---
title: 'Demi-Glace'
slug: 'demi-glace'
kind: 'preparation'
revision: 1
source: 'import'
created: '2026-09-04T14:14:02.921Z'
url: 'https://noble-notations.ryanjnoble.dev/recipes/demi-glace'
---

# Demi-Glace

_A 48–72 hour reduction, done properly_

Classical demi-glace with a dual-bone foundation, triple clarification and a staged reduction. A preparation other recipes pull in rather than a dish.

## Why this revision

Transcribed from the archive research note into an executable preparation.

## Categories

- **Equipment**: China cap, Fine-mesh sieve
- **Cuisine**: French
- **Technique**: Roasting, Clarification, Reduction
- **Course**: Sauce
- **Texture**: Silky

## Ingredients


### Stock

- 3 lb Beef marrow bones
- 2 lb Veal knuckles
- 1 lb Oxtail, roasted
- 6 oz Tomato paste
- 2 oz Red wine vinegar

### Espagnole

- 1 lb Butter, clarified
- 180 g Wondra flour
- 2 cup Mirepoix, caramelised separately in duck fat

### Finishing

- 1 piece Kombu, rinsed, 4 inch _(optional)_

## Method


### Roast

1. Arrange the bones in a single layer on rack-lined sheet pans and roast at 232 °C for 45 minutes to develop the Maillard crust. _(45 min · 232 °C · Roasting)_
2. Brush the bones with tomato paste thinned with the vinegar and return to a 204 °C oven for 20 minutes. _(20 min · 204 °C)_
   > Pyrolising the sugars in the paste is what builds the crust.
3. Deglaze each sheet pan in turn with a cup of water, scraping the fond into a reserve bowl. Repeat until the pans run clear.

### Clarify

4. Simmer the stock 12 hours, then strain through a China cap lined with cheesecloth to take out the large particulates. _(720 min · Simmering)_
5. Cool to 4 °C, add ice and lightly beaten egg whites, and bring slowly back to 71 °C so a protein raft forms and traps the fine impurities. _(71 °C)_
6. Pass through a colander lined with damp coffee filters for final optical clarity.

### Espagnole

7. Whisk the flour into the clarified butter and cook to the hazelnut stage, about 121 °C. Fold in the caramelised mirepoix. _(121 °C)_

### Reduce

8. Stage one: 4 hours at 96 °C, reducing by 30%, with a sachet of dried mushroom aromatics. _(240 min · 96 °C · Reduction)_
9. Stage two: 2 hours at 90 °C to 50% reduction, adding a cup of Pedro Ximénez sherry. _(120 min · 90 °C)_
10. Stage three: 1 hour at 85 °C to 70% reduction, finishing with black garlic purée. Stir only with a flat-edged wooden spatula so nothing scorches. _(60 min · 85 °C)_

### Finish

11. Suspend the kombu in the reduction for the final 30 minutes to draw out glutamates without picking up marine notes. _(30 min)_

### Store

12. Cool to 10 °C within 20 minutes in an ice bath, portion into jars, and freeze at −30 °C so the gelatin matrix vitrifies instead of forming ice crystals. _(10 °C)_

## Notes

### Why each layer exists _(science)_

The dual bone foundation is doing three separate jobs: marrow for fat and mouthfeel, veal knuckle for gelatin, oxtail for concentrated meatiness. Dropping any one of them is a real loss rather than a simplification. The triple clarification is likewise three different mechanisms — mechanical, protein raft, adsorption — not the same step done three times.

- Source: https://www.reluctantgourmet.com/demi-glace-recipe/
- Source: https://chefjeanpierre.com/recipes/sauces/demi-glace-recipe/
- Source: https://www.thefrenchcookingacademy.com/recipes/home-style-demi-glace
- Source: https://guide.michelin.com/tw/en/article/dining-in/the-5-mother-sauces-of-french-cuisine

### Time is the actual ingredient _(warning)_

This is a 48–72 hour commitment. Every shortcut in it trades away the thing that makes it worth doing.