Make your own beef stock

[merlot brougham]

Go find a butcher.  I mean a fucking butcher.  Not your local grocery store.  Although that may be all you have available.  If that is all, then so be it.  If you have a local butcher who purchases local meats then so the better.  Get at least 5#.  7# is preferable.  Just know form going forward I had 5.5# so scale accordingly.

Roast those bones at 400 degrees F for one hour.  Pour yourself a beer.




Coat those bitches with some nice quality tomato paste.  Always remember when making a stock that skimping on taste/cost doesn't really help.  Flavors are concentrated, so if you're cheap invest in good ingredients with your stocks.



Then throw in a 1:1:2 proportion of carrot:celery:onion.  I get all wild and crazy and add in more onions simply because I love it.  This time I used white onion, yellow sweet and yellow bitter onions. 




Continued.....

[merlot brougham]

Throw them veggies in and roast for another 30 mins at 400.

[RAGER]

See #23 in the certainties and musings thread. But thank you very much for the step by step and pictorial content. Awesome.

[merlot brougham]

Dump them bones and veggies in a stock pot.  Deglaze the bits that are left with some red wine.



After you are done deglazing your roasting pan should be clean:


Add enough water to cover all the bones and veggies.  Again, I recommend filtered water simply because flavors become concentrated in a stock:


Feel free to add more wine.  Wine is flavor, no?


Add 5-6 bay leaves:


Add 20+ peppercorns.  I prefer green peppercorns, but that's just me:


I add juniper berries, but this is totally not necessary:


5-6 garlic cloves, slightly smashed.  I dig surface area and so does flavor:


This is meant to show you that I added a couple allspice berries but the little buggers rolled off before I could snap a pic.  Yeah, I get wild and crazy.  Totally not necessary, but I dig it:


Add more water if necessary.  Remember that at a minimum you want those bones covered.


Turn that stuff up to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer for a MINIMUM of 4 hours.  Don't get all crazy and think twice is better.  8 hours will start drawing out some funky flavors.

Pour yourself a beer:

[merlot brougham]

See #23 in the certainties and musings thread. But thank you very much for the step by step and pictorial content. Awesome.

Sorry bro, I'm horrendous at looking that deeply in the forum to find prior postings.  I hope my step-by-step is a compliment to the forum and not a repeat.

[Demon Lung]

See #23 in the certainties and musings thread. But thank you very much for the step by step and pictorial content. Awesome.

other people can post about cooking too.

[merlot brougham]

Sorry Rager.  You got me all stressed about my posts.  So I decided not to document the following:



4 different types of chili powders.  Delisch.

[RAGER]

Super awesome. Please detail. I do my own also.
Several others have some good shit. Keep posting.

Demon lung.   Please enjoy my shit pie.

[Demon Lung]

Super awesome. Please detail. I do my own also.
Several others have some good shit. Keep posting.

Demon lung.   Please enjoy my shit pie.

man go fuck yourself. You are the one that prevented someone from posting something very cool because you want to be a douchebag. Really dude. Go fuck yourself

[Demon Lung]

I do have one question "Rager". Do you actually have a degree in the culinary arts or are you just a line cook?

[khoomeizhi]

DL - rager & merlot are clearly capable of working out their communication issues. you're the primary dickbag in this thread. if you have nothing to add that's actually about food, except your known dislike of rager, kindly take your wendy's eating ass back to gen. disc.

food forum is for food, not the butthurt of uninvolved parties.

[Demon Lung]

Yeah you are right. I'm a dick for saying that other people can post about cooking too... I apologize for looking at Merlots beef stock thread with a genuine interest and feeling like it got shat all over by rager. Which is really what happened

[RAGER]

See #23 in the certainties and musings thread. But thank you very much for the step by step and pictorial content. Awesome.

I have no idea how this was construed as telling someone not to post.

Let me rephrase. MOAR!!! PLEEZ!!!!

[merlot brougham]

Wow.  Huh.  I was just being snarky, I swear.  You do a good job moderating, Rager.  I was just a little loopy and playful last night.

So this next part has no pics.  Sorry.

After simmering for a MINIMUM of 4 hours and NO MORE than 8 hours I first pour that stuff off through a strainer.

Save all that stuff for your dog or your neighbor's dog.  You will have an eternal friend if you do.

I then pour it through cheesecloth. 

Then throw that stuff in the fridge overnight.  There's still quite a bit of fat in it and it will move to the top and harden:

O wait, I need to reboot. be right back wit ya.

