This is a classical French-style recipe for homemade beef stock. It’s vastly superior to any store-bought stock, and is one of the main things that distinguishes home and restaurant cooking.
It takes time to make, but if you truly want the best, it’s worth it!
More stocks: chicken stock | vegetable stock
Let me say from the outset: homemade beef stock requires effort. It takes time – I’m talking minimum 4 hours, up to 10 hours is best – there’s a pile of hot bones to discard, and big cooking vessels that’ll need cleaning.
So one might ask:
Why make beef stock at home?
Because it is so vastly superior to any store-bought stock. While I think that (most) store bought chicken stock is actually pretty good these days and vegetable stock is passable, beef stock has never been that great.
Homemade beef stock has:
Far better flavour – Store bought stock does not compare to real, freshly made stock. A simple taste is all it takes to confirm this;
Richer mouthfeel – Gelatin from the bones and connective tissue in beef bones is what gives a stock its full-bodied richness and mouthfeel when used in soups and stews etc, as well as natural thickness when highly reduced for use as a jus or in sauces. Store-bought stock lacks this quality;
More versatile because it’s unsalted – Store-bought stock is almost always salted. This is fine when used at normal concentrations, but if stock is reduced a lot when making ragus, sauces and so on, the salt can become excessive – yet there is little you can do about it. Homemade stock on the other hand is unsalted, so you will never have this problem and can control seasoning in the finished dish; and
Cheaper than high quality store-bought stocks. Yes, regular supermarket packet beef stock (eg. Campbell’s) is cheaper than homemade stock. But it also tastes quite artificial, because producers are yet to successfully mass-produce cheap beef stock to a decent level of quality. High-end packaged stocks are better, but are very expensive by comparison.
Homemade stock is one of the big things that differentiate home and restaurant cooking. Good restaurants always make their own stocks, and is the secret to why their dishes often have that richer, deeper, “restaurant-quality” taste to them.
What goes in homemade beef stock
The key ingredient to make a really good beef stock is meaty bones. No meat, no flavour!
You need 2 1/2 kg / 5 lb of beef bones to make 1 1/4 – 1.5 litres / quarts of stock (5 – 6 cups).
In addition to bones, we also want aromatics which add character, deepen the flavour, add a touch of sweetness and also provide some colour. Here’s what I use:
Bay leaves, thyme, parsley, black peppercorns – Herb and spice aromatics, fairly standard;
Onion, celery and carrot – Again, familiar building-block ingredients in the stock which add subtle sweetness and flavour;
Tomato – Something you don’t see in the most basic beef stock recipes, this adds a touch of sweetness and colour, deepening it to a desirable rich dark brown;
Cider vinegar – A great cheffy touch, a little vinegar helps extract nutrients out of the bone into the broth;
Coriander seeds – Another little cheffy tip, it adds another layer of subtle complexity to the finished stock. You can’t separately identify the flavour, but a little taste is all it takes to know you’ve made something special!
Though it takes hours and the manhandling of a (very!) large stock pot, it’s actually very straightforward to make this beef stock. Also, the nice thing about this beef stock recipe is that there are 3 ways to do the slow simmer part:
On the stove, the traditional way;
Oven – Entirely hands off, I’ve even done it overnight; or
Slow cooker – Assuming you have one large enough.
How to make beef stock
Spread bones out on tray to roast. Roasting develops lots of flavour as well as darkening the colour of the stock;
Roast bones for 1 hour at 180°C/350°F, turning halfway, until nicely browned all over;
Place beef bones in a very large stock pot, at least 7 litres / quarts;
Add the herbs and vegetables, and 3 litres of water to just cover the bones. Pack the bones and vegetables down so you minimise the amount of water required. Nobody wants to end up with a watery beef stock!
Deglaze the pan – don’t waste the precious drippings on the tray, it’s free flavour! Pop the tray on the stove, add a splash of water, and as it simmers the drippings will dissolve into the water. You could also do this in the oven;
Scrape pan juices into the pot;
3 – 8 hour simmer on stove – Simmer stock on the stove, for a minimum of 3 hours and ideally up to 8 hours. Stove is the traditional method, and it’s entirely hands-off. The heat should be so low that you only get a little bubble every once in a while, and it doesn’t need stirring. Do not simmer or boil to try to speed things up, it will make the stock cloudy.
If you do the faster, 3 hour simmer … If you choose this option, which we often deploy because there aren’t many times when I can have a pot of stock simmering away all day, we simmer on a marginally stronger heat level to reduce the water faster. In addition, we reduce the stock to concentrate the flavour after straining it.
