Beef Stock

Today was the day for making beef stock, beginning with about 2 1/2 pounds of beef bones.  Add some onions, celery, carrots and herbs and you're just a few hours away from beef stock more flavorful than what you can buy at the grocery store.

First you need to preheat your oven to 475 degrees.  Place the beef bones in a large roasting pan and lightly salt and pepper.  

Place in oven for 20 minutes and remove and using tongs turn the beef bones over and return to oven for another 25 minutes.

Place the bones in a large Dutch oven and cover with cold water.  Place the roasting pan on the stovetop and add additional cold water to deglaze the pan and scrape up all the browned bits left from the roasting bones.

Add that water and browned bits to the Dutch oven and add 1 yellow onion, quartered, 2 carrots chopped into large pieces, 2 ribs celery chopped into large pieces, 1 T. whole peppercorns, 1 t. dried thyme, 2 bay leaves and 8 - 10 whole garlic cloves.

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a very gentle simmer.  Skim off any foam that forms. DO NOT STIR.  This will result in your stock being cloudy.

Let simmer for 2 hours.  Cool, strain and you will have between 6 - 8 cups of beef stock.  You can used immediately, refrigerate overnight for use the next day or freeze for later use.