Beef Bone Broth in the Instant Pot

Here is how to make beef bone broth in an Instant Pot in an afternoon instead of a day. Roast three pounds of beef bones until deep brown, put them in the pot with onion, carrot, celery, garlic and a splash of vinegar, fill it with cold water no higher than the max line, and cook at high pressure for 2 1/2 hours. Let the pressure come down on its own, then strain, chill and lift off the fat.

The pressure cooker does in a few hours what a stockpot does overnight, and it does it with the lid locked, so nothing boils away and you do not need to keep an eye on a flame. It works the same in any brand of electric pressure cooker.

At a glance: makes about 2 quarts in a 6-quart pot. Prep 10 minutes, roast 45 minutes, pressure cook 2 1/2 hours plus about 1 hour to come up to and down from pressure, chill at least 6 hours.

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Beef Broth Bones

This recipe uses 3 pounds of beef broth bones, which fills a 6-quart pressure cooker.

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Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was talking about how his view of food has changed:

“the more I learn about food, the more important to me, clean label and food that's made of food.”

Gray Shipley

A pot of homemade broth is easy to square with that. The whole ingredient list is bones, water, a few vegetables and a spoonful of vinegar, and you put each one in yourself.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef broth bones
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 carrot, cut into chunks
• 2 celery ribs, cut into chunks
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• About 10 cups cold water (for a 6-quart pot)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Spread the bones on a rimmed sheet pan and roast for 45 minutes, turning them once, until deep brown.
2. Put the bones in the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Pour 1/2 cup of the water onto the hot sheet pan, scrape up the browned bits, and add it to the pot.
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns and vinegar. Pour in cold water until it reaches the max line for pressure cooking marked inside the pot, and no higher. If the bones will not fit below the line, leave one or two out for the next batch.
4. Lock the lid and set the valve to sealing. Cook at high pressure for 2 1/2 hours: 2 hours for a lighter broth, 3 for a deeper one. A full pot can take 30 minutes or more to come up to pressure before the timer starts.
5. When the time is up, let the pressure come down on its own, which takes 30 to 45 minutes. Do not use the quick release: a full pot of hot broth will spit out of the valve.
6. Open the lid away from you. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, and throw away the bones and vegetables.
7. Cool the broth quickly in a sink of ice water, stirring, then pour it into shallow containers, cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
8. Lift off the fat that sets on top and save it for cooking. The broth is unsalted, so season it when you use it.

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How long to pressure cook beef bones

Two and a half hours at high pressure is the middle of the useful range for beef bones in a pressure cooker. At 2 hours the broth is good and a little lighter. At 3 hours it is darker and richer, and it sets more firmly when cold. Past that there is not much more to get out of the bones. If your cooker's timer stops short of the time you want, run a second cycle.

Beef broth in the Instant Pot: why the max line matters

A pressure cooker needs headroom to build steam, and broth foams as it heats. Filling past the max line can block the valve or push liquid out of it. Three pounds of bones and about 10 cups of water fill a 6-quart pot. In an 8-quart pot you can use 4 to 5 pounds of bones and more water, and the times stay the same.

A beef stock pressure cooker recipe, too

The same method makes a good beef stock for soups and sauces. For a lighter stock, cut the time to 1 1/2 hours. Stock, broth and bone broth overlap a great deal, and the guide below sorts out what each name usually means.

Beef bone broth in the Instant Pot, or any pressure cooker

The recipe works the same in any electric pressure cooker, whatever the brand: use the high pressure setting and the same times. A stovetop pressure cooker runs at a higher pressure, so 1 1/2 to 2 hours is plenty. Keep the heat just high enough to hold the pressure steady.

Do the bones need roasting?

Roasting gives the broth its color and depth. You can brown the bones on the Saute setting instead, in batches, but it takes longer and they brown less evenly. Unroasted bones make a pale, milder broth, which is fine for soups where you want a lighter taste.

Storing and using the broth

Keep the broth in the fridge for a few days, or freeze it in containers with an inch of room at the top. Use it in soups, braises, pan sauces and rice, or warm a mug of it with a pinch of salt. The fat from the top is good for roasting potatoes.

Food safety

Broth cooked under pressure for hours is far past any FSIS cooking temperature. The care is in cooling it quickly afterward and refrigerating it, and in reheating stored broth to 165 degrees F, the FSIS figure for leftovers, which in practice means bringing it back to a simmer. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.