The flavour difference between 3 and 8 hours? Well, of course an 8 hour simmer yields a better result. But practicality comes into play here, and while the extra 5 hours does produce an even better result, a 3 hour simmer will still give you an exceptional stock;
Oven or slow cooker option: Alternatively, you can cook it in the oven for 8 hours or even overnight (my record is 15 hours – it was a magnificent batch!!), OR in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low.
This is what the stock water level looks like after 8 hours on the stove. The water level should reduce from around the 5.75 litres / quarts mark to around 4 litres (noting this is counting the bones etc still in the water):
Straining, storage and using
Once the stock has reduced, it’s a matter of straining, discarding excess fat then storing for use!
Strain – Fish out bones, then strain stock through a fine mesh colander / strainer into a large bowl or clean pot;
Yield: ~ 1.3 – 1.6 litres/quarts – Let the vegetable matter sit there in the strainer for a few minutes to extract as much liquid as possible. You should have around 1.5 litres / quarts of liquid. After discarding the excess fat (later step), there should be around 1.25 litres / quarts of stock;
Cool rapidly by sitting the uncovered pot in a sink full of cold tap water. Change the water every 20 minutes or so as it heats up, and it should take around 1 hour 15 minutes to cool to room temperature (around 21°C/70°F).
It’s important to cool rapidly to prevent bacteria from growing (they love cosy warm environments!) so we can get it in the fridge ASAP. Never put a large hot pot of stock in the fridge otherwise you will significantly raise the internal temperature of the fridge – that’s bad!
Refrigerate – Transfer to a suitable storage container – I use a jug – then refrigerate;
Remove surface fat – Once it has fully chilled in the fridge, the fat floating on the surface will solidify into a white mass. Use a large, flat spoon to carefully scrap it off and discard.
This is what beef stock looks like when chilled and the fat has been removed. It solidifies into a jelly because of the gelatin. Gelatin is what gives the stock that fine-dining restaurant, rich mouthfeel. Store bought stock is always liquid because it has little gelatin.
Done! Your stock is now done and ready for use! It will keep in the fridge for 7 days (I’ve been told by a reliable source 10 days is ok, but I say up to 7 to err on the side of caution). Else, it can freeze for up to 3 months.
I like to store stock in 1- or 2-cup portions, labelled, in the freezer.
How to use homemade beef stock
To use homemade beef stock, you can either reheat in the microwave or on the stove to return it to a liquid so it can be measured out. It melts very quickly – literally in a minute or two.
It can be added straight into dishes in cold jelly form too. For me, it’s just a question of whether I need to measure it or not – it’s harder to accurately measure out jelly!
What to use homemade beef stock for
Use homemade beef stock for any recipe that calls for beef stock or beef broth. Your finished dish will be multiple times better than any version made using store bought, with a far richer, deeper flavour and none of that undesirable artificial edge that store bought beef stock has.
You will gain exceptionally good results when used especially in slow-cooked dishes such as stews, as well as soups, sauces and gravies (plain or mushroom!).
Here are some suggestions:
IMPORTANT: Salt adjustment when using!
The only thing to note with homemade stock is that you will need to add more salt to whatever dish you’re making. This is because most recipes – including mine – presume store-bought beef stock. Store-bought stock is salted, whereas home-made is unsalted. Therefore, you need to compensate for this difference.
As a rule of thumb, you will need to add 1/3 teaspoon of cooking or kosher salt for every 1 cup of homemade beef stock in order to have the same level of salt as low sodium store bought stock.
And with that, I’m done! The first of a series of homemade stocks that I plan to share.
Next up, fish stock! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Homemade beef stock recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg / 5 lb meaty beef bones , back and neck preferably, plus one marrow bone for richness (or knuckles) (Note 1)
- 1 carrot , unpeeled, cut in half
- 1/2 onion (brown or yellow), peel and cut in half
- 2 tomatoes , cut into quarters (keep seeds in) (Note 2)
- 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (Note 3)
- 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 celery stem , cut in half or thirds (leaves on ok)
- 2 bay leaves , fresh (or 1 dried)
- 2 thyme sprigs (or 1/2 tsp dried leaves)
- 12 parsley sprigs , if you have it (not essential)
- 3 litres/quarts water , cold tap water
Instructions
Roast bones:
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
- Spread bones out across 2 baking trays. Roast for 1 hour, turning at 30 minutes, or until very well browned.
- Drain and discard excess fat, if any.
