Rich Homemade Beef Stock

👨‍🍳 Method

1. 1
   Brush the oil and tomato paste over the bones.

   Pastry brush

   💡Tomato paste browned on the bones in the oven deepens the color and flavor of the stock.
2. 2
   Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F)' and roast the bones in a pan for about half an hour, until browned'.

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOvenBaking pan

   💡Roasting is what gives the stock its dark color and deep meaty flavor.

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
3. 3
   Transfer the bones to a large pot, along with the juices in the pan.

   Large pot
4. 4
   Add the water and the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt, and bring to a boil.

   Stove
5. 5
   'Skim off the foam. 'Turn down' the heat to very low' and simmer' only very gently' 3–4 hours.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡Skim off the foam that rises at the start of cooking: it's proteins that cloud the stock.

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
6. 6
   Strain through a fine strainer and let cool.

   Fine sieve
7. 7
   Lift off the layer of fat that has hardened on top of the cooled stock.