Do you make your own stock?

always.

and i fill up ice-cube-bags so i can use as much as needed out of the freezer.

if i ran out, i rather use water than a industrial-stok

I make my own stock on a more or less continual basis. To do this, I maintain vegetable scraps and (separately) mixed poultry and game bones/carcases in the freezer. To make a game stock, I use a low simmer and add whole onion, carrot, celery and a bouquet garni of celery leaves, parsley and bay leaf. I package in 1 qt containers and freeze.

Mark Lipton

This is more or less what I do. A few times a year, I buy 4-6 ducks and portion out the leg quarters and the breasts. That leaves a lot left for the stock pot. I keep a "stock bin" in the freezer where I throw all the ends of onion, carrot, and celery. I add a couple of fresh onions and carrots, and this whole mess get roasted in the oven for a bit and then simmered & skimmed and reduced (gotta have room in the fridge).

always.

and i fill up ice-cube-bags so i can use as much as needed out of the freezer.

I tried that ice cube trick, but it made my martinis taste really funny.



Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I'm about to roast some beef bones and vegetables for beef stock, then I think I have enough to last me a while.

[David M. Bueker]

Here's a couple of questions based on the fact that we are now having to cook chicken for our cat who is recovering from a broken leg. She's been rather picky for a while, though she is slowly going back to cat food.

1. We don't put any salt or other seasonings in when we simmer the chicken thighs in water. (The cat likes plain chicken, plus she doesn't need the salt). Can I take the "stock" and add some veggies, salt & pepper, simmer again for a while & end up with at least a usable stock?

2. Sometimes when I simmer the chicken I end up with a broth that turns into virtual chicken jell-o in the fridge. It's really gelatinous. Is that good or bad. I haven't had it get so thick in the past making my own. (though when making it for myself I was just using bones/carcass & not chicken thighs)

David

1. yes

2. good

You have the makings of some excellent stock there. In some cuisines they do just what you did and then they have "remoistening" where you put another carcass into THE SAME BROTH and make it richer, and then another. Sometimes you see that in Chinese cooking. It was fairly common in European cooking 500 years ago -- of course that was before restaurants and "fast" food of any sort. Cooks generally lived in a castle or Chateau with the family they cooked for.

Certainly don't waste it or throw it out.

F

I agree with Frank on all accounts. Definitely make stock after cooking the chicken for the kitty. (lucky kitty)

That gelatinous stock is, in my opinion the ideal. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't.

I tried that ice cube trick, but it made my martinis taste really funny.



Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I'm about to roast some beef bones and vegetables for beef stock, then I think I have enough to last me a while.

that was funny!

how did you make cristall-clear-stock?

Here's a couple of questions based on the fact that we are now having to cook chicken for our cat who is recovering from a broken leg. She's been rather picky for a while, though she is slowly going back to cat food.

1. We don't put any salt or other seasonings in when we simmer the chicken thighs in water. (The cat