1. You will need 1 tomato or 3 ounces tomato paste, 1 large carrot, 2 celery stalks, 2 medium onions, 15 black peppercorns, and 1 bay leaf. There are a fairly wide variety of the kinds of beef you can use. You can use beef bones and beef trimming without the fat. Beef trimming is not required, but if on hand really lends a lot of flavor to the stock. You can also purchase beef labeled, “stew meat” to enhance the stock's flavor. We used 6 pounds of bones, and 2 pounds stew meat.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), place the bones (not the trim) onto a sheet pan, and put the pan into the oven. Do not heat the oven any higher than 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) or the bones' surface might burn, lending the stock an unpleasant, bitter flavor.
3. While the bones are in the oven, coarsely cut up the carrots, celery, and onion. This combination of ingredients is known as mirepoix. Also coarsely cut up the tomato (if you are using one). Keep all of the vegetables separate, as the water content and cooking time differs for each of them.
4. Once all of the ingredients have been prepared for use, place a large stockpot on the stove and turn the heat to high. Once the pot is hot, add 1 tablespoon of light olive or vegetable oil. This pot will be used first to caramelize the vegetables. Caramelizing of both the bones and the vegetables will ultimately create a far more complex and robust stock. Without caramelization, the stock will take on a very murky look and muddy taste.
5. Now that there is a small amount of fat in the pot, and it has been preheated, add the onions.
6. Stir the onions constantly. You can also add the carrots at this time. Onions are easier to caramelize than carrots, as the onions will wilt and touch the bottom of the pan on all sides, while the carrots cannot.
7. Once caramelization has begun, add the tomato product. If you use a paste, you will not need to cook the mixture as long as if you use fresh tomatoes.
8. Once the vegetables have achieved a fairly dark caramelization, add the celery. Celery does not tend to caramelize well, as it has high water content.
9. At this point, the bones should have taken on a nice roasted look. Again, look to verify you have not burned the bones. If they have burned slightly, try to pick any burnt spots off; or where the bones are too burned, throw the bones away.
10. If you have any trim to add to your stock, add it to the sheet tray with the bones now.
11. Once the bones and trim have turned a nice roasted brown, add them to the caramelized vegetables. Cover the bones and vegetables with water.
12. It is now time to add spices . We used bay leaf and black peppercorns. Many people also add herb stems from parsley and thyme.
13. The sheet tray now contains particles from the bones and trim that have leeched out and stuck to the pan. These crystallized drippings are known as fond. The fond contains a lot of concentrated flavor and should not be thrown away. Place this tray on top of a burner and add a small amount of water, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. This act is known as deglazing.
14. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove the bits of fond. The liquid combined with the heat from the stove will cause the fond to quickly hydrate and blend with the water.
15. Once all or most of the fond has been removed from the pan, add the fond to the stockpot. At this point, the stock might have come to a boil. You do not want the stock to boil. Once it has heated up, turn the heat down to a low heat, and let it simmer.
16. After a while, the fat and impurities from the bones and meat trimming will begin to float to the top. Skim this fat off the top, being careful not to capture too much of the stock in the ladle. Repeat this step over and over again as new layers of fat form on the top. The fat and impurities are what make a stock cloudy. Even as it simmers, it is possible for the stock to churn the fat back into the body of the stock, creating a muddy flavor and cloudy stock. Skim and discard the fat.
17. After about eight hours of skimming and simmering, strain the stock. Often small meat and bones particles can form in the stock.
18. It is wise to also strain the stock through a cheesecloth after the first straining just to make certain the stock is clean and free of debris.
19. When the beef stock is done it should be dark brown in color. It should also have a pleasant flavor and not be bitter. If it is bitter, it has been burned at some point in the preparation process.
20. At this point, you can also reduce this stock to create what is known as demi-glace, a very thick and gelatinous reduction. One good reason for reducing stock is to increase strength in flavor for thicker and more flavorful recipes. You will wind up with less liquid when reducing, but this can be a good thing as it will essentially become beef stock concentrate. Often people will freeze their reduced stock into ice cube trays and then add one cube at a time to some water, reconstituting the amount to the original strength in consistency, viscosity, and flavor. This is a great way to make all that time and hard work last.
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