This is the big one! It’s a rich, deep brown in colour, and full of beefy flavour. When reduced to make jus, it becomes thick and syrupy – the perfect base for a full-flavoured sauce.
When I’m making beef stock at home, I use water as the base, but at the restaurant we usually use chicken or veal stock, which give a more intense flavour. Most chefs use a combination of beef and veal bones to make a good beef stock, as the veal bones are rich in gelatine and give the stock body. Another good ‘cheffy’ trick is to add a split pig’s trotter to the stockpot with the beef bones. Trotters are especially full of gelatine, which enriches your stock and then gives your sauces a nice sheen. Alternatively, add 500 g chicken wing tips to the stock for the last 1½ hours, which will also add richness to the stock. And make sure you ask your butcher to find you good meaty bones, and get him to chop them up as much as he can.
It does take a long time to make a good beef stock, so it’s worth making a decent amount. You can always divide it into 500 ml batches and freeze it.