Today I spent several hours performing the first part(s) of creating a homemade beef stock. According to all the sources online, this is something that is not terribly easy to do. Beef stock requires more time and has more steps involved with it's production than chicken stock does, plus, beef stock just tends to be less flavorful than chicken does. Why go through all the trouble when canned broth is available, you ask?
First, I find value in being able to create ingredients like this at home. It's easy to create good dishes when all of the ingredients are prepared and all ready to go. It's a little bit harder to make a meal if everything has to be prepared fresh. I also like to think that it connects me to a long thread of culinary history. Canned and boxed broth is a relatively recent development in the history of cooking, but the secrets to creating a properly prepared stock were discovered many years ago.
The other reason that I spent so much time making stock today is that I need to get my hands on a good beef stock before I attempt Julia Child's signature Boeuf Bourguignon next week, and this seemed like the best way to do it. The recipe itself is a lesson in patience. After all the beef chunks are seared, stewed in wine and beef broth, and the broth finally strained and reduced, quite a bit of your day is gone. Seeing as I'm planning on all of this work for the final recipe, I couldn't bring myself to use store bought broth.
To prepare for my day of stock making I did a bit of research online. While I feel comfortable making a chicken or vegetable stock, I've never done beef before, so I wanted to go into it with a working knowledge of the processes and ingredients required. Like just about all stock recipes, there is no concrete standards as to what goes in it. My method for deciding consisted of examining several recipes and methods and choosing the bits and pieces from each that I found to be useful.
My ingredients were:
Beef bones- The best bones for making stock are ones that have a lot of cartilage or connective tissue. These things release collagen in water, which forms gelatin as the broth is cooking. The gelatin in a stock gives it body and makes it feel smooth in the mouth. The bone of choice for this is usually knuckle bones, but unfortunately ShopRite didn't have any, and I didn't have time to track down a butcher shop in Hartford. In lieu of knuckle bones I used ~3 pounds of neck bones and ~3 pounds of marrow bones. The neck has plenty of connective tissue, as well as quite a bit of meat to flavor the stock. The marrow in the marrow bones will also add quite a bit of flavor. Make sure the bones are in manageable sized pieces. The marrow bones were a little long, but the butcher seemed happy to cut them for me.
Beef pieces- I also added beef pieces to flavor the stock. I chose beef chuck that was cut for stew. This is a good cut to use because it's very cheap, and also has a lot of connective tissue.
Mirepoix- Mirepoix is simply chopped onions, carrots and celery. The traditional combination of the three things are 2:1:1, respectively. I also added whatever scraps I have collected in the freezer. Whenever I need to trim vegetables I save the scraps in a bag in the freezer for when I make stock. This stock has the mirepoix ingredients, as well as onion skins (will help color stock), asparagus ends, and turnip peels.
Tomato paste- Tomato paste is used to add richness and color to the stock. I thinned mine with some red wine then added to the mirepoix before I roasted it.
Red wine- The wine also adds flavor and richness to the stock, while serving to de-glaze the baking pan at the same time. I used a Pinot Noir, because I had it and had read that it would be better than a Cab, Merlot, or Shiraz.
Herbs and Spices- I used fresh parsley and thyme, as well as a dried bay leaf.
Process:
1. With beef stock it's usually necessary to brown everything before adding to the water. This generates extra flavor, while giving the stock a nice color. I started by browning the bones. First I heated my oven to 400 degrees F, and I rubbed all of the bones with some olive oil. I then arranged then in a baking tray that was deep enough to catch the fat and juices. It's important that a deep enough tray is used so that the fat doesn't drip in the oven and make a mess. While the bones were roasting I began to chop the mirepoix.
2. It's important to keep checking and turning the bones as they roast so that they brown evenly and so not burn. Burn bones will give the stock a bitter taste. After all of the bones are done browning they should be transfered into a stock pot. In my case, I didn't have a pot big enough for the whole batch, so I split everything into two pots. The remaining grease can either be saved for use in other recipes, or discarded.
3. Next the beef chunks can be browned. This is done in the same manner as the bones. There was less grease in this step and more "juices" so I added the liquid in the pan right into the pots. Any grease that found it's way into there can be removed later.
4. Finally, the mirepoix is browned. First, some tomato paste (I used ~1-2 Tbsps) is mixed with enough red wine to thin it. I then added this to the mirepoix and tossed to coat. The mirepoix consisted of 3 carrots, 4 stalks of celery, 2 onions, plus whatever I added from the freezer. I then roasted this in the oven in two batches. It's important that the vegetables are in a thin layer or else they won't caramelize. (Note: some techniques recommended caramelizing in the oven and other recommended doing it right in the stock pot. Next time I will use the stock pot method because I think that the bits on the bottom of the pan got a little too well done from spending so much time in the oven.)
5. I then split the mirepoix into the two pots and de-glazed the baking pan. This was done by heating it over two burners, then adding ~2 cups of red wine and scraping with a wooden spoon until all of the burn on pieces (called fond) dissolve in the wine. I then separated this into the two pots.
6. Finally, the herbs were added into the pot. Some people tie them in cheesecloth, but seeing as I'll be straining the stock later, I didn't bother. At this time I also added the water. First, it's important that the water is cold when it goes into the pot. Collagen dissolves better in cold water, so unless the water is cold to begin with, the stock will not have a lot of gelatin in it. I also filtered the water through my Brita pitcher, seeing as the water in West Hartford is chlorinated. I added enough water to just cover the ingredients in the pots.
7. I then turned on the heat on the stove. I started at high, but turned it down to low when the stock began to boil. The stock should only simmer and shouldn't boil while it's cooking. As the stock cooks, fat and impurities will float to the surface. These should be skimmed off periodically, but a rapidly boiling stock will only mix them back in.
8. I cooked the stock until I had to go to class, then covered it and placed in the refrigerator over night. Today I when got home and got it going again. As I'm typing this the stock is simmering away. Since yesterday it's reduced enough for me to be able to combine my two pots. I ended up placing the broth and meat from one batch into the other. I didn't add the vegetables because I do not think that they would give up much more flavor, plus I didn't really have the space. I've been periodically tasting as the stock has been progressing, and the flavor has been steadily improving. After a couple more hours of cooking and reducing, plus some adjustments in the final seasonings, I think it will be ready. Keep an eye out for reports on the final product, as well as the port I'm reducing for a sous vide fillet mignon and port reduction.
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