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Soup Stock

A hearty beef stock made by simmering bones, meat, vegetables, and herbs for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Soup Stock

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 ↓

Soup Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Have the bones sawed into small pieces and split.

  2. Cut the meat into small pieces and brown one-third of it in part of the marrow from the bones.

  3. Soak the meat and bones in the cold water for 1 hour.

Simmer and strain

  1. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil and cook slowly for 6 hours, keeping the pot covered.

  2. Add the diced vegetables and seasonings.

  3. Simmer for 1.5 hours, then strain and cool the stock quickly.

  4. Do not skim the fat until just before using, as it helps prevent the stock from souring.

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. 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. Marjoram + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Provides meat and connective tissue that release flavor and body into the broth during long cooking.
Marrow from the bones (in the method)
Adds richness and fat to the browned meat, deepening the flavor of the stock.
Carrot
Contributes sweetness and aromatic depth to the stock as it simmers.
Onion
Adds savory sweetness and aroma as it cooks down into the broth.

The step that matters

Do not skim the fat until just before using. The fat layer on the stock helps protect it from souring, so skimming early leaves the stock more prone to spoiling. Cooling it quickly also limits bacterial growth.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, turnip, celery, thyme, marjoram, clove. 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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