Homemade beef stock
Brown beef or veal bones and vegetables well, then give the stockpot time. You will have a dark stock for soups, sauces and stews. Strain and reduce it to suit what you are cooking. Cool quickly whatever you want to save.
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SAPIDUS · Flavour. Curiosity. Joy of food.
Homemade beef stock
4 litres · About 13–25 hours, plus rapid cooling
Equipment: Large stockpot, roasting dish, sieve, smaller containers and an ice-water bath
Quantities follow your selection; time and temperature do not scale automatically.
Ingredients
Bones and vegetables
- 2,667 g beef or veal bones, preferably a mixture with some meat and joints
- approx. 2½ carrots
- approx. 1½ large onion
- approx. 2½ celery stalks, or a quarter celeriac in the original quantity
- approx. 1½ whole head of garlic
Liquid and seasoning
- 5⅓–6⅔ l cold starting water; adjust to cover the bones
- approx. 2½ bay leaves
- 1⅓ tsp whole peppercorns
- 2⅔ tbsp cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- Salt only after any reduction, to taste
Allergens: Celery. Check vinegar and any other ingredients.
Method
Blanch the bones
Put bones in the pot and cover with cold blanching water, additional to the starting water in the ingredient list. Bring to the boil and boil for 5–10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and wash the pot.
Roast bones and vegetables
Heat the oven to 220 °C conventional. Put bones and roughly cut vegetables in a roasting dish. Roast for 30–40 minutes until well browned, without black burnt patches. Turn as needed.
Start the stockpot
Put bones and vegetables in the clean pot. Deglaze the roasting dish with some starting water and add the roasting juices. Add the remaining water to cover the bones, along with vinegar, bay leaves and peppercorns.
Simmer gently
Heat slowly and skim off foam collecting on the surface. Poach or barely simmer for 12–24 hours. Check regularly and top up with hot water as needed so the pot does not boil dry. Plan cooking for a time when you can supervise it.
Strain and assess strength
Lift out bones and vegetables and strain the stock. Reduce uncovered if you want a more concentrated stock. Measure the final volume if useful. Salt only once the desired concentration is reached, or leave unsalted for later use.
Cool rapidly
If not using immediately, divide into smaller shallow containers or place a suitable container in an ice-water bath. Stir with a clean utensil. Reduce the temperature from 60 to 10 °C as quickly as possible, within two hours at the latest, then refrigerate. Do not leave a large pot on the worktop overnight.
Portion and store
Refrigerate cooled stock, preferably below 4 °C, and use soon or freeze in convenient portions. Label with the date and any reduction. Remove the fat layer once cold if desired.
https://sapidus.no/en/oppskrifter/hjemmelaget-oksekraft
About portions and timing
Cuisine: International
Tick ingredients as you prepare them and steps as you finish them.
0 items checkedMethod
Put bones in the pot and cover with cold blanching water, additional to the starting water in the ingredient list. Bring to the boil and boil for 5–10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and wash the pot.
Heat the oven to 220 °C conventional. Put bones and roughly cut vegetables in a roasting dish. Roast for 30–40 minutes until well browned, without black burnt patches. Turn as needed.
Put bones and vegetables in the clean pot. Deglaze the roasting dish with some starting water and add the roasting juices. Add the remaining water to cover the bones, along with vinegar, bay leaves and peppercorns.
Heat slowly and skim off foam collecting on the surface. Poach or barely simmer for 12–24 hours. Check regularly and top up with hot water as needed so the pot does not boil dry. Plan cooking for a time when you can supervise it.
Lift out bones and vegetables and strain the stock. Reduce uncovered if you want a more concentrated stock. Measure the final volume if useful. Salt only once the desired concentration is reached, or leave unsalted for later use.
If not using immediately, divide into smaller shallow containers or place a suitable container in an ice-water bath. Stir with a clean utensil. Reduce the temperature from 60 to 10 °C as quickly as possible, within two hours at the latest, then refrigerate. Do not leave a large pot on the worktop overnight.
Refrigerate cooled stock, preferably below 4 °C, and use soon or freeze in convenient portions. Label with the date and any reduction. Remove the fat layer once cold if desired.
Get to know the spices in this dish
About this version
Home-tested with excellent results. The original uses 2 kg bones and 4–5 litres starting water, yielding about 3 litres before further reduction. The quantity selector here means the desired approximate final volume in litres, not people. Yield depends on pan, lid and evaporation.
Good to know before you cook
The final quantity will vary
The water you start with is not the amount of stock you will finish with. Taste as it reduces and stop when it is as strong as you want. If it is very concentrated, add water when you use it.
What about the vinegar?
A little vinegar was part of the earlier recipe. It does not promise a particular nutrient content or that the stock will set when cold.
Use in Sapidus stews
The stock suits Bœuf Sans Vin and Norwegian beef stew. Start cautiously with salt and other salty sauces when using concentrated stock.
Sources and further reading
Sources were compiled with AI assistance.