Name: Sous Vide Beef Broth
Total time: 5 h 45 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 pound white mushrooms , trimmed and halved; 1 onion , chopped; 1 carrot , peeled and chopped; 1 celery rib , chopped; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 1½ pounds 85 percent lean ground beef; ¾ cup dry red wine; 3 quarts water; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 3 bay leaves

Why This Recipe Works

Even though homemade broth tastes better than the store-bought boxed version, it rarely seems worth the effort. However, with sous vide cooking, broth is a set-it-and-forget-it breeze. To make life even easier, we ditched beef bones and turned to ground beef—its increased surface area enables more beef flavor to be absorbed by the liquid. We bumped up the meaty undertones in the broth further by cooking earthy mushrooms with the traditional mirepoix ingredients, along with tomato paste, red wine, and a little soy sauce for background umami notes. We bagged up the beef and aromatics with water and cooked the mixture sous vide for 4 hours, giving us a well-rounded, no-fuss broth.

Before You Begin

To fit all of the ingredients in one bag, this recipe calls for 2-gallon zipper-lock freezer bags. If you do not have 2-gallon bags, simply divide the ingredients between two 1-gallon bags. Be sure to double bag the mixture to protect against seam failure. Note that this recipe requires a 12-quart container. For more about sous vide cooking, refer to our sous vide guide.

Instructions

Using sous vide circulator, bring water to 185°F/85°C in 12-quart container.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms, onion, carrot, and celery, and cook until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and continue to cook until mixture is dry, about 5 minutes.

Stir in ground beef and cook, breaking up any large pieces with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until nearly evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to 2-gallon zipper-lock freezer bag. Add water, soy sauce, and bay leaves to bag and stir to combine. Seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Place bag in second 2-gallon zipper-lock freezer bag and seal. Gently lower bag into prepared water bath until broth mixture is fully submerged, and then clip top corner of bag to side of water bath container, allowing remaining air bubbles to rise to top of bag. Reopen 1 corner of zipper, release remaining air bubbles, and reseal bag. Cover and cook for at least 4 hours or up to 5 hours.

Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer into large container; discard solids. Let broth settle for 5 to 10 minutes, then skim excess fat from surface using wide, shallow spoon or fat separator. Let cool, then transfer to airtight container and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.To Make Ahead Broth can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months.