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Beef Soup

A slow‑cooked beef broth made with meat, bones, water, salt, and optional vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Beef Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat from the bones and bind it with a cord or cut it into strips.

  2. Crack the bones thoroughly with a mallet.

  3. Place the bones in a pot, then add the meat.

  4. Pour in 4 quarts of filtered water.

Simmer

  1. Heat slowly and do not add salt until the meat is nearly cooked.

  2. Boil the meat until it falls apart, skimming the soup occasionally.

  3. If using vegetables, add them for flavor and remove when tender.

  4. After 6-7 hours, remove the meat and strain the soup through a fine strainer.

Finish and chill

  1. Taste and adjust salt if necessary, then let it cool.

  2. Refrigerate overnight and skim off the fat before reheating.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Beef
Breaks down during long simmering to release flavor and gelatin into the broth.
Beef bones
Release collagen and marrow flavor into the water, giving the broth body and richness.

The step that matters

Heat slowly and hold the salt. Starting with gentle heat lets the meat release its juices gradually, so the broth stays clear and seasoning is adjusted only once the meat is nearly cooked.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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