When I told my oldest son I was roasting some bones in the oven he looked at me sternly for a few seconds before exclaiming, “Mom, you just keep getting weirder and weirder!” I suppose from the perspective of a 10 year old, the idea of roasting bones, then “painting” them with tomato paste (a bit of a macabre-looking scene to be sure) and then simmering them in a cauldron, um, I mean crock pot, sounds a bit bizarre. But in spite of appearances, there is a method to my (seeming) madness.
In the post How to Make Chicken Stock in Five Minutes I touched on some of the health benefits of eating bone stock. It’s a great “whole” food few of us incorporate into our modern diets. Health benefits are one thing, but when you experience the exquisite flavor of real “brown” beef bone stock you will understand just how worthwhile it is to make it yourself. Store bought stock will never have the same rich flavor and certainly not provide you with the full health benefits.
This recipe is based on one from Emeril Lagasse. I have tweaked the quantities, eliminated the wine and thyme, increased the cooking time and included vinegar to pull the minerals out of the bones for maximum health benefit. You could make bone stock without roasting the bones but it would not have quite the same rich flavor. The process of browning the bones makes for a sophisticated flavor that is beyond compare. This is a classic method chefs use to obtain maximum flavor from bones for use in stocks and sauces.
The recipe makes a fairly significant amount of mineral rich, delicious bone stock which means the invested time and money is well worth it.
Ingredients
- 5 pounds beef and veal bones (preferably including some joints)
Beef and veal bones for stock
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 2-3 carrots, cut into chunks
- 2-3 stalks of celery, cut into chunks
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 4 Bay leaves
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 10-15 peppercorns
- 12 cups of cold water
- Celtic sea salt (added at the end of the process)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place the bones on a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes, flip them over and roast for another 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and brush hot bones on all sides with the tomato paste.
- Add the onion, carrots and celery to the roasting pan and roast for a final 30 minutes.
Before and After
- Add the roasted bones and vegetables to a large crock pot (or stock pot).
- Place the pan on the stove and deglaze with the vinegar, scraping the bottom of the pan for browned particles.
Deglazing the pan with vinegar
- Pour some of the water into pan to further deglaze it and then pour the resulting liquid into the crock pot along with the remainder of the 12 cups of cold water.
- Add the Bay leaves, garlic and peppercorns to the pot.
- Cover and cook on low heat for at least 24 hours and up to 72 hours.
Before and After Beef Bone Stock
- Remove from the heat and skim off any fat that has risen to the surface.
- Strain the liquid and discard the bones and other ingredients.
- Add the celtic sea salt to taste. (I used 1 tablespoon for the entire batch)
- Pour the beef bone stock into glass jars.
- Store in glass jars in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze it. Just be sure you do not freeze in the ball mason jars. (I use Pyrex)
I made three batches of beef stew with this stock. It was concentrated enough that I diluted it by half with water for the recipe. That just goes to show how rich it was (after 48 hours). You could also reduce the beef bone stock further by cooking it down on the stovetop for more compact storage.
Making your own beef bone stock will truly raise the caliber of any recipe you use it in. When I made my beef stew I found that I only needed to add some fresh thyme and a little salt and pepper along with the meat and veggies and I had a truly restaurant quality final product. It was also good to know that I was feeding my family and myself some really nutritious food.
Happy bone roasting!
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Wow, the end result looks amazing.
Thank you! It is such a rich stock. It really goes a LONG way.
Thank you for this great recipe. The pictures are immensely helpful. I’ve made my own broth on the stove before, but this looks WAY easier!
You’re welcome. It really does make a great, rich stock. Good luck!
Hi there. This is the only bone stock/broth recipe I’ve found that makes it look, taste and smell tasty. Thank you!!!!
My question is about the Ball Mason Jars – why can’t you freeze with them?
Thanks!
Hi Kerry, I put that comment in there because a few people let me know they had the mason jars explode on them in the freezer. I have since learned that the wide mouthed jars, up to 16 ounces, are fine but the larger ones are not. Supposedly there are plastic lids you can get that work in the freezer a little better than the two piece metal ones but I’ve never actually used those. Oh, and leave plenty of room at the top for expansion when the liquid freezes.
