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Bone Stock

A savory liquid made by simmering bones with vegetables, herbs, and salt for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Bone Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break the bones and remove any marrow.

  2. Place the bones in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.

  3. Add the quartered vegetables, salt, and herbs.

Simmer

  1. Bring to a boil and skim off any white scum.

  2. Allow to boil gently for 4 to 6 hours.

Strain and finish

  1. Strain into a basin and let cool.

  2. Remove the fat once cooled.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Bones
Release collagen and minerals into the water, giving the broth body and gelatin.
Onion
Adds savory sweetness and aromatic depth as it softens during the long simmer.
Carrot
Contributes gentle sweetness and color to the finished broth.
Turnip
Adds mild earthy flavor to the broth as it cooks down.

The step that matters

Skim off the white scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities released as the bones heat. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or greasy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, thyme, marjoram, celery):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, thyme, marjoram, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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