[merlot brougham]

See this?  It's beef fat infused with all the flavor you just put in your stock.  Personally I find beef fat repulsive and repugnant.  If you're not me, you may save a bit of this and throw it in to a recipe to add some flavah.  I'm a pig fat kind of guy.



Break it up and skim it off:



Ice cube trays.  Ladle that jank up in there and freeze:

[RAGER]

Wow.  Huh.  I was just being snarky, I swear.  You do a good job moderating, Rager.  I was just a little loopy and playful last night.

That's what I figured.  Some here don't have much of a sense of humor and or like to stir shit up.  You know how it goes.  You were on the old board.  Oh and I'm not a moderator.  At least I don't think I am   I'm just the guy that lobbied for this here facet of the board and got it.  So I'm the main contributor.  Kinda like having my own foodblog but with cooler people.  So please continue to post pics and techniques and shit.  Much appreciated.

Now back to the stock.  When I make stock, it takes 2 days of cooking it down and adding water.  it seems to be richer this way.  Kinda like how veal stock is done.  I often see people do the ice cube tray thing but that would be way to impractical for me as I cook a lot.  I mean a lot.  When I use stock it's usually several cups at a time.  All stock for rice.  Completely stock for pho and Korean soups. Some times I'll just have a cup with some scallions. i keep it in a couple big food grade buckets.  I have two fridges.

[merlot brougham]

Goddamn dude.

That is some kick ass shit you got working.  Pics or it didn't happen. Wanna see the products of your labors. 

Cooking is a blue collar labor.  But one that keeps us all well fed and happy.  So critical.

Blue collar is just as critical as white collar to the advancement of society.

[GodShifter]

Wow.  Huh.  I was just being snarky, I swear.  You do a good job moderating, Rager.  I was just a little loopy and playful last night.

That's what I figured.  Some here don't have much of a sense of humor and or like to stir shit up.  You know how it goes.  You were on the old board.  Oh and I'm not a moderator.  At least I don't think I am   I'm just the guy that lobbied for this here facet of the board and got it.  So I'm the main contributor.  Kinda like having my own foodblog but with cooler people.  So please continue to post pics and techniques and shit.  Much appreciated.

Now back to the stock.  When I make stock, it takes 2 days of cooking it down and adding water.  it seems to be richer this way.  Kinda like how veal stock is done.  I often see people do the ice cube tray thing but that would be way to impractical for me as I cook a lot.  I mean a lot.  When I use stock it's usually several cups at a time.  All stock for rice.  Completely stock for pho and Korean soups. Some times I'll just have a cup with some scallions. i keep it in a couple big food grade buckets.  I have two fridges.

Moderator in spirit you are (he said in a Yoda like voice).

But, yep, it was at Rager's suggestion that this forum was created. I passed the idea along to sleestak and, viola, you have this. In truth, if this thread got more traffic I could see putting Rager in charge of it ala Sunn0))) in the Jam Room, but that's not been the case.

Keep up the good work, brohomsapiens!

[merlot brougham]

I'm thinking about making more chili powder today simply to document it, we'll see.

[black]

This forum is a godsend for those of us who aren't too great in the kitchen, but want to learn more. It's also become a place where cats that do have some great kitchen skills have been networking and trading advice. All which benefits idiots like myself. The recipe thread has nothing but greatness and the fact that folks often post pictures make it even better for me to "see" what they are talking about. I didn't have a lot of kitchen confidence, but the last couple years here with RAGER, mjs and others posting tips and recipes (and photos) has given me the courage to indulge in things that are a level or two above making a grilled cheese sandwich*. I've much appreciated the civilized and non-judgmental discourse here (so let's keep it that way d-lung), as well as all the food porn posted.








*to my defence, i have moved onto grilling fancy pants cheese on fancy pants bread to a delicious outcome.

[MadJohnShaft]

I do half cubes and half ziplock bags of frozen stock - that way you have big and small amounts.


The pressure cooker is a godsend for beef stock, does it in a fraction of the time

[merlot brougham]

I hear that pressure cooker argument but I also find it to be a pussy way out.   I know that sounds ridiculous, my grandma had the best beef stew ever that was done pressure cooker.

[Chovie D]

presssure cooker for stocks is indeed the shiznit
*disclaimer...I dont know what the fuck im doin 99% of the time.

[Lumpy]

I personally would not add wine to a stock, but that's just me.

I like the ziplock bag/freezer idea (said the man with very little Tupperware)

[RAGER]

Deglae with bit of white wine but not sure aboot red for me.