One word before we dive in: this may seem like a lengthy recipe and has many steps. This is only for detail to make sure you are able to get this recipe right. Beer and Iron’s Beer Beef Bone Broth is one of the base recipes that many other recipes will refer to. Once you create this recipe the first time, you’ll be able to make it again without any trouble or even having to look at this recipe.
One more word: We store our broth in jars like the ones people use to “can” or “pressure can” to preserve food in. We do not pressure can or water bath nor do we cover the “canning” process in this recipe. Though you will use a canning-like jar (optional), the broth produced will need to be refrigerated until you use it. This broth CAN be CANNED, but that how-to is beyond this recipe.
Beer Beef Bone Broth a rich and nutritious broth made from what most call soup bones and butcher scraps. And it makes the most amazing soup, chili, and stew base you’ve ever wanted to taste.
Broth from a box will get you “this is good stew” complements but, this broth will make stew so good they’ll start trying to speak “this stew is amazing” before they even swallow (so keep a napkin ready).
This is not a typical bone broth recipe and is not for drinking like a “normal” bone broth recipe. We will not add any salt, apple cider vinegar, or vegetables.
Terms:
Meat-ish Stuff: The material that cooks apart made of ligaments, marrow, tendons, and even meat particles.
Pure Broth: The first strain from the simmered bones and meat-ish stuff (think of this as the first press, virgin olive oil).
Washed Broth: Optional but suggested. The broth-like liquid we create when we have pressed the meat-ish stuff out and have all the pure broth we can get. We pour another beer over the meat-ish stuff and “wash” off the remaining flavor/broth from the meat-ish stuff.
Fat Cap: The liquid fat that rises from the broth to the top of the jar. I will “harden” in the refrigerator and is used to sauté and sear (and add flavor) for the meal you will prepare with the broth.
We’ll reference these terms as we go along.
And, there’s bonus tip at the end of this recipe as to how to use meat-ish stuff; so stick around.
In the video we used our 9-Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven. A 7-Quart will work with a little less “margin” to work in. But, it’ll do A-OK. You could cut this recipe in half and use a 5-Quart Dutch oven…or leave it as is and use TWO 5-Quart Dutch ovens.
We also used:
- Wooden spatula or spoon to rotate / turn / stir the simmering bones.
- Tongs to remove the larger, hot bones from the broth mixture.
- Two Large Bowls large enough to hold the ingredients and to handle the hot liquid.
- Metal colander. “Metal” because we’ll be running some hot liquids through this.
- Three Quart-Sized canning jars with lids
- Canning Funnel – Optional yet recommended
- Bowl that will fit inside your colander to press the broth out of the meat-ish stuff.
- Large ladle or large spoon to ladle the fat off the top of the broth mixture.
- 2-5 Pounds of Butcher Bones or Soup Bones. This depends on what will fit in your pot (5, 7, or 9-Quart Dutch Oven). Many, smaller cut bones will fit in a pot whereas larger, longer soup bones (those dog bones types of bones) may be less.
- 6 Beers ranging from dark ale to lighter lagers. Stick with a lower IBU (International Bitters Units). You may need to use less than 6 beers or may need to add more (or a bit of water), depending on the size of your Dutch oven.
- And, that’s pretty much it. We add no salt, vinegar, vegetables, or anything.
This is not a final meal recipe; it’s a recipe for creating a major, flavorful ingredient for your soups, stews, chilis, gumbos, risottos, and the like. A recipe is only as good as the ingredients we add. Stock-in-a-box is not the way to add that level of flavor you expect from your recipes. Great if in a pinch, but not a way to create a memorable meal that they’ll be asking later, “when are you going to make that again?”
The steps are seemingly many. But, once you create this recipe once, you’ll be able to do it without having to print this recipe out again.
- Get as many butcher and soup bones as will fit into the cast iron pot you have available.
- Roast the bones for about 1 hour at 350°F / 175°
- Pull the bones out and put them in the pot you will let them simmer in.
