Nutrient Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the infusion
Mince and macerate the beef steak in 1,000 c.c. of water for 24 hours.
Make the broth
Boil the mixture for 30 minutes.
Strain through muslin and express the marc in a tincture press.
Add sodium chloride and peptone to the strained liquid and boil for 5 minutes.
Make up to 1,000 c.c. with water and neutralize with sodium carbonate solution until red litmus turns slightly blue.
Boil again for 5 minutes.
If necessary, neutralize again.
Filter.
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
- Beef steak
- Supplies the meat extract and flavour that the broth is built on.
- Peptone
- Supplies nitrogenous nutrients that feed microbial growth in the finished broth.
- Sodium chloride
- Adds salt to balance the flavour and maintain the broth's osmotic conditions.
The step that matters
Neutralize with sodium carbonate. The broth must be brought to a slightly alkaline reaction, indicated by red litmus turning slightly blue. Too little alkali leaves it acidic, which inhibits many organisms; too much can harm the peptone and the medium's performance. Check the litmus, and neutralize again only if needed.
“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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