Marrow Bones

by Cat, Feb 2009 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

A good rich beef stock is hard to come by, especially one that tastes beefy.  Cooks Illustrated determined, through experimentation, that the best tasting broth comes from long, slow cooking of the cheaper cuts of beef (round, chuck, etc.), along with shank or marrow bones.  The bones are very important because they provide minerals; the long bones of the leg (shank) are filled with rich marrow, which has many health benefits.  They also determined that you cannot skimp on the quantity of meat, or increase the amount of water to make more stock, as the flavor just won’t be there.

A stock is a bit different than a broth, tho they are related; the difference is in how long it is simmered. With a stock you’re not so much interested in flavor as you are nutritional support – bone stocks are extremely nourishing, and have long been used for people who are recovering from a long and terrible illness. See Bone Stock, a Liquid Asset by Ari LeVaux from the Missoula Independent newspaper (3). I’ve saved this as a pdf file in case the link is lost: Bone Stock by Ari LeVaux (pdf) (3).

• Recipes included in this article: 1. Rich Beef Stock; 2. Oxtail Stock
• See also (this site): 1. Beef Bone Broth, Crockpot method; 2. Soups and Stocks Menu; and 3. Court Bouillon recipe that accompanies my Poached Salmon recipe;
• See also (other sites): Roasted Beef Broth (Fine Cooking (4))

The recipes on this page are for a stock; to make a broth or bone broth:

• Broth, follow the recipe and be sure to include the meat, but simmer for a shorter time, just until meat is done.
• Bone broth, follow the stock recipe with the longer cooking time, then strain to save the liquid, which is then sipped as a healthful beverage rich in collagen and other nutrients.

In Search of a Flavorful Beef Stock

It goes without saying to choose naturally-raised, grass-fed beef without added hormones or antibiotics.  This is especially important for a broth.

To maximize the leaching of minerals from the bones, add at least 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar when you set the pot of browned bones to sweat.

Options

If a healthful, but not necessarily flavorful, stock is needed, you can use short ribs of beef and extra marrow bones.  The short ribs are more fatty, so trim off as much fat as you can, unless a fatty stock is desired.

However, I find that I much prefer the flavor of the stock when I use oxtail. This can be hard to find, so I special order it from the meat-processing business where I buy most of my locally-raised meat. Or I buy it at the local grocery when they have it in the meat case (which is not often), and then put it in the freezer for future use.

Adding a mix of lots of veggies and herbs, such as in the photo above, makes a more flavorful broth. I like to add carrots, parsnips, more onion; for herbs I add thyme, bay and fresh parsley.

Another option is to make a potato-peel or rich veggie broth, adding browned chunks of chuck or round steak when you add the water.  Potato peels are very rich in minerals, as are the veggies used in my rich veggie broth recipe.  If you use round steak, throw the bit of bone into the pot also.

What to do with the cooked meat? I remove it from the bones, cube or shred it, and make a cottage pie (like shepherd’s pie but with beef), using reserved stock for the gravy. Mmmmm

You might try these ideas with buffalo instead of beef; also mmmm.

Rich Beef Broth or Stock Recipe

This recipe, adapted from Cooks Illustrated, yields about 2 quarts of stock.

Long marrow bones or shank are sold in my local grocer as ‘dog bones,’ but avoid those that are mostly joint and look for the long bones, as these are the most rich in marrow. When you cook up a round steak, freeze the bone and add it to the stock. I collect these bones in a freezer bag throughout the year, just for this purpose.

When browning the meat and bones, you will need to do this in batches.  I like to brown the meat first, on all sides, and in 2 – 3 batches, adding the onion to the last batch.  Collect the batches in a large bowl or pot.  Then I brown the bones, also in batches and on all sides, adding to the browned meat set aside.

I add potato peels (if I have any) to increase the minerals.  It all gets strained, so no one will ever know I used peels in my beef stock.

I make up a batch to freeze in a mix of pint and quart jars.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 6 pounds shank (meat and bone); or 4 pounds chuck, and 2 pounds small marrow bones or oxtail
• 1 large onion, halved
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (for deglazing)
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
• 2 quarts filtered water
• peels from 4 large or 6 small potatoes (optional)
• 1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
• Equipment:
• Heavy-bottomed stock pot

Process:

