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Brown Stock

A rich brown stock made by simmering beef, veal, and trotters or cow heel with water, pepper, salt, roots, herbs, and vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Brown Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the meat

  1. Place the beef, veal, and sheep's trotters or cow heel in a covered stewpan.

  2. Gently cook until the meat releases its juices and becomes brown.

Simmer

  1. Add enough boiling water to cover the meat completely.

  2. Bring to a boil.

  3. Skim frequently.

  4. Season with pepper, salt, roots, herbs, and vegetables.

  5. Simmer gently for 5 to 6 hours.

Strain and store

  1. Strain the broth from the meat.

  2. Let it cool overnight.

  3. Remove the scum.

  4. Remove the fat.

  5. Store the broth in a stone jar.

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

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 + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  2. Beef + vealtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Collagen from the connective tissue breaks down into gelatin, giving the stock body and a silky mouthfeel.
Knuckle of veal
Bones and connective tissue release gelatin during long simmering, adding richness and body to the broth.
Sheep's trotters or cow heel
Rich in collagen, they release gelatin that helps the broth set and feel full when cooled.
Vegetables
Release sweetness and aromatic compounds into the broth, rounding out its flavour.

The step that matters

Gently browning the meat. Browning creates savory, roasted flavour through the Maillard reaction. Cooking too hot can scorch the meat and the pan, leaving bitter notes in the finished stock.

“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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