Why it works: Beef and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,969 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Shin of Beef Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the bone of the shin in one or two places.
Remove the marrow. If not using the marrow immediately, clarify and store it for later.
Make the stock
Combine the shin of beef with 9 pints of cold water in a large pot.
Add the coarse sea salt, savory herbs, peppercorns, and mace.
Stew gently for 6 to 7 hours, or longer until the meat is in fragments.
Store
Store the stock in a cool place, boiling softly for 2-3 minutes every few days.
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.
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Beef + macetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,969 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shin
- Bone and connective tissue release gelatin, giving the stock body and a rich mouthfeel.
- Cold water
- Acts as the solvent that slowly extracts flavour and gelatin from the bone and meat.
- Savory herbs
- Add a herbal, aromatic background flavour to the stock.
- Peppercorns
- Contribute a mild, warm aroma and a little spice to the stock.
The step that matters
Stew gently for 6 to 7 hours. Gentle, low heat extracts gelatin and flavour slowly while keeping the stock clear. A hard boil emulsifies fat and cloudies the liquid, so the simmer must stay soft.
“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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