lazy oven beef stock

How To Make lazy oven beef stock

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  1

  Distribute meat bones in a a single layer in a large roaster and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Distribute the vegetables over the meat and drizzle the olive oil on top. Bake in a 400F degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. You want the bones and veggies nicely browned but not burned.
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  2

  Reduce the oven temperature to 250F.
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  3

  Remove the browned meat and vegetables to a large stew pot. Pour any loose fat into the pot with the meat and vegetables. (The fat will be removed later.) Set aside.
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  4

  Reserve the roasting pan with it's "fond." Fond is the combination of carmelized bits and drippings in the bottom of the pan, what my father called "the good, brown stuff." This add a lot of flavor to the stock.
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  5

  Heat the roasting pan on top of the stove and add dry red wine (or substitute). Simmer and stir, scraping the fond off the bottom.
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  6

  Pour the contents of the roasting pan over the meat and vegetables in the stew pot and cover with water to within, at most, an inch of the top of the pot. You want the meat and vegetables covered but too much water can result in a weak stock.
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  7

  Optionally, add herbs and spices at this point to add more flavor. In this case, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns were added.
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  8

  Cover and place in the 250F oven to simmer for approximately 4 to 6 hours. Start tasting the broth at 4 hours and then every half hour or so. It is done when it tastes of a good beefy broth. (Note: it will not taste like commercial canned or boxed broth which has much more salt.) If it does not taste beefy at 6 hours, you may have started with too much water. Remove the lid, turn the oven to 350F, and allow the stock to reduce, checking at 15 minute intervals, until you do have the beefy flavor.
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  9

  Allow to cool about one hour. Discard the solids, and strain the broth through a screen sieve. Any meat remaining may still have enough flavor to please a dog or cat but has really given too much of itself to the broth to please humans. The vegetables will have given their all.
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  10

  Refrigerate the strained broth overnight to allow the fat to rise and solidify. Remove the solid fat with a spatula.
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  11

  I you like, reserve the fat to use to brown beef for soup or stews. It adds flavor to a lean cut like London Broil.
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  12

  The resulting stock is likely to contain some solids and be cloudy. If you are going to serve the broth as a clear soup, strain it through cheese cloth or a non-terry dish towel to remove the solids. For most cooking purposes, this is not necessary.
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  13

  Divide the broth into convenient sizes for cooking single meals and freeze.
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