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–+ servings
Ebonie Garnica

Roasted Beef Stock For Full GAPS

Roasted meaty beef bones with golden onions, leeks, carrots and homemade ghee. Full GAPS. About 3 quarts after a 40-minute beef roast and 8-hour gentle simmer; allow around 10 hours through initial cooling. Final yield and additional reduction vary.
Print Recipe
Cook Time 8 hours 40 minutes
Total Time 10 hours
Servings: 3 quarts, approximately
Course: Full GAPS, Soup
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 6 pounds raw meaty beef neck or leg bones With meat and connective tissue attached; first extraction, not spent bones.
  • 1 calf's foot Optional; raw, rinsed and added to the stockpot without roasting.
  • 3 tablespoons homemade ghee Divided: half for the beef and half for diced vegetables. Or the same amount of beef tallow for dairy-free preparation.
  • 8 quarts cold filtered water Plus water for rinsing and topping up. Use some of the measured water for the roasting-pan juices.
  • 1 pound white onions At 1×: reserve one onion halved; dice the rest. At 2× reserve two onions halved.
  • 1 pound leeks Dark green parts removed; wash between layers and cut into large dice.
  • 3/4 pound carrots At 1×: 12 ounces. Wash and cut into large dice.
  • 1 head garlic Split across cloves and broken into pieces.
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 3 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
  • natural sea salt To taste, at loading and after any reduction.

Equipment

  • Large stainless-steel or enameled stockpot Room for scaled water, beef and vegetables plus headroom. Divide into base batches if necessary.
  • Hob-safe stainless-steel or enameled cast-iron roasting pan Rated for 425°F roasting and the medium-heat stovetop deglazing step. Use adequate single-layer roasting area.
  • Cast-iron skillet and vegetable roasting tray Onion browns in the dry skillet; the diced vegetables roast separately.
  • Kitchen scale, tongs, wooden spoon, ladle and fine-mesh strainer Lift the meat with tongs and strain into a large clean heatproof container.
  • Heatproof storage containers and ice bath Cool promptly, portion and date. Freezer-suitable containers for longer storage.

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Rinse the meaty beef pieces and optional calf's foot with cool water, then pat the beef pieces dry. Put the foot, if using, into a large stockpot. Arrange the beef pieces in one layer in a suitable roasting pan and coat with half the ghee.
  2. Roast the beef for 20 minutes. Turn the pieces with tongs and roast for about 20 minutes more, until golden brown. Avoid burned or blackened pieces. Pour off excess rendered fat into a heatproof container to save for cooking. Lower the oven to 400°F.
  3. Transfer the roasted beef to the stockpot. Add some of the measured water to the hot roasting pan. Set the hob-safe pan over medium heat and scrape up the brown juices with a wooden spoon. Pour those juices into the stockpot, then add the remaining measured water. Add natural salt to taste. Use a pot large enough for the ingredients, liquid and comfortable headroom.
  4. Heat the stock slowly until the surface begins to ripple, skimming foam as it appears. Lower the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer for about 6 hours. Check it regularly, especially during the first hour. Skim surface foam and add water when evaporation would leave the beef uncovered.
  5. Toward the end of that first simmer, put the halved onion cut-side down in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Check the cut face and lift it out when golden brown, before it blackens. On a separate roasting tray, coat the remaining diced onion, leeks and carrots with the rest of the ghee. Roast at 400°F for about 25 minutes, until golden. Cover the prepared vegetables and set them aside.
  6. After the initial 6-hour simmer, add the browned onion halves, roasted vegetables, garlic, thyme, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns to the stockpot. Maintain the same gentle simmer for another 2 hours.
  7. Turn off the heat and let the stock rest for about 15 minutes. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large, clean, heatproof container. Ladle the liquid through gently, leaving cloudy sediment at the bottom. Save the soft meat and edible connective tissue, checking carefully for hard bone fragments.
  8. Taste the strained stock. If you want a more concentrated flavor, simmer the strained liquid in a clean pot until it tastes right. Adjust the salt after any reduction. Keep or reserve the natural beef fat for GAPS cooking.
  9. Cool promptly in an ice bath, stirring to release heat. Divide a large batch into smaller containers. Transfer to the refrigerator when the stock no longer steams. Refrigerate for up to 2 days, or freeze smaller portions for longer storage.

Notes

Full GAPS. This is a separate roasted-beef preparation. For Intro, use the linked stovetop short-rib meat stock and its stage instructions. Vegetables remain part of this stock even after straining, so it is not No-Plant.
Use the same amount of beef tallow instead of homemade ghee for dairy-free preparation. The optional calf's foot goes into the stockpot unroasted. Keep or reserve the natural beef fat for GAPS cooking.
Cooking time includes about 40 minutes roasting the beef and 8 hours gentle simmering. Around 10 hours total includes heating, straining and initial cooling. Vegetable roasting takes place during the first simmer, not as an extra 25 minutes added to it. Additional reduction and full refrigeration take more time.
Brown the onion cut face to golden rather than blackened. Roast the diced vegetables toward the end of the first simmer so they can join the stock at the stated stage. Keep the stock at a quiet ripple, not a rolling boil; add water to keep the beef covered.
About 3 quarts is an approximate final yield. Measure the strained stock for other recipes. At 2× all numeric ingredients double and the approximate yield becomes 6 quarts; use suitable capacity or two base batches. The roasting and simmering intervals do not automatically double. For 1× reserve one onion halved; for 2× reserve two.
Refrigerate up to 2 days after prompt ice-bath cooling, or freeze smaller portions with appropriate expansion room. Save soft meat and edible connective tissue, checking for hard bone fragments.
For a smaller closed-cycle method use the separate pressure-cooker beef stock. Do not put this full open-pot batch into a pressure cooker unchanged. The finished roasted stock can supply onion gravy, with that batch of gravy retaining Full GAPS scope.

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