1. If using shank, cut the meat from the bones in large chunks.  They don’t have to be pretty.
2. Heat oil in large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Brown meat, onion and bones on all sides, adding more oil as necessary; collect the browned batches in a large bowl or another pot; set aside.
3. Add red wine to browned bits in empty pot, stirring well.  Continue cooking to de-glaze the pan, until the wine is reduced to a syrup.  Reduce heat to low.
4. Return browned onion, meat, and bones to pot; add vinegar, if using.  Cover pot and sweat contents of pot over lowest heat, until they have released about ¾ cup of thick, dark, very intensely flavored liquid, about 20 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium high and add the water, potato peels and salt. Bring to a simmer, but not a full boil.  Reduce heat to a very low simmer (you may need a simmer plate over your burner),
6. If you want a broth:
   1. Partially cover the pan with lid, and barely simmer for 1½ – 2 hours, until meat is very tender.
   2. Remove from heat and strain. Set meat aside for another use, such as a soup using both meet and broth, or just the meat for a Cottage Pie.
   3. Let broth stand until the fat rises to the top; skim and discard the fat.
   4. Transfer to jars for the freezer if you will not be using it right away.
7. If you want a stock:
   1. When stock starts to simmer, reduce heat to lowest setting. Simmer gently; do not boil (use a simmer plate if necessary to keep stock from boiling) for  2 hours. Add other herbs during last 30 minutes of simmering.
   2. Spoon off frothy/foamy layer of impurities using a big spoon, and compost them.
   3. Continue to simmer 12 –  24 hours total, to maximize the collagen pulled from the bones.
   4. Strain, using cheesecloth lined metal-mesh strainer. Transfer to saucepan, bring back to a simmer and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Transfer to fridge so the fat rises to the top, and remove the fat if desired.

Oxtail Stock Recipe

This is an adaptation of the above recipe. I recently discovered how delicious the stock can be when oxtail is used. I also add beef short rib. I add a rich marrow bone (sold as ‘dog bones’ at my local grocer), especially if I want to maximize the collagen.

This recipe makes a smaller quantity but  you certainly could double or quadruple it to make more.

Ingredients & Equpment:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 lb oxtail, 1 lb short ribs
• ¾ lb chuck
• 1 small onion, halved (or quarter large onion)
• Other veggies, as desired (optional)
• ¼ cup dry red wine (for deglazing)
• 1 quart filtered water
• peels from several potatoes (optional)
• ¼ – ½ tsp Celtic or other unrefined sea salt
• Herbs, as desired (optional)
• Equipment:
• Heavy-bottomed stock pot

Method:

1. Trim extra fat off short ribs if desired. Cut up chuck into 3-4 pieces.
2. If using additional veggies, wash and cut into into 2” – 4” lengths.
3. Heat oil in large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Brown chuck, ribs, oxtail, onion and veggies on all sides (in batches if necessary), adding more oil as needed. Collect the browned batches in a large bowl or another pot; set aside.
4. Add red wine to browned bits in empty pot, stirring well.  Continue cooking to de-glaze the pan, until the wine is reduced to a syrup.  Reduce heat to low.
5. Return browned onion,  meat, and bones to pot.  Cover pot and sweat contents of pot over lowest heat (with simmer plate if needed), until they have released about 1/3 cup of thick, dark, very intensely flavored liquid, about 20 minutes.
6. Increase heat to medium high and add the water, potato peels, veggies and salt. If using bay leaf, add it now. Bring to a simmer, but not a full boil.  Reduce heat to a very low simmer (you may need a simmer plate over your burner), partially cover the pan with lid, and barely simmer for 1½ – 3 hours, until meat is very tender. Add other herbs during last 30 minutes of simmering.
7. Strain.  Discard bones and onion; set meat aside for another use, such as a soup using both meat and broth, or Cottage Pie.
8. Let broth stand until the fat rises to the top; skim and discard the fat.

Testing Jan 2012: Although I’ve made this several times before, I decided to document a test. I used oxtail and shortribs, although could only get ½ lb of the ribs. Also couldn’t find chuck so I used bottom round (breakfast steak) cut into strips. I’m very fussy about my meat – I don’t buy whatever is at the store, only pasture-raised beef, so sometimes my choices are limited. It took about 45 minutes to brown everything – beef and red onion – in 3-batches. And I sweated it all for closer to 30 minutes, and slow-simmered for 3 hours, when the fragrance told me it was ready. I strained it, pulled off useable meat including the breakfast steak (to make cottage pie), and set the bowl of strained stock in the fridge overnight. Scraped off the fat in the AM and put into jars for freezing. Also gave it a taste — mmm. Got 5 half-pints and one pint jars-full, total 3½ pints or 7 cups.

Sources & References:

1. Cooks Illustrated magazine
2. The Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas (for the idea of using potato peel to increase mineral content)
3. Bone Stock, a Liquid Asset by Ari LeVaux from the Missoula Independent newspaper. Also saved as a pdf file in case the link is lost: Bone Stock by Ari LeVaux (pdf).
4. Fine Cooking recipe: Roasted Beef Broth (finecooking.com/recipes/roasted-beef-broth.aspx)