Beef Bone Broth Version 1: Low and Slow

On May 18, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Cooking

Broth vs Stock

I am calling this a “Beef Bone Broth” only because it seems to be the name that everyone is using these days. It makes a perfect base liquid for any number of soup or sauce recipes although it also has many other uses.

In professional cooking, a “broth” is a usually a lighter, thinner, and often salted liquid made by boiling vegetables and/or meat for a relatively short time. A “stock”, in contrast, is made from bones and their connective tissue, simmered for a very long time, sometimes with vegetables and aromatics, usually without salt. A broth is a thin and flavourful liquid while a stock is a thick, gelatinous and relatively flavourless liquid (until it is seasoned).

So..as you will see, what we are making here is nothing like a broth. It is a very simple beef stock.

Long, Low and Slow vs Hard and Fast

This recipe is for a long, low and slow method that cooks until the bones have nothing left to give. The end result is a mostly clear, slightly brown stock. It is thick and gelatinous, even slightly sticky. If you added mirepoix (say onions, celery, carrot) to this later in the process, you would end up with something like a Western white veal/beef stock.

The second one (click here for other version) is a hard boil and relatively fast stock (for beef bones). It will still take several hours but, it will result in a milky white broth with a nutty flavour and slightly thinner consistency. This is what you will often see in Seolleongtang or Mandu Guk (dumpling soup) in Korean restaurants.

Ingredients

You can make this as large or small as you like. I have made a recipe that fits into my biggest stock pot which holds around 12 litres / 3 gallons. Just make sure that the pot is big enough to keep bones submerged plus a little water on top.

4 kg / 8lb cut beef hip bones (this is usually a mix of marrow bones and knuckle bones)
1.5 kg / 3lb cut cow foot
fresh cold water to cover them

My local Korean grocer keeps bags of cut beef bones in the freezer section all the time. And, there is a butcher near me that usually has frozen whole cow feet as well. Any butcher shop should be able to get you beef hip bones for stock. The cow foot is optional but it is made of of mostly connective tissue and this will add body and richness to your finished stock. If you can’t get cow foot, just omit or replace with regular hip bones.

Process

Wash and Soak

Beef hip bones for beef bone broth — Beef bones cut into chunks for stock. There is a mix of marrow bone and knuckles (hip joint)

chopped cow foot for beef bone broth — Cow foot cut into pieces will add body to the finished stock

washing bones — Cover bones with fresh cold water

soaking bones — Soak for a minimum of 8 hours. I left mine in the fridge overnight.

showing blood leaching out of soaked bones — Fairly soon, the bones will start to release blood into the soaking water. If you can, change the water a few times.

refreshing water for bone soaking — Pour old water off and refresh as many times as possible. If you are unable to change the water, it’s ok..the impurities will also cook out in the simmering stock.

Initial Boil (blanching)

clean soaked bones ready to make beef bone broth — Clean bones ready for blanching.

blanching bones to remove residual fat and blood — Bring to a hard boil for 10 minutes or so. During this time, the bones will release fat and blood.

shows raft of congealed beef blood — This is a raft of congealed blood floating on top

washing blanched bones with fresh water in sink — After this initial 10 minute boil, dump out the bones and wash them with cold water. Ged rid of the water from the first boil. Wash the stock pot thoroughly.

Simmering the stock

Return the clean bones to the clean pot and cover with fresh cold water.

All the bones should be completely submerged

Simmering: This is what a simmer looks like. The water is bubbling a little and definitely moving around the bones. It is not boiling hard and it is not still. This simmer is important to extract the nutrients and flavour from the bones.

bones simmering under glass cover of pot — Cover your pot and watch it for a little while. You will most likely have to adjust the temperature down to keep the simmer going without overflowing the pot.

skimming fat from cooking beef bone broth — Once every hour or two, I like to skim off the fat layer that floats on top of the stock. You don’t *have* to do this. I like to take it off because I can replace the fat with fresh water and end up with more stock at the end.

showing a measure of 500ml skimmed fat from beef bone broth — The first time I skimmed, I got nearly 450ml of fat off the top. I replaced it with 450ml water.

32 hours later….

showing finished beef bone broth — This is the finished stock. I simmered mine for a total of about **32 hours**. Bones this size should simmer for at least 24 hours. The best way to know when it is done is to pull out bones and have a look at them.

examining a fully depleted stock bone — Once a solid white bone full of marrow, this is now just a hollow network of calcium fibres. If you press them between your fingers, you can crush them pretty easily. These bones have no more to give and the stock is finished.

straining beef bone broth — Strain the liquid

You may find some pieces of marrow or cartilage in your strainer. You can make a snack of them or just discard them.

Cooling and Storage

cooling beef bone broth — I like to cool the liquid in a sink of cold water. If you have ice, it will speed up the process. Make sure the stock comes down to at least room temperature before you put it in the fridge. There is a lot of heat energy here and your fridge will not be able to cool it fast enough.

Once completely cool, remove any hard white fat from the top.

It is so thick at fridge temperature that this metal spoon will stand up in it

Gelatinous bounce : )

I ladle mine into 750ml yogurt containers which is usually a good amount to use for other recipes

preparing beef bone broth for freezing — Total yield from this batch is around 6.5 litres / 2 gallons of thick rich and lean beef bone broth (stock). I will press a layer of plastic wrap against the surface of the stock, put on the lids and store in my freezer.

How to use your Beef Bone Broth

Simmer any combination of meat/vegetables/mushrooms in it for a delicious soup. Add your favourite noodles to it. Or, you can simply warm it up and add rice and seasoning. You can even drink it as is for a deeply nutritious and filling liquid snack.

This beef bone broth (stock) is a liquid rich in body and texture that is mostly neutral in flavour…a base for almost anything you can imagine. Soup, stew, sauce, smoothie…anything goes. If you have any recipe that has water as an ingredient, replace it with this stock to improve the flavour and the nutritional value. As I cook with this new stock, I will post up ideas as I make them.

cooking, Korean

TigerSalad

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