question about beef stock

[savvysearch]

I roasted some beef bones today and ate the marrow. I'm wondering if I can make a beef stock with the leftover bones. Does the lack of marrow make a difference or is my understanding incorrect? I'm assuming the marrow is a big component of flavoring a stock.

[Peter the eater]

I've made beef soup from raw marrow bones, roasted marrow bones, and roasted marrow bones that have been mostly emptied of marrow. The second one was the best.

[Chris Amirault]

You'll still need actual flesh, though. Bare bones aren't enough.

[SeanDirty]

thats actually not true yes you can always make stock from bones w or without marrow or meat. Bones contain collagen that you want in your stock which is a big part of stock... meat sure does add alittle more flavor but at the CIA when we used beef bones there were little strands still attached to the meat which was barley edible bits... so im sure u have enough.

What you do is, get a roasting pan, heat your oven to very hot, add oil, throw in bones and brown them. when they are brown take your mirepoix (carrots onions celery) brown them with the heat of the roasting pan. You then can or you can omit the tomato paste, and slightly cook that. Add water or red wine to deglace. Scrape off all fond and any tasty bits into your pot cover with water and simmer for 3-8 hours depending on how much bones u have... usually 8# of bones to 1# of mirepoix

Thats the CiA method

Edited November 29, 2008 by SeanDirty (log)

[muichoi]

You can make beef stock without meat, but I don't think it's really worth the effort.

[chromedome]

I don't find that the marrow adds a whole lot of flavour to my stock, but I still try to not eat more than half. The rest goes into the pot.

Rather than all bones, I like to use a fair portion of sliced bone-in shank: say at least one part shank to two parts bones. I favour marrow bones and knuckles, given my druthers. If you want to be really frugal, fish out the shanks after they've simmered to tenderness but before they've yielded up all their flavour. They make good soup or stew, if you don't mind cutting out some of the bigger chunks of gristle (I put those back into the stock pot, of course).

I don't use tomato paste, because I don't like the flavour it gives my stock and I can do just fine without the colour if the bones and mirepoix are roasted adequately.

[savvysearch]

thanks. I guess I'll just try it and see what happens.

[Peter the eater]

I would never remove marrow from bones to make stock -- if you got it, use it. Marrow is extremely nutritious and caloric. I don't think it adds beefy flavor like muscle and connective tissue does, but it certainly adds body and depth.

I suppose it depends whether you're making soup for an ailing child or consomme for the Emperor.

[SeanDirty]

I would never remove marrow from bones to make stock -- if you got it, use it. Marrow is extremely nutritious and caloric. I don't think it adds beefy flavor like muscle and connective tissue does, but it certainly adds body and depth.

I suppose it depends whether you're making soup for an ailing child or consomme for the Emperor.

←

aye but the original posting was asking that if stock can be made from bones w/o Marrow. But then again not all beef bones are used for marrow, and marrow bones are ultimately more expensive... most bones used are scrap bones anyways...

[Katie Meadow]

Why not have your marrow and eat it too? I don't know if you could roast the marrow bones and still do this, but I admit that I take a shortcut when using marrow bones for stock. Instead of roasting (and I keep telling myself I should roast them), I brown them quickly all over in a cast iron skillet. Then I add them to the stock pot with whatever meats I am using.

After about an hour I fish out the marrow bones and extract the marrow. In case there is stock value in the marrow at least I get one's hour's worth this way. Making sure my daughter--she of the delicate sensibilities--isn't around to watch, because she thinks this is utterly revolting, I spread the marrow on toast or, if I have it, fresh rye bread (which is what my mother preferred), sprinkle on a bit of sea salt, and bliss out. When I come to my senses or discover I have not had a heart attack, I toss the bones back into the stock pot.