category: dish: soups: clear soups

Beef stock, bouillon, de.: Rinderbrühe, fr.: Bouillon

Beef stock is a stock cooked from beef meat, bones and trimmings, leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley root, parsley stems and sautéed half onions. It has a cooking time of 5 to 8 hours.

Preparation of beef stock

For high quality beef stock beef bones have to be blanched and cooled under cold, running water. The meat is only cleaned with cold water. The blanched bones and the washed meat are transferred to a large pan and topped with cold water. Use moderate heat until the stock is just beginning to boil. Meat and bones release more flavour when the water is added cold. At 70 °C the proteins released to the stock begin to coagulate. They enclose impurities in the stock and settle on top of the stock as grey to brown scum. As soon as scum starts to form the stock should only simmer very lightly and should not be brought to a boil anymore. The foam should be removed with a slotted spoon every now and then.

Skimming of beef stock

After a while of cooking the fat is released from the meat and bones. The fat also has to be removed so the stock cannot emulsify and become turbid. This process of degreasing is also called skimming.

Thirty to forty minutes before the end of the cooking time salt, finely cut celery, carrots and leeks and halfed onions that have been browned in a frying pan are added to the stock. The vegetables should only be added to the stock at the end of the cooking time since the aromatic substances may change or vanish completely if cooked too long. Finally the meat and vegetables are removed and the stock is strained through a cloth strainer. The beef stock should now be clear and have a light yellow to brownish colour, which is mainly derived from the browned onions.