Beef Broth Recipe
Bone broth is packed with vitamins and minerals. This recipe is easily done in the crock-pot, cooking it from 24 to 36 hours throughout the weekend. Drink it with meals and use it in recipes as a base for sauces, gravies, and soups.
Ingredients
- About 4 pounds beef bones with marrow, beef knuckle bones, & 2 to 3 oxtail pieces (or whatever you have!)
- 3 pounds meaty rib or neck bones
- 4 or more quarts cold filtered water
- 3 Tbsp. Red Wine vinegar
- 3 to 4 onions, coarsely chopped
- 5 to 6 carrots, coarsely chopped
- 3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped Several sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 to 4 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried black peppercorns
- 1 bunch crushed parsley
Place all bones, carrots & onions into a roasting pan and brown at 350 degrees in the oven for about 45 minutes. When well browned, place all of this into your large crock-pot with vinegar and cover with water. Let stand for 30 minutes, and then start crock-pot on HIGH. Meanwhile, pour the fat out of the roasting pan, add cold water to the pan, set over a high flame and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen up coagulated juices. Add this liquid to the pot, along with the chopped celery. Add additional water, if necessary, to cover the bones; but the liquid should come no higher than within one inch of the rim of the pot, as the volume expands slightly during cooking. In the first hour of cooking, skim the gray foam off surface.
After stock cooks on “High” setting for about 4 hours, decrease crock-pot setting to Low and add the thyme, bay leaves, and crushed peppercorns. Cook on Low for the next 24 to 36 hours and enjoy the aroma. At the end of this time, shut off crock-pot and add parsley; allow broth to cool for about an hour.
Remove bones with tongs or a slotted spoon. Strain the stock into a large bowl and you will have a delicious and nourishing clear broth to drink or use in soups and sauces. Let cool in the refrigerator and remove the congealed fat that rises to the top. Transfer your stock to smaller containers for the fridge, and to the freezer for long-term storage. Reheat individual servings of broth on the stovetop each day and add a bit of sea salt to taste, or use in soups and gravies throughout the week. Enjoy!!