim off the root end of 2 yellow onions, then cut them in half across the middle, leaving the skins on. On the stovetop, heat the pan in which you are going to roast the bones over medium heat. Add some olive oil. Sear the onions, cut side down until a very deep brown, just shy of burned. Leave them in the pan. Peel and trim 4 carrots, then cut them into 2" chunks. Rinse and trim 4 stalks of celery (including leaves, if any), and also trim them into 2" lengths. Add them to the pan. Also add a half dozen cloves of garlic, unpeeled. Add the bones, and roast everything until very fragrant and deeply browned, 30-40 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the oven. Use a small spatula to sweat the bones with the tomato paste. Keep the can. Return the pan to the oven and roast until tomato paste has caramelized, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer everything to your crock pot. Set the pan back on the stove over medium heat. Rinse out the can of tomato paste with water, and pour it into the pan. Add additional water (4 ounces or so) or red wine, and bring to a boil to deglaze all the beautifully browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Scrape that into your crock pot. Pour in additional water (warm is fine) to cover everything. Add 3 bay leaves and a handful of black peppercorns.
4. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to medium. Skim off any foam that rises to the top. It can be bitter. Allow stock to cook for at least 12 hours. 24 hours will be even better! If stock appears to be reducing too much, top it up with hot water. For the last 2 hours, raise heat to high, and remove the lid so the stock can concentrate.
5. When finished, set a large bowl with a colander in your sink. Pour the stock through it to remove the large solids, scraping everything out of the crock pot. Lift the colander so they can finish draining. Discard everything (I once gave a couple of the bones to my dogs, but they had cooked so much that they were soft enough that the dogs began chewing them right up, which I didn't think was especially safe: now I just buy raw bones for them). Pour the stock back into the crock pot and set a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl. Pour the stock through the sieve to remove any fine particulates.
6. Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing. If you refrigerate it overnight, the fat will rise to the top and you can simply break it off.
This may sound like a lot of hoo-ha, but since you've already bought your bones, I suspect you're up for it. Besides, the steps are spread out over a lot of time, and your home is going to smell glorious in the meantime. So off you go!
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You will need:
Your bones (just a guess here, but I think you probably have less than the 25 pounds I've been used to working with)
2 yellow onions
A couple of ounces of olive oil
4 carrots
4 stalks celery
6 cloves garlic
6-ounce can tomato paste
Water or red wine
1. Rinse and roast the bones. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating, put the bones in a colander and rinse them under cold water. While they are draining, trim off the root end of 2 yellow onions, then cut them in half across the middle, leaving the skins on. On the stovetop, heat the pan in which you are going to roast the bones over medium heat. Add some olive oil. Sear the onions, cut side down until a very deep brown, just shy of burned. Leave them in the pan. Peel and trim 4 carrots, then cut them into 2" chunks. Rinse and trim 4 stalks of celery (including leaves, if any), and also trim them into 2" lengths. Add them to the pan. Also add a half dozen cloves of garlic, unpeeled. Add the bones, and roast everything until very fragrant and deeply browned, 30-40 minutes.
2. Remove the pan from the oven. Use a small spatula to sweat the bones with the tomato paste. Keep the can. Return the pan to the oven and roast until tomato paste has caramelized, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer everything to your crock pot. Set the pan back on the stove over medium heat. Rinse out the can of tomato paste with water, and pour it into the pan. Add additional water (4 ounces or so) or red wine, and bring to a boil to deglaze all the beautifully browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Scrape that into your crock pot. Pour in additional water (warm is fine) to cover everything. Add 3 bay leaves and a handful of black peppercorns.
4. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to medium. Skim off any foam that rises to the top. It can be bitter. Allow stock to cook for at least 12 hours. 24 hours will be even better! If stock appears to be reducing too much, top it up with hot water. For the last 2 hours, raise heat to high, and remove the lid so the stock can concentrate.
5. When finished, set a large bowl with a colander in your sink. Pour the stock through it to remove the large solids, scraping everything out of the crock pot. Lift the colander so they can finish draining. Discard everything (I once gave a couple of the bones to my dogs, but they had cooked so much that they were soft enough that the dogs began chewing them right up, which I didn't think was especially safe: now I just buy raw bones for them). Pour the stock back into the crock pot and set a fine-mesh sieve over the bowl. Pour the stock through the sieve to remove any fine particulates.
6. Allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating or freezing. If you refrigerate it overnight, the fat will rise to the top and you can simply break it off.
This may sound like a lot of hoo-ha, but since you've already bought your bones, I suspect you're up for it. Besides, the steps are spread out over a lot of time, and your home is going to smell glorious in the meantime. So off you go!