- Use a low-IBU beer and preferably a dark ale or non-sweet porter.
- Pour in enough beer(s) to almost top-off the pot of roasted bones.
- Turn the heat to medium until you’ve reached a rolling boil.
- Rotate things a bit (stir it all up) and turn the heat down to low for the long-haul.
- Rotate the bones / Stir up the bones and meat-ish stuff every few hours as they simmer (meat-ish is the fat, marrow, ligaments, and actual meat remnants).
- After about 24-hours, let the pot rest for a few minutes to allow the fat (clear-ish liquid) to float to the top of the broth mixture.
- Skim off as much of the fat as you can and keep for future sauteing and searing. There will be some fat remaining and that’s A-OK; we want that fat to remain.
- Remove as many bones as you can find from the mixture.
- Using a strainer, strain out the broth mixture to a bowl in order to separate the meat-ish stuff from the pure broth.
- Once the liquid starts to rise to the bottom of the colander / strainer, fill the first jar with the pure broth.
- If you have a manageable amount of weight (pot and broth mixture remaining), pour the mixture over the colander / strainer, and catch the pure broth in the bowl.
- Pour the pure broth into hot-liquid-tolerant jars for storage. More of the fat will rise to the top and create that “fat-cap.”
- Press out the remaining meat-ish stuff to get as much of the pure bone broth out as you can. Add this to your pure broth jars.
- You are Essentially Done here, and the following steps are optional. I like to “Wash” the meat-ish stuff with a couple of beers to get more of the broth and flavor out of the mixture. Take a bowl large enough to hold about 2 beers and the remaining meat-ish stuff.
- Pour two beers into the bowl then dump the meat-ish stuff in the bowl and “wash” the material to “capture” all that remining broth and flavor.
- Strain the meat-ish stuff and beer mixture into a bowl and pour the liquid into a separate jar for storage (don’t mix the two broth-types together). This broth-wahs will jell-up like the pure broth yet not as firm. And still, it’ll be much more flavorful than any stock-in-a-box.
- We’re done!
- Now, you have all that meat-ish stuff left. What do you do with it? We make dog biscuits. Remove all the small bones from the meat-ish stuff. We’ll be using a food processor later (another recipe; see here).
Finally, Store the meat-ish stuff in a container in the refrigerator for up to a “few days” until ready to make the dog biscuits.
Basically, you roast the bones, simmer the bones in beer for 24 hours (give or take), skim and save the fat, separate the broth out from the solids, store the broth in a jar in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Here’s the link to the Dog Biscuit Recipe: https://beerandiron.com/2022/05/beef-cookie-recipe-dog-treat
Later I will add some recipe links to meals we will create with this broth.
Another broth creation that we make as a product of creating a roast is here: XXX
I suggest not adding salt to this. This bone broth recipe is to be used as an ingredient to other recipes and adding salt to this recipe will be a “Salt-Factor” to deal with when adding salt to the final recipe you’ll be using this broth in.
This is not a true canning process. You are using the Mason / Ball canning jars (or equivalent) for storage in the refrigerator. You can “can” (jar) this broth but you’ll need to follow the USDA’s recommendations regarding canning and preserving broths.
The fat-cap that forms on the top of this broth is part of what we are looking to achieve. When I am making…let’s say hamburger stew. I will spoon / scrap off a bit of that white, lard-like fat on the top of that jar and use that in my cast iron Dutch oven to sauté by onions and garlic in and even my ground beef. You’ll not use all of that fat and likely will toss some out. Fat is a beautiful river of flavor though the valley of bland…though olive oil and grapeseed oil may be okay to use…true beef fat from these bones is the way to go for both health and flavor.
And…though I am a Registered Nurse, I make no official health claims regarding the health benefits of this recipe. I do have the “power” of observation and remember Great Grand Parents living ripe and well into their 80s having consumed their weight in lard and butter many times over their lives. ENJOY
Beer Beef Bone Broth in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Baking Pan Any cast iron pot or pan large enough to hold the number of bones you were able to purchase / obtain.
