What is the difference between Beef Consomme and Beef Broth? Beef Consomme and Beef Broth are two terms that is quiet hard to differentiate especially for regular cooks. If you want to know the differences as well as the similarities between Beef Consomme and Beef Broth, continue to read on further in this post.
Beef Consomme vs Beef Broth
Beef Consommé and Beef broth are considered to be similar, however they are not the same. Confusing? Basically, Consomme means complete whilst broth is simply an unfinished Consommé.
Although both are similar, they both differs in so many ways such as first differences in appearance, the taste of each differs as well as the ways on how to prepare each also differs not to mention how each broth is used.
What is Beef Broth?
Beef broth is also called Bouillon. It is a liquid that is made simmering bones with meat, for about 3 to 24 hours on low heat depending on the meat used. Although sometimes broth can be mistaken as stock, but both are not the same. A stock is simply made by simmering the bones, while with broth the parts that usually have meats on them are being simmered.
To enhance the flavor of Beef broth, you can add seasonings such as salt and other herbs and spices. For added nutrients to your broth, you can also add onions, celery, carrots and parsley.
There are two types of beef broth: Regular beef broth and Condensed broth. The only difference between the two types are its flavor and consistency. The regular beef broth is more thinner and has a lesser flavor than other broths.
How to make Beef Broth
The process of cooking beef broth is quiet easy. All you have to do is to put all ingredients together in a pot and allow to simmer, that’s it. The liquid or broth can be used in different ways, it can be used for braising meat and vegetables , and can be added to stews as well.
Make sure that when making beef broth, it should be on low heat. It is not recommended to reach to a boiling point, it can turn the broth into cloudy. While on the simmering process, there will be fats that forms or stays above the liquid, make sure to remove it. Depending on the bones meat used, making broth can take about 3 for up to 24 hours.
What is Beef Consommé?
As mentioned, the term Consommé is a French word that means complete and or perfect. Basically, it is a broth that is complete or perfect.
Beef Consommé is a liquid that is made similar to that of Beef broth, but with simmering cloudy broth. In order to add to the broth rich flavor and thickness as in purified broth, you can add egg whites and some minced or ground beef into the pot.
Preparing Beef Consommé can be time consuming as the cooking techniques and steps are required to achieve a perfectly made broth.
How to make Beef Consommé?
Making beef consommé may seem difficult especially for newbies or first timers, it generally requires a lot patience and more practice to be able to achieve that perfectly complete broth.
The ingredients in making Beef Consomme are egg whites (whisked), ground beef, some fresh tomatoes, beef stock and seasonings. Carrots, celery, tomatoes and minced onions can also be added.
Follow the step by step guide below on how to make Beef Consomme:
- You need to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks first. After separating, whisk egg white either manually by using your hand or whisk using an electric whisk.
- Mix ground beef and minced vegetables together with the whisked egg white. Put the mixture to the broth that you want to achieve a purified broth.
- On low heat, simmer the mixture while continuously stirring. Maximum heat should only be at 120 °F.
- During the simmering process, the egg whites, smaller parts of the vegetables and the beef will start to clarify the broth.
- Continue to simmer until clarified broth is achieved.
- After simmering is done, strain the impurities on top of the liquid using a cheesecloth.
- Serve beef consomme.
How is Broth and beef consomme similar?
The basic and important similarities between broth and beef consomme is the ingredient which is Beef. Aside from that, seasonings such as onions, celery, peppers, vegetables and parsleys are added to both Broth and beef consomme for that flavorful liquid.
Also, both beef broth and beef consomme are cooked over low heat for a longer period of time. Allowing it to simmer.
What Is The Difference between Beef Broth and Beef Consomme
Beef Broth and Beef consomme have five primary differences: Preparation, Appearance, Consistency, Flavor and Uses.
Preparation
The very first thing that you will notice between Beef broth and Beef Consomme is that preparation time. Cooking Beef Consommé will take a long time to cook compared to Beef broth, which only takes a few hours for it to simmer.