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That looks so incredibly dank. My tummy is calling for that. The best I can do now is a banana
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If you have this on low and it is simmering, do you continually add water so that the whole thing doesn’t cook down to nothing? 24 hours or more seems like a long time with adding any additional liquid. Thanks!
Tami
Tami,
I cook mine in a crock pot so I don’t have to worry about adding more liquid. If you are doing it on the stovetop you definitely need to cover it tightly and cook very low. If it is covered well enough there shouldn’t be too much need to add extra liquid. But I could see how over such a long time there would be a loss of moisture. You should definitely add more liquid if it looks like it is cooking down too much. YOu would want the bones to stay covered by water the entire cooking time. The stock will be very, very concentrated at the end of the process. Before adding it to recipes you may wish to add more water depending on how rich you like the flavor
I hope that helps.
Lea
This is my no-fail recipe! I love this way to make broth and post this link in the MDA forum often so thank you, again.
Here’s another question for you. My crockpot seems to run high… the low setting is about 225 which is what they claim their high setting is supposed to be. From what I’ve read, this is common with newer crockpots. Could this high temp be ruining the nutrients or denaturing the protein?
Great. I’m glad you like it. Thanks for posting it in the MDA forum. I am not an expert but I do believe, at least with some crockpots, the low temp ends up being just as high as the high temp. The difference is it takes longer on low to reach the max temp than on high. So it might take 3 hours to reach 225 on the high setting and 7 hours to reach 225 on the low setting. If you are cooking broth for 24 hours or more it could end up being the same temp for the majority of the time. I am not sure if this temp ruins the nutrients but I would doubt it. Some people argue it takes a higher temp to get more of the nutrients out of the bones. Again, I am not an expert on this point so you might want to research further if you are concerned. I would love to know what you find out.
I have this sitting in my crockpot now! I can’t wait to taste this – of course I have folks asking me what I am doing… I guess making homemade stuff is… not the done thing anymore. Such a shame. Having a boyfriend that has severe reactions to MSG led me to seek out this recipe and make it. Paleo makes it even better. I don’t think it can get better then this!
Thank you!!
Lisa,
My mother has terrible migraines if she even looks at MSG so I totally understand the desire to avoid it – and it’s in SO much, especially commercially available broths. I hope you and your boyfriend enjoy this bone broth!
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How about canning this so that it doesn’t have to be frozen? Is this possible?
Canning stock is a great idea. I have never canned anything but I’m fairly sure it would be possible to can stock.
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First, let me say I LOVE your blog! My blog wants to be your blog when it grows up. I hate to burst it’s bubble, but….I just don’t know that many poems or awesome recipes.
I am anxious to try your broth recipes. My husband says the smell of my bone broth cooking in the house makes him nauseous. I must not be doing it right. I kind of took a hiatus from making it for that reason, but I need to get back to it. Lord knows I need the collagen!
Maggie, Wow, thanks for the compliments! I have some somewhat bad news about the bone broth – I have had the same experience. It is typically fine for about 24 hours then beyond that the smell is less and less appetizing. On the other hand, the longer cooking time is required to get the max out of the bones. The good news is the bone broth recipe does yield a very rich and concentrated stock that will go a long way so you won’t have to make it that often. Thanks for your comment! Lea
I have my 3rd batch in the cooker as I type. It is yummy. I use it as a daily tonic, and as needed in recipes, I have just order half a cow and the butcher tried to trade me yucky sausages for my bones, he thought he was doing the right thing, I told him to back off from my bones!!!! What I don’t use the dog will.
This was the recipe that lead me to your website and I have never looked back. I look forward each week to your email and recipe. I seem to be always trying them out and I can’t say I have been disappointed yet!!
Thanks Lea, your trouble and effort are welcomed very much at this end.
Thanks again Michelle, for your encouragement!
Hi there, wonderful recipe. I’m making it right now in the blizzard. Would you be able to share your recipe for beef stew?
Hi Crystal,
That’s a good idea for a next recipe. You could take a look at my version of Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon here on the site.
That’s wonderful. I think I have all the ingredients to make that happen. Your blog is awesome. thanks for the inspiration.
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