If you throw away the bones after you cook ribs, roast, steak, anything… you’re wasting a super precious ingredient.  Making your own beef stock is one of the easiest, most basic recipes that pays off ten-fold.  Beef stock can be used to make sauces, cook with in the crock pot, soak your dog’s raw hides in, or just drink it straight up. (For reasons why beef stock, or “bone broth,” as some call it is an amino acid superhero for your stomach, read this.)  Buying beef stock in a can is convenient, but it’s like comparing Natural Light beer to a delicious, local micro-brewed beer.   Nutritionally, and taste-wise, it’s really that big of a difference.

I save all of my bones (and roasted chicken carcasses) in ziploc bags in the freezer and every few months, make a big batch of stock.  You can leave it to cook overnight overnight in the crock pot, or let it sit all day on the stove to cook.  When it’s finished, let it cool and store it in quart-sized ziploc bags in the freezer or individual containers.  Take it out to thaw as you need it, and voila!

Simple Beef Stock

Meaty beef bones (whatever you have, but 2 pounds is what you should aim for a minimum of)

1 onion, quartered

2 carrots, halved

3 stalks of celery, halved

a teaspoon of black peppercorns* optional

1.  Put the bones in a large sauce pot and cover with cold water.

2.  Bring the water to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.  Skim the stuff that floats to the top and throw it away.

3.  Add about a gallon of cold water to the pot and bring to a simmer. (A very lazy boil)

4.  Simmer for 5 hours, skimming what comes to the top and throwing it away.

5.  Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer and let it cool.  Package into ziploc bags or smaller containers and freeze.