Before you prepare the meat broth, you should learn a few immutable rules. Beef broth is best prepared in enameled or ceramic dishes. If necessary, the broth is added only with boiling water, since cold water significantly impairs its taste.
A good beef broth directly depends on the quality of the meat. The most important condition for its quality is freshness. You should not buy meat that has been lying on the counter for more than two days. Acquired meat is washed under running, cold water.
To get a strong brew cut meat is dipped in cold water. In this case, the meat juice will be easier to stand out from the meat. In the case when the beef is cooked for main dishes, and the broth will subsequently be used for cooking something else, pieces of meat are dipped in boiling water. Meat cooked in this way will be juicy inside.
When beef broth is cooked, the amount of meat will have an important effect on the taste of the planned dish, since the concentration of meat juice and fat in the broth depends on it. On a five-liter pan, you can take from 2 to 4 kg of meat. If you have little meat, in a pinch, you can add some beef bones. They will give the missing fat. When calculating the amount of water needed, it should be borne in mind that during cooking, the broth is boiled almost half.
How to cook beef broth so that it is tasty, and the meat is tender and soft. Culinary experts advise cooking meat from 3 to 4 hours. At the beginning of cooking, the pot of meat is put on a strong fire so that the broth boils faster. Cover the pan with a lid, just make sure that the water from the pan does not “run away”. After the water boils strongly, the fire is slightly reduced. The best broth is one that was cooked over low heat.
During cooking, an unpleasant kind of foam will constantly form on the surface of the broth, which must be constantly removed with a spoon or slotted spoon. Some people do not remove this foam, believing that it is in it that the real taste of the broth is. Whether or not to collect the foam depends on your preference. The best option in this case is to collect the foam in a separate container, into which 0.5 l of broth is added. After a while, the broth will infuse and then you need to strain it and add to the main pan.
Depending on what dish you intend to cook on the basis of this broth, you can add ingredients such as roots (carrots, parsley, celery, rutabaga), vegetables (onions), mushrooms and other products.
Beef broth, the recipe of which is intended for cooking borsch and soups, is prepared as follows: salt, peeled roots (2 carrots, 1 parsley, half a celery) and a whole onion are added to the boiling broth. All vegetables are boiled for 3 hours, after which they are removed from the broth and continue cooking further.
After the meat is ready (it can be easily pierced with a knife or fork), a little cold water (20-30 ml) is added to the broth, the meat is removed and allowed to stand for 20-30 minutes. The fat formed on the surface is carefully collected separately, and the broth itself is filtered through a fine sieve. The pre-collected fat is added to the strained broth and again everything is brought to a boil. Such a broth can be used both as a basis for other dishes, and as an independent dish. In this case, it is served in portioned plates or broth cups, previously sprinkled with herbs.
Salt is added to the broth to taste, as it often differs in concentration. It is better to add the broth gradually, but if you still salt the broth, put a handful of rice wrapped in gauze in it. Rice tends to absorb salt strongly, so you can remedy the situation.