Beef Bone Broth

Beef Bone Broth

Disclaimer: This was the first time I have ever made beef bone broth from scratch-scratch. Like from the actual cow to butcher to bones to broth scratch. Which, made the bone broth even more special. Raising our own beef for our family and for locals has so many rewards, this recipe is one of them. This bone broth method was easy for a total beginner and really makes stews and soups just a little more heavenly. Bone broth is so nutritionally dense and making it yourself is just another way you can utilize a whole animal. It is a win-win. 

Bone broth is exceptionally popular at the moment and it deserves to be. This liquid magic is proven to help with joint lubrication, fertility, better sleep, enhanced mood among many other benefits. The perks are endless and you can store in a freezer for future use. 

I will walk you through how I made my beef bone broth with our very own Flying F Ranch beef bones. 

The bones:

When you receive bones from the butcher shop, they are usually labeled as “soup bones.” There will be some chunks of meat on them. That is great! Don’t trim it off. I used the remainder of the solid morsels on top on rice as a quick lunch and the meat was very tender and shredded apart with a spoon. As well, The leg bones will have marrow inside which is an extra healthy dose of nutrient value. I used about 5 or 6 bits of bones that ended up weighing about 6 pounds. 

Ingredients:

6 lbs beef bones/soup bones

One whole onion chopped roughly into quarters

2 large carrots chopped

4 stalks of celery chopped

4 cloves of smashed garlic

1 tbsp peppercorn

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 quarts of water

The Method:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. 

Boil the beef bones in a large stock pot of boiling water. Let them boil about 5-10 mins to bring out excess blood. Then, drain and pat bones and meat dry. Either wash out that stockpot well to use as your simmering pot or grab a crock pot for later use.

Place the beef bones into a large casserole dish with the onions, carrots, celery and smashed garlic tossed together. Pop the casserole dish uncovered into the oven for 30 mins to brown up the meat/bones and vegetables. 

Once finished, add the ingredients from the casserole into the stock pot or crock pot. I used a crock pot for this recipe so I didn’t have to baby sit it as much. However, if you are home all day, a stock pot on the stove would work great too. Add in water, peppercorns, bay leaves, apple cider vinegar and water. Cook on High for 8 hours. 

My crock pot is maxed at 8 hours. I woke up in the middle of the night and added on another 8 hours on high. Then mid-morning the next day, I  added another quart of water as I noticed quite a bit of it had evaporated. Then, I kept it on low for the remainder of the day. Longer cook time, the better. I aimed for a 24 hour slow cook. 

Once it has reached that 24 hour mark, strain in a colander into a large bowl or container. Then, store as desired. My bone broth made about 4 cups of broth all said and done. I just put mine in a Tupperware container because I had plans to make Beef Bourguignon later that week and wanted to use the bone broth in that recipe. You could store in glass Mason jars to store or any other storage container. Refrigerate the bone broth up to a week fresh. 

Pro tips:

You may feel the need to scoop fat off the top of your broth. In my opinion, that is the good stuff. However, you can skim it and discard the excess fat if desired.

I noticed that after refrigerating the broth, it almost became gelatinous with the fat cap solidifying on top. When I used the broth in a recipe, I just broke apart the solid fat layer on top, and scooped out the recommended amount of beefy bone jelly into my recipe and added in a few pieces of the fat as well. Turned out amazing!

As for the discarded solid materials (beef bones and veggies) I tossed the actual bones out and kept the meat and veggies and stores in a container. I ate some the next day served on top of rice and it made a wonderful quick lunch!

“Can I feed the left over bones to my dog?” In my real life career, I am a Vet Tech. Let me tell you, no don’t feed your dogs cooked bones. Raw bones are fine, cooked bones are too hard and will break teeth… And trust me, that is an expensive bill to pay. As much as I’d love to repurpose the bones to my dogs, I wouldn’t.

The acidity from the apple Cider vinegar helps break down the collagen and nutrients out from the bones. So that is a secret weapon ingredient that will take your bone broth to the next level. 

Hope this recipe is easy enough for you to try at home! You can find beef bones at your local meat shop or local rancher (Like us!) to serve you bones for your nutritional needs! 

All Photos done by Teri Surratt.

Visit her at https://terijsurrattphotography.com