Smoked Marrow Bone Beef Broth

One night as I was cruising the Internet for ideas, I stumbled upon this recipe for Roast Beef Stock on the Bon Appétit website that sounded pretty good.  I thought I would give it a go with one modification, roasting the bones in my smoker to add a little smoke flavor to the future broth.  Here is the process laid out.

First, you need five pounds of beef or veal marrow bones from your butcher.  Dirt cheap usually.  We bought five pounds for about $7.50.  Remember to ask your butcher to cut them in half or quarters so that you have more marrow surface area exposed for that caramelized goodness.

I lit my smoker and brought to 450 F, placed some pecan in the ash pan for smoke flavor, then placed the pan on the top rack.  The recipe calls for 30 minutes of roasting time.  While waiting, I went inside and prepared my veggies.

Quartered sweet onion, celery, one head of garlic, and carrots (yes, they are hiding on the bottom) go into this stock.  After the bones had their first 30 minutes of roasting time, I went out and placed the veggies in the pan and allowed the whole mix to roast for 30 more minutes.

Bones at 30 minutes:

Everything after 60 minutes total:

I was a little worried that there was not enough crusty brown on the veggies or the bottom of the pan, but I pressed forward.  I transferred everything into my stock pot then added enough water to cover everything.  While I was bringing this mix to a boil, I added two cups of water to the pan and scraped what little caramelization there was off the bottom.  Once that was done, I transferred this liquid into the pan.  Once at a boil, I reduced the heat and let simmer on low for four hours.

After four hours:

Veggies removed and broth strained:

Warning, do not make this broth if you are hungry.  We were tortured during the four hours of simmering with a beefy, smoky flavor that had me craving some sort of beef.  We took a pint of this liquid and turned into gravy to try it out.  First, we placed onside leftover trip-tip and egg noodles.  The next day we ladled the gravy over some grilled stuffed flank steak, an impulse buy at the butcher.

Here is our total yield, minus a pint for the gravy: seven pints and two half gallons.  Once cool, I placed in the freezer for future use.

I was hoping for more of a deeper color, but I will correct that by roasting a bit longer on the smoker. The smokiness was detectable, but not overpowering.  This broth made a killer gravy that will find its way to our next roast beef.  I also have some plans for a few soups and perhaps even a brisket injection.  This is good stuff.  Click on the link above and give this a try.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Using up your Leftover Prime Rib

Left over prime rib?  It does happen.  But, you always have those bones.  Some people slow roast them the next day with BBQ sauce for a tasty treat.  The only problem with that is they can be riddled with fat and chewy.  I like to turn the ribs from my rib roast into stock for soups.  That way I can enjoy this flavorful stock months later.  How do you make this stock?  It is easy.  Off to the kitchen.

First, into my 12 quart stock pot with the strainer insert, I put in the ribs from my roast.  I also add the over cooked end slices of meat and any scraps from the carving process.

Next, I add the following:

1 medium sweet onion, quartered
4 carrots, broken in half
2 ribs of celery, broken in half
3 garlic cloves, paper removed
About 1/8 cup of dried parsley
Enough water to cover everything

Bring to a rolling boil, then simmer lightly on low heat over night.  This batch went about 12 hours.

After the simmer, remove the strainer and discard the veggies and bones.  Then, when cool enough, place in your fridge to cool and to allow the fat to come to the top and solidify.  Conveniently, Mother Nature provided us with three inches of refrigeration material yesterday.  So, I did not have to use refrigerator space.

After about nine hours outside, the fat had come to the top and solidified nicely.  I brought the stock pot inside and removed the fat with a slotted spoon.

There you have it.  99% fat free stock that is just bursting with beef flavor.  I will use half of this to make some soup this weekend and the other half I will portion, vacuum seal, and freeze for later in the year.  Tune back in next week for the outcome of the soup.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill