On days when the weather is not cooperating, I tend to make it my mission to mark off a few of those to-dos that have been put to the back burner. Specifically today…the dreaded freezer. Things get moved around to find specific cuts of meat or little hands are in need of a popsicle and after a short period of time, the freezer becomes a wreck. So in my organizing, I found 8lbs of beef bones and I knew bone broth was in order. Two birds one stone…I get delicious, healing bone broth and a large space is cleared up in the freezer.
What are the steps in making bone broth?
In this recipe I used 8 pounds of beef bones but you can use 10 pounds. I only had the 8 at the time so that’s all I used. Also keep in mind this recipe takes a long amount of simmering time so plan accordingly. You can either start early in the morning and simmer all day or break it up between multiple days (ex. blanching and roasting on day 1, simmering all day on day 2, etc.).
Step One: Blanching
So let’s talk blanching. Although this step is not necessary, it does aid in your bone broth coming out better tasting and having a clearer consistency. If this isn’t something you are concerned about you can move on to Step Two.
Add your bones to a large pot and fill the pot with water so that the water covers the bones by one inch. If you don’t have a large enough pot for the amount of bones, divide the bones in half and split between two pots. You could always opt for doing half a batch if you don’t have more than one pot.
Bring the water to a boil, turn down the heat to medium-low, and simmer the bones for 15 minutes. Don’t be alarmed if you see foam on the surface of the water, this is normal. Once the bones have been blanched, toss them into a food strainer and rinse them off.
Step Two: Roasting
After rinsing, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (this is optional but helps with the cleanup process). Divide the bones between the two cookie sheets and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes are up you are then going to add your vegetables: 4 carrots cut into 3″ pieces, 6 celery stalks cut into 3″ pieces, 2 red onions quartered, and 2 garlic heads left whole with the tops cut off. Continue to roast for another 15 minutes.
Step Three: Simmering the Broth
Once you have removed your bones and vegetables from the oven, add them back into your CLEAN, large stockpot (if you are using two pots just divide all of the bones and vegetables equally between the two). Fill the pots with water so that again it covers the bones and vegetable;es by at least one inch or approx. 24 cups of water (I think I used 26 cups here).
Next add in your spices: 4 large bay leaves, 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 star anise, and 1/4 cup of peppercorns. Also add in 2 tablespoons of organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar (I get mine from Aldi).
Turn the burner to high until the broth comes to a boil and then back down to low to simmer all day. This will take 12 hours but you can cut it off as early as 8 hours. You can also opt to simmer in a crockpot with the lid off.
Step Four: Straining
Once you have simmered your broth all day, it is time to strain that puppy and get it into some jars! To do this, line a food strainer with either cheesecloth or an old cotton dishcloth and set on top of a large bowl to catch the broth. Carefully, pour the broth, bones, and vegetables into the cloth lined strainer. I have to do this part in two batches due to the amount of bones and vegetables.
Once all of the broth has been strained you can discard the bones and vegetables how ever you like. Composting is a good route but this time I decided to save them for my mama pigs, Susie, Tina, Gwenivere, and Rosietta.
The broth will be dark and rich. You may even be able to see a fatty, grease layer on top. You can now pour the broth into jars or the container of your choosing. Because I was finishing this up after the kids were in bed and I was ready to hit the hay as well, I decided to put mine in a large one gallon container.
Set your container in the refrigerator over night. This will help separate out the fat and help the broth to congeal. It will resemble brown jello. Don’t get grossed out, this is wonderful stuff! The broth congeals due to the great amount of collagen that came out of those bones we took such great care and effort into.
At this point you can choose to leave or scrape the fat layer off the top of the refrigerated broth. This to me is just a personal preference whether or not you scrape it off. I personally like to keep it. The more fat the better in my book!
From here you can choose to keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze in freezer safe containers for 6+ months. I will more than likely be pressure canning mine in 1/2 pint jars for sipping when someone gets sick or has a tummy bug.
Let me know down below if you decide to make your own bone broth!
Enjoy!
Beef Bone Broth Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Large Stock Pot
- 2 Cookie Sheet
- 1 Parchment Paper
- 1 Food Strainer/ Colander
- 1 cheese cloth/cotton dish towel
Ingredients
- 10 lb beef bones
- 4 carrot
- 6 celery stalk
- 2 red onion
- 2 heads of garlic
- 4 bay leaf
- 2 cinnamon stick
- 4 star anise
- 1/4 cup peppercorn
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 24 cup water
Instructions
Blanch Bones
- Place beef bones in a large stock pot and fill with water until the bones are covered by 1" of water. Bring water to a boil and then turn burner down to medium-low heat to simmer for 15 minutes.
- Pour blanched bones into a food strainer in the sink and rinse the bones off.
Roast Bones and Vegetables
- Preheat oven to 450℉.
- Divide blanched bones onto 2 parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
- Roast bones for 30 minutes. Flip bones and add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic to the bones on the cookie sheets. Roast for an additional 15 minutes.
Broth
- Add Roasted Bone/Vegetable mixture to a large stock pot or divide between two large pots. Top with 24 cups of water or until bones are covered by 1" of water.
- Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, star anise, peppercorns, and apple cider vinegar.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat for 8-12 hours.
- Place cheese cloth or cotton dishtowel lined colander on top of a large bowl and carefully pour broth through lined colander. Make sure to check the bowl periodically while strained to not overfill the bowl. You will probably have to strain in batches.
- Allow broth to cool to room temperature and add into container you intend to store your broth in. Refrigerate over night.
- (Optional) Skim fat layer off the top of the gelatinized broth.
- Keep refrigerated for up to 5 days or store in the freezer in a freezer safe container for up to 6+ months.