- Place bones into large stock pot (7 litres/7 quarts+ capacity)
Deglaze trays:
- Place tray on stove, turn onto medium. Add 3/4 cup water. When it comes to a simmer, start scraping the tray. The drippings (fond) on the tray will loosen and dissolve into the liquid.
- Once most of the drippings are removed from the base, scrape all the liquid into the pot. Repeat with other tray.
Simmer stock:
- Add remaining ingredients into the pot. Start with 3 litres of water, then squish the bones etc down to fit snugly in the pot. Add more water if needed, to just cover the bones (ingredients will collapse a bit as stock cooks). The water quantity depends on shape of bone and pot – my water level came to 5.75 litres/quarts mark on pot.
- Boil then simmer: Bring to a boil on medium high, then turn down to low so it's simmering ever so gently, with only a small bubble bursting every now and then.
- Remove surface scum: Scoop off any surface scum using a ladle and discard.
- Simmer for 8 hours on very low, no lid. Liquid level should reduce to around 4 litres/quarts for all – if not, just reduce after straining (Step 3 under Strain & Finish).
- Other methods: – Stove 3 hours on medium-low (very gentle simmer, with lid cracked)– oven (lid on) for 8 to 10 hours at 120°C/250°F (100°C fan). Water level will only reduce by about 500ml / 0.5 qt. Strain then rapid boil to reduce to 1.5 lt / 1.5 qt. – slow cooker 8 to 10 hours on low. Reduce after straining to 1.5 lt / 1.5 qt.
Strain & finish:
- Strain: Fish out most bones. Strain stock with remaining vegetables through a fine mesh colander / strainer set over a large pot or bowl. Leave strainer for a few minutes to let it drip.
- Cool to room temperature: Set stock pot or bowl in sink filled with cold water. Leave stock to cool for around 1h 15 mins, changing water every 20 mins or so as it gets warm.
- Measure stock volume: Pour stock into a vessel to measure volume – it should be between around 1.3 – 1.7 litres/quarts. If it's much more, reduce on the stove, otherwise stock flavour will be too weak.
- Refrigerate stock. When fat has solidified on surface, carefully scrape off with a large spoon and discard. You should have 1.25 – 1.5 L/Qts remaining.
- Ready! Beef stock is now ready to use! This stock is equivalent in strength to store-bought stock, so it can be used 1:1 in any recipe calling for beef stock.
- Salt adjustment: Homemade stock is unsalted whereas store-bought stock is salted. Add 1/4 tsp salt for every 1 cup homemade beef stock (250ml) to match the salt level of store-bought low sodium beef stock.
- To use: Cold stock has a jellied consistency (Note 4). It takes barely a minute to turn liquid on a medium high stove, or microwave. You can also just add it in jelly form straight into dishes, but sometimes you may need to liquify it to measure.
Recipe Notes:
- Very low stove for 8 hours with the lid off should get close to the target liquid quantity – 4 litres / 4 qts with the bone in, 1.3 – 1.7 litres/quarts after straining;
- Medium low stove for 3 hours with the lid cracked should also get to the target stock quantity;
- Oven for 8 – 10 hours will only reduce about 500ml / 0.5 qt so it will need to be rapid boiled after straining; and
- Slow cooker will barely reduce at all so will need to be reduced.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer agrees that meaty bones are best.
If I attempt to make the stock overnight in the oven, at what temperature would I set it out?
Thank you
Beef stock recipe produced amazing stock much, much better than shop bought. Can you please provide recipe to turn beef stock into gravy?
Hi Allan, I’m so glad you loved it!!! Generally when making a gravy, I’ll use the drippings from the meat roasted as well as stock – but here is an easy gravy recipe: https://discountspot.info/gravy/%3C/a%3E if you use liquid beef stock here, substitute 1 cup of water with 1 cup of beef stock and omit the beef cube. N x
Think I died and went to heaven. I just want to drink it all by itself. I made mine in the slow cooker on high as I was starting it a bit late in the day. Best stock I ever tasted.
Have made a triple batch of this and safe to say it has now replaced my old recipe! Love it. It’s literally just enhanced my bolognese tonight to another level! Pleeeaasseee drop a chicken stock recipe soon as I always struggle with chicken stock! X
Thank you so much for this! I almost cheated on you and tried someone else’s beef stock. So glad I waited. Last time I cheated on your site it was a huge disappointment and waste of time! You really are a talented teacher, writer and cook. You even started a tab for more homemade stocks! So excited. I can’t wait to see your seafood stock. I found the chicken stock recipe hiding in your homemade chicken soup recipe. As always, you just explain things so well. Please, keep doing what you do. So many of us are counting on you to make us look good in the kitchen! Love from Orlando, FL
Fantastic recipe 😊 and the beef fat makes fantastic roast potato too😘
Wish I’d read this comment. I threw my fat out! 🙁
I’ve made the stock and I’m wondering if it would be ok to eat the meat? Seems a waste when they’re quite meaty bones and there’s gelatine on it.
