Skip to main content
Main

Beef Broth

A clear beef broth made by simmering finely ground lean beef in cold water, then straining and seasoning with coarse sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
Jump to recipe ↓
Beef Broth

Beef Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Use juicy round steak; remove all fat and wipe with a damp cloth.

  2. Grind or cut the beef very fine and place it in a glass or stone jar; add cold water.

Extract the broth

  1. Let it stand for 1 hour, then heat slowly to 135°F (57°C) and maintain that temperature for 1 hour.

  2. Strain the broth and season with coarse sea salt.

Defat and reheat

  1. To remove fat, use a piece of bread or soft white paper, or cool the broth and collect fat from the top.

  2. Reheat the broth over hot water, ensuring the temperature does not exceed 135°F (57°C).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the meat flavor and the dissolved proteins that give the broth its body.
Cold water
Slowly draws flavor and soluble compounds out of the ground beef during gentle heating.

The step that matters

Holding the temperature at 135°F (57°C). Heating above this temperature can toughen and cloud the broth's proteins, so it stays clear and tender only when the heat is held gently and steadily. Keep the water below a simmer.

“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.

More beef broth recipes

You might also like