My Crockpot is My Stockpot - Homemade Beef Broth and Consomme (SCD, GFCF)

I've finally had success making beef broth in the crockpot. The secret, besides roasting bones with a little meat on them, is a low setting for 24 hours. Roasting them first removes fat and browns the bones for better flavor. I used soup bones that were about 3 to 4 inches in diameter, cut about an inch thick, and still had a few chunks of meat on them. This recipe made about 7-8 cups of broth. This broth had a good flavor and made a nice consomme too.

Stephanie of a Year of SlowCooking recommends adding cider vinegar about half way through to bring out the flavor. I forgot to do this, but will try next time.

Homemade Beef Broth

3 lbs (approx) Beef Soup Bones
10 cups (approx) Water
Veggies on hand such as onions, celery, and/or carrots (I used 6 Green Onions)
2 or 3 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put bones in a single layer on a roasting pan, and roast about 40 minutes, until browned. Place browned bones in crock pot, adding water and other ingredients. Cook for 24 hours on low setting. Note: make sure your low setting is able to bring it to a simmering boil, if not use higher setting.

Cool cooked broth to room temperature, pour into a pitcher, and refridgerate overnight. When chilled, scoop off layer of fat, if you're avoiding fat then discard, if you're embracing fat reserve it in the fridge for future use. Use broth within three days of put in freezer safe containers and freeze.

To make consomme, put broth in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Boil until it is reduced by half. This will have a nice "beefy" flavor that is good in recipes. You can also freeze consomme for future use.

This post is linked to Fresh Bite Fridays,a whole foods carnival, Fightback Friday, and Traditional Tuesdays.