Homemade Beef Stock

Heat oven to 400°F. In a roasting pan, combine the bones, carrots, onion and meat. Add a good drizzle of olive oil. Roast for an hour, making sure that nothing burns by flipping halfway through the roasting process. If things start to char, turn the heat down to 350°F.

After an hour, remove the roasting pan contents and place them in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. My Martha Stewart enameled cast iron was perfect for the job. Add everything except the wine and water. Set it aside.

Then place the empty roasting pan over 2 burners, and turn the heat to medium high. With a wooden spoon or flat spatula, gently scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any baked on bits. Once the pan is hot, add the wine and 1 cup water. It should sizzle. Continue scraping the bottom of the pan while it bubbles. Turn the heat off at this point, and try to get every brown bit off.

Pour everything from the roasting pain into the Dutch oven, and add enough water to just barely cover everything. Cover the Dutch oven and turn the heat on low, simmering as long as you can, about 4-6 hours. If you chose to do this part in a crockpot, cook on low for 8-10 hours. Don’t stir during the simmering time. If you’re home during the simmering, gently skim off the fat and any foam that rises to the top with a spoon every now and then, maybe every 2 hours. If you’re crock potting it, just do it at the very end.

Once the cooking time is up, and all the visible fat has been skimmed, remove as many of the solid ingredients as you can with tongs and discard them. Line another large pot with a fine mesh sieve that you’ve covered with a couple layers of cheesecloth if you have it. Pour the stock through the sieve to strain it of remaining solids. Discard the solids or use them for another purpose.

Let the broth cool to room temperature then chill in the refrigerator. Once chilled, remove any layer of fat and freeze excess in ice cube trays, then transfer the cubes to a Ziplock bag.

Recipe based on those from my Dad and Simply Recipes.