I love to make all of my stocks/ broth from scratch like this Homemade Beef Bone Stock. After I make them I store them in freezer bags flat so that when I have a recipe requiring a particular stock, I have them on hand.
The Difference Between Stock and Broth
Stock and broth share a lot of similarities, but they are actually two different things. There are three important factors that differentiate stock and broth: the ingredients, cook time, and the presence (or lack) of seasoning.
What Is Stock?
Stock is made by simmering a combination of animal bones (which typically contain some scraps of meat), mirepoix (a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery), and aromatics in water. Stock always involves bones, although not necessarily meat. Often the bones are roasted first, which makes for a richer, more deeply colored stock, although this step is not essential to the process.
Stock is cooked for anywhere from two to six hours on the stovetop. This length of cooking means stock doesn’t typically yield a thick or gelatinous texture, nor is it likely to gel when chilled. Stock is always left unseasoned.
Stock is typically used for sauces, gravies, braises, stews, and soups, another many other recipes.
What Is Broth?
Technically speaking, broth is any liquid that has had meat cooked in it. It is made my simmering meat (which can contain bones, but does not have to), mirepoix, and aromatics in water for a relatively short amount of time, usually under two hours. Unlike stock, broth is typically seasoned. It finishes as a thin, flavorful liquid that does not gel when chilled, and is used in all the same ways you’d use stock, including soups, sauces, and braises. And since it’s seasoned, it is flavorful and delicious sipped on its own.
The easiest homemade broth: Poaching chicken breast with a mixture of aromatics and salt will leave you with a light and flavorful chicken broth — not to mention tender chicken ideal for salads and soups.
Homemade Beef Bone Stock
I started this stock by roasting the beef bones with onions, garlic and carrots until golden brown. These bones were meaty, and I’ll used the stock and the meat for homemade vegetable beef soup. Here’s the link for my soup: https://the2spoons.com/comforting-easy-homemade-vegetable-beef-soup/.
Essential Easy Homemade Beef Bone Stock
Here’s the recipe! Oh, and did I mention I made this in my Instant Pot? Yes! What could take a 24 hour process took about 6 hours in the instant pot!
Homemade Beef Bone Broth
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker or 6 quart stockpot or large slow cooker
Ingredients
- 4 pounds beef bones, preferably a mix of marrow bones and bones with a little meat on them such as short ribs, knuckle bones, or soup bones
- 2 medium unpeeled carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 medium leek, end trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 1 garlic head, halved crosswise
- 2 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Place beef bones, carrots, leek, onion, and garlic on a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Toss the contents of the pan and continue to roast until deeply browned, about 20 minutes more.
- Srape the roasted bones and vegetables into the Instant Pot along with the juices. Add water to the recommended level on your pressure cooker or Instant Pot .Set the Instant Pot for 2 hours. After the two hours do a quick release and remove the bones, leaving the other ingredients. When the bones are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and reserve for making Vegetable Beef Soup. Then add the bones back to the broth and vegetables in the Instant Pot and set for another 4 hours. At the end, allow the pot to release on it's on. If using a stockpot: Fill a large (at least 6-quart) stockpot with 12 cups of water (preferably filtered) . Add celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and vinegar. Scrape the roasted bones and vegetables into the pot along with any juices. Add more water if necessary to cover bones and vegetables.Cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook with lid slightly ajar, skimming foam and excess fat occasionally, for at least 8 but up to 24 hours on the stovetop. (Do not leave on stovetop unattended, simply cool and continue simmering the next day.) The longer you simmer it, the better your broth will be. Add more water if necessary to ensure bones and vegetables are fully submerged. Alternately, you can cook the broth in a slow cooker on low for the same amount of time.
Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly. Strain broth using a fine-mesh sieve and discard bones and vegetables. Let continue to cool until barely warm, then refrigerate in smaller containers overnight. Remove solidified fat from the top of the chilled broth.