- 1 Cast Iron Dutch Oven Large enough to accommodate your volume of bones.
- 1 Wooden spatula or spoon To rotate / turn / stir the simmering bones.
- 1 Tongs To remove the larger, hot bones from the broth mixture.
- 2 Large Bowls Large enough to hold the ingredients and to handle the hot liquid.
- 1 Metal colander. “Metal” because we’ll be running some hot liquids through this. “Metal” because we’ll be running some hot liquids through this.
- 3 Canning Jars Three Quart-Sized canning jars with lids
- 1 Canning Funnel Optional yet recommended
- 1 Bowl That will accommodate your colander to press the broth out of the meat-ish stuff.
- 1 Large ladle or large spoon. to ladle the fat off the top of the broth mixture.
Ingredients
- 2-5 Pounds Butcher Bones or Soup Bones. This depends on what will fit in your pot (5, 7, or 9-Quart Dutch Oven).Many, smaller cut bones will fit in a pot whereas larger, longer soup bones(those dog bones types of bones) may be less.
- 6 Cans/Bottles Six Beers From om dark ale to lighter lagers. Stick with a lower IBU (International Bitters Units). You may need to use less than 6 beers or may need to add more (or a bit of water), depending on the size of your Dutch oven. And, that’s pretty much it. We add no salt, vinegar, vegetables, or anything.
Instructions
Prep And Pre Roasting for Color and Flavor
- Get as many butcher and soup bones as will fit into the cast iron pot you have available.
- Roast the bones for about 1 hour at 350°F / 175°C.
Creating The Pure Beer Beef Bone Broth
- Pull the bones out and put them in the pot you will let them simmer in.
- Use a low-IBU beer and preferably a dark ale or non-sweet porter (a nice lager will work well too).
- Pour in enough beer(s) to almost top-off the pot of roasted bones.
- Turn the heat to medium until you’ve reached a rolling boil.
- Rotate things a bit (stir it all up) and turn the heat down to low for the long-haul.
- Rotate the bones / Stir up the bones and meat-ish stuff every few hours as they simmer (meat-ish is the fat, marrow, ligaments, and actual meat remnants).
- After about 24-hours, let the pot rest for a few minutes to allow the fat (clear-ish liquid) to float to the top of the broth mixture.
- Skim off as much of the fat as you can and keep for future sautéing and searing. There will be some fat remaining and that’s A-OK; we want that fat to remain.
- Remove as many bones as you can find from the mixture.
- Using a strainer, strain out the broth mixture to a bowl in order to separate the meat-ish stuff from the pure broth.
- Once the liquid starts to rise to the bottom of the colander / strainer, fill the first jar with the pure broth.
- If you have a manageable amount of weight (pot and broth mixture remaining), pour the mixture over the colander / strainer, and catch the pure broth in the bowl.
- Pour the pure broth into hot-liquid-tolerant jars for storage. More of the fat will rise to the top and create that “fat-cap.”
- Press out the remaining meat-ish stuff to get as much of the pure bone broth out as you can. Add this to your pure broth jars.
- You are Essentially Done here, and the following steps are optional. I like to “Wash” the meat-ish stuff with a couple of beers to get more of the broth and flavor out of the mixture. Take a bowl large enough to hold about 2 beers and the remaining meat-ish stuff.
Broth Wash (Optional)
- Pour two beers into the bowl then dump the meat-ish stuff in the bowl and “wash” the material to “capture” all that remining broth and flavor.
- Strain the meat-ish stuff and beer mixture into a bowl and pour the liquid into a separate jar for storage (don’t mix the two broth-types together). This broth-wash will jell-up like the pure broth yet not as firm. And still, it’ll be much more flavorful than any stock-in-a-box.
Finished!
- We’re done! Now, you have all that meat-ish stuff left. What do you do with it? We make dog biscuits. Remove all the small bones from the meat-ish stuff. We’ll be using a food processor later (but that is another recipe).
