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Beef soup bones were on sale today, so I thought I’d make a broth )(stock?). I roasted the bones for a couple of hours, then added them to the pot along with some onion, celery, and mushroom stems. As it came to a boil, there was virtually no scum to skim.

The broth is milky white. I can’t seem to get a beef broth with characterstic dark golden brown color that characterizes a French onion soup base.

Just Joel
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    Did you peel the onions? And can we get a picture, please? – Stephie Mar 18 '18 at 06:42
  • I only removed the flaky skin from the onion, the stuff that just comes off when you pick the onion up. I do have a pic, but I have no idea how to upload it! Have you ever had tonkotsu ramen? That’s kinda what it looks like. – Just Joel Mar 18 '18 at 09:57
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    What temp did you roast the bones at? I wonder if the bones themselves didn't roast hot enough to get a good dark color, so the broth came out a bit pale. Also, how long did you simmer your stock for? – senschen Mar 19 '18 at 11:28
  • I roasted the bones at 350°F for about two and a half hours. – Just Joel Mar 20 '18 at 16:57
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    You can leave the flaky skin on the onions and that will help color the stock some. You can also try roasting your bones at a higher temp (400 deg F) if you think browning may be an issue. 350 deg. is considered the minimum temp for browning foods. – lspare Mar 20 '18 at 20:13
  • The marrow inside the bones is what gives the stock its color, although I usually put some browned meat in too and brown the vegetables. Did someone scoop out the marrow before selling you the bones? Marrow has a lot of fat, so there would have been a layer of fat on the top too. – RudyB Mar 21 '18 at 22:43
  • Most of the bones had marrow in them. Apparently the fat (what I didn’t skim off) was emulsified into the broth because of the boiling action. It’s not a greasy broth at all, though; more creamy. – Just Joel Mar 22 '18 at 00:17

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As suggested by OP in a comment, it is likely that a milky, creamy broth is the result of fat emulsifying into the broth due to too-violently boiling the broth. For context: when making a Tonkotsu ramen broth, this style of milky broth (typically made with pork rather than beef bones) is often the desired result, hence you'll find recipes calling for a sustained rolling boil for hours (whereas traditional French stocks would be kept at a simmer), or even suggestions to blend up your broth.

Thus, the answer to this question would be to cook the broth at a simmer, rather than a rolling boil.

LSchoon
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