Hi Jane – that’s a really good question and I will update the recipe with my response to you! Yes you can eat the meat, if you have meaty ones then you should be able to pick off 2 – 3 cups. However, the meat doesn’t actually have that much flavour left in it because it’s all in the stock 🙂 To be honest, I give the meat to my dog! He is obsessed with it. If you want to use it for yourself, I would do something like pan fry it up with some garlic butter. Get nice little crispy bits and extra flavour into it. YUM! N x
Just a passing comment. I make a pie out of the meat from the stock with the stock and some thickener and a few vegies also from the stock…very good a very tasty.
Hi Nagi,
Perhaps a silly question but what do you do with the remains of the beef that you use for stock? I guess the flavor is all in the stock so is it a matter of discarding it?
Thank you
Hi Nagi
Love your recipes…with the cooking of the bones, in the first instructions you have it listed at point 2 to cook the bones at 180 then further down in the instructions you have it listed to cook the bones at 220. Is it heat the oven to 220 then turn it down to 180 when you place the bones in the oven?
can you freeze beef bourgillon
Hi Diane, sure can! I mention this in the recipe notes 🙂 N x
I also love to see how other people make their broth and stock. Lovely recipe! Dozier is getting old! I hate that ☹️
He’s 8 years young Mimi! 🙂 N x
Hi nagi, could you tell me the exact name of the bones in the homemade beef stock so I can order from my butcher thanks
Hi Sudie! Ask for meaty beef neck and back bones, total of about 2.2kg/4.4 lb, plus one marrow bone cut in half to reveal the marrow inside, around 0.3kg / 10oz, so the total bones are 2.5kg / 5lb. The marrow bone will add richness, but if he doesn’t have that, don’t worry, just get more meaty bones. Hope that helps! N x
You mention kosher salt. I have never been able to find it in Australia. Where do you get yours please? Regards Christine
Hi Christine, kosher or cooking salt – you can find cooking salt in Woolworths and Coles. N x
OK, thanks Nagi, I was so confused by this. And glory be, that is what is am using. xx
If I use this homemade beef stock to make soup (French Onion for example) or stew, will the soup or stew then turn to gelatin when refrigerated. I made a homemade chicken stock that I then used to make chicken soup and the entire pot of soup turned to gelatin in the refrigerator overnight.
Hi Christine, it will go firm but will turn back to liquid once heated 🙂 N x
People often seem to say that homemade stock is better than store bought stock and you seem to agree with this, however, would you say that a stock such as this is better than Knorr brand stock cubes/stock pots also?
Silly question I guess, but it costs nothing to ask
Hi Chris, nothing beats homemade in my opinion! N x
The best! I really liked the addition of tomatoes and coriander seeds.
That’s great to hear Robin, thanks so much! N x
Dozer lovely…bone scary lol.
Look at his sweet eyes closed w such contentment.
I’ve been making and using stock from scratch. Not only does it taste sooo much better, but it’s also so much more economical.
Yes 100% Macy, if you commit to making a big batch it lasts for ages too so it never got to waste! N x
Thank you Nagi for always taking great care to explain in such great detail. I never knew what beef bones to get or why. I do now!
You’re so welcome Judy 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. Does the stock really reduce also with the lid on? Or do you keep the pot open an bit? I did make broth with a pressure cooker in the past which is quick and no flavours can escape the pot 🙂
For storage for all kind of stock or leftover vegatable cooking water etc – I do heat that up to high heat or cooking temperature (stove or just in the jar in the microwave oven), fill it in a screw to jar, lid on, and let it cool. The cooling produces a vacuum and the stock can be kept much longer in the fridge than 7 or 10 days. If there are leftovers, just make sure to heat them up again, lid on and save. 🙂
Hi Rabea, yes it still reduces – the reduction in stock intensifies the flavour. You just can’t get that great flavour in a pressure cooker unfortunately (and you also can’t scoop out the scum). N x
Almost exactly how I’ve brewed beef stock for years – with the addition of a marrow bone; it was an ‘AHA’ moment when roasting the bones was suggested to me about 25 years ago. Never looked back!
Interesting addition of coriander and tomato, I’m going to try that!
It brings out the most amazing flavour doesn’t it Alimak!!? N x