Also, with Beef Consommé, it is cooked by purifying the Beef broth or the Beef Stock. Whereas Beef broth is cooked by simmering beef and vegetables.
Consistency
Another key difference between beef broth and beef consommé is the consistency. Beef Consommé is a concentrated beef broth with a thicker consistency while Beef broth is thinner.
Beef Consommé can also be on double broth, but the consistency is more richer and purified.
Flavor
Another key difference between beef broth and beef consommé is the flavors. Beef broth has a milder flavor as compared to Beef Consommé which is more concentrated and has a strong flavor. Although the flavor greatly depends on how the person taste.
Appearance
Just by looking at beef broth and beef consommé, you can easily tell how they differ in terms of appearance. Beef broth appears to have a light brown color while Beef Consomme on the other hand has a deep dark amber liquid .
Uses
Both Beef broth and Beef Consommé differs on how each are used.
Most of the time, Beef Consommé is used as an appetizer, whereas with Beef broth it is usually used to make soups, gravy and add richness to various recipes and dishes. Although Beef Consomme can also be used to in different varieties of dishes, one would consider the preparation time of Beef consomme wherein they would rather use Beef broth because it does not require more time to prepare.
Nutritional Values Between Beef Broth and Beef Consomme
Both the beef broth and beef consomme provides nutritional benefits. Both can make a healthy digestion, improves skin, hair and nail health and helps relieve colds and flu especially when you consume spicy beef broth. Although because both contains high amount of sodium, it is not advisable to consume a large amount of both that can lead to other health problems.
Beef broth has lower calorie content as compared to Beef Consomme that is high in calorie content and which is also more concentrated but is high in iron, potassium and calcium.
How to Store Beef Broth and Beef Consomme
Beef Broth and Beef Consomme requires more time to make. Cooking homemade beef broth and homemade Beef consomme is healthier because you are assured that there are not added additives.
Both Beef broth and Beef Consomme have a longer shelf life only if that are properly stored in the fridge or you can also freeze it. Storing them in room temperature will spoil the broths.
If you want to gradually eat them both, you can make a large batch and then store them in an airtight and reusable container.
Putting them in the fridge usually lasts for up to 3 to 4 days, whereas if you freeze them it can actually lasts up to 4 to 6 months. Do not forget to label the container for the date when the broth was made.
Substitute Beef broth vs Beef consomme, is it possible?
Condensed beef broth has a thicker consistency compared to regular beef broth. As mentioned, they both Beef broth and beef consomme differs in terms of consistency and flavor where Beef consomme is more concentrated and has a thicker consistency as compared to beef broth.
The question here is that can you substitute beef consomme for Condensed beef broth? The answer to that is a big Yes! You can substitute by just adding water to Beef consomme that could make its consistency thinner and makes the flavor milder. Substituting with one another is possible.
But, to replace Beef broth with Beef Consomme and Beef Consomme with Beef broth is not advisable and recommended. Why is that so? Simply because making beef consomme requires a lot of time to make and if substituting it with beef broth will require additional time and vice versa,
FAQs
Although both are very useful and they do share similar nutritional values, deciding which is better varies and depends on the each individuals preferences especially in terms of its taste, appearance and how it is used.
If you are to consider its nutritional values, although both have high sodium content Beef broth are low in calories than Beef consomme, which also have high contents of iron, potassium and calcium.
Also, homemade broth are better than store bought beef broth because of the quality of the ingredients you use. Whereas with store bought beef broth, it usually contains additives that could be harmful to your health.
The only way to make beef broth into beef consomme is to stew beef broth for about 30 minutes or until its consistency turns as that of Beef consomme. Although this can be very tricky since the liquid of beef broth and beef consomme are somewhat similar.
If you want to have an intense beef flavor, you add vegetables and beef bones to make the mixture more concentrated. For a more flavorful broth, you can also add additional herbs and spices.
There are other alternatives that you can use for beef consomme other than beef broth such as soy sauce, beef stock, mushroom and or browning sauce.