Healthy, All-Natural Beef Broth

Neck bones & veggie scraps ready to simmer!

Making your own homemade broth is easier than you think, save you money, and way better than the highly salted processed kind from a can or box at the store. I use neck bones and you can actually use one bone through multiple batches. You can use any good beef bones including saving the bones from your crockpot roast, steak, or ribs. Just freeze them until ready to use. You can even include leftover pieces of cooked or raw beef and the cuttings and fat you take off before cooking your meal.

After I make a batch, I put the meat and bones into a dated, labeled bag and stick it in the freezer until the next time I want to make broth. I'm going to see how many batches (my batch makes about 4 quarts) it takes to have the neck bone down to just bone as there is quite a bit of meat on these inexpensive cuts of beef.

Simmered for about 8 hours

You also will need vegetables for your beef broth. Save the skins and tops of onions, the little stem on your garlic cloves, green garlic scapes, the base and leaves of celery, the top and fresh leaves of carrots as you work in the kitchen on other meals. Or I'll use up any of these vegetables that need to be used - like before the carrots get soft. Just toss these scraps into a freezer bag and use them within the next year! When my freezer bag is full, then I know it's time to make broth!

Once the broth is cooked up and simmered for hours and hours, I strain it into clean and sanitized glass quart jars and apply lids and rings then allow to cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator. (Use within 5 days or reboil before using or freezing.)

If I haven't use all the fresh beef broth with 5-7 days, I freeze it! Simply fill up ice cube trays with the cold broth, pop into the freezer for 3 to 4 hours, then pop out the cubes into labeled and dated freezer bags or containers. Each ice cube is about one ounce of liquid so if you need just one cube for seasoning or 8-ounces for a recipe, grab out exactly what you need. The cubes will be good for 6 months to a year in the freezer. Mine don't last long! I use them in a combination with water for boiling rice, toss one cube into a pan of stir fry veggies, making sauces and gravies, roasting meats, using in stews and soups, and in any recipe calling for broth or stock.

Just a note, my recipe below can be made with fresh brand new ingredients you bought or grew just for this reason or with your wise, freezer supply of scraps! I indicated celery as an optional ingredient primarily because I rarely have celery as I've never been successful at growing it! 

Okay, ready to make your own beef broth?!

Ramsey Farms Beef Broth

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 beef neckbones
• onion
• garlic
• carrots
• potato
• celery (opt.)
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• fresh herbs: basil leaves, oregano, thyme
• (dried herbs are fine too, just go lightly)
• 4 to 8 oz. wine
• water

Directions

1. Add meet and veggies to large stock pot with lid.
2. Add about 1/2 to 1 cup of wine (opt.)
3. Add enough water to float the veggies. About 3 to 4 qts. You can also use a jar of the previous batch of broth you made!
4. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh or dried herbs to your taste.
5. Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat, stirring as it heats to avoid burning or sticking.
6. Reduce heat to low, cover but crack the lid.
7. When the broth gets to a low simmer, stir, cover completely with lid.
8. Cook for 6 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally.
9. Allow to cook for about an hour, then strain. 
10. Save your neck bones to freeze for your next batch of broth making, but put the veggie scraps in the compost.
11. Pour strained broth liquid into clean, sanitized glass quart-size jars leaving 1" space at the top of the jar. 
12. Add lid and ring. Allow to cool before storing the jars in the fridge. 
13. Use or freeze within 7 days. 

Be sure to check out this article on freezing broth, I got a lot of great ideas from it!