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Beef Tea

A clear broth made by simmering finely chopped beef in water with salt and optional peppercorns.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Beef Tea

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the beef into very fine pieces, removing all skin and fat.

  2. Place the meat in a saucepan with cold water, salt, and peppercorns.

  3. Bring the mixture to a boil over heat.

Simmer and strain

  1. Reduce the heat and let it simmer gently for 5-6 hours, keeping the lid on.

  2. After simmering, strain the beef tea into a basin and let it cool.

  3. Remove all fat from the beef tea before reheating for use.

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

Gravy beef
Provides the meat flavour and gelatin that give the broth body as it simmers.
Cold water
Extracts flavour and collagen from the meat slowly, with the liquid becoming the broth.

The step that matters

Remove all fat from the beef tea before reheating for use.. Fat that is not skimmed from the cooled broth floats on top and makes the liquid greasy. Chilling lets the fat solidify so it can be lifted off cleanly.

“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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