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Beef Broth

A simple broth made by soaking beef and optional onion in salted water, then simmering.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Beef Broth

Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beef Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Soak

  1. Soak the beef and onion (if using) in cold salted water for at least 2 hours, preferably 6, in a cool place.

Cook

  1. Place the vessel on the back of the stove or use a double boiler on a gas, alcohol, or oil stove.

  2. Keep the heat moderate and the vessel covered while cooking.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chopped lean beef
Supplies the meat flavor and collagen that give the broth body as it simmers.
Large onion
Adds aromatic flavor and a mild sweetness to the broth as it cooks.

The step that matters

Keep the heat moderate and the vessel covered while cooking.. A gentle, covered simmer extracts flavor and gelatin from the beef slowly while limiting evaporation. A hard boil tends to make the broth cloudy and can toughen the meat.

“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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