Extract of Beef; Or, Very Strong Plain Beef Gravy Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the beef into small pieces.
Simmer
Place the beef in a pot with water and a pinch of salt.
Simmer gently for several hours until the liquid is reduced and flavorful.
Finish and serve
Strain the liquid to remove the beef pieces.
Use the broth as a base for soups or as a restorative drink.
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
- Provides the meat flavour and savoury body that dissolves into the simmering liquid.
- Water
- Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour and gelatin from the beef over long cooking.
The step that matters
Simmer gently for several hours. A gentle simmer extracts flavour and collagen slowly and clearly. A hard boil emulsifies fat and fragments the meat, leaving the broth cloudy and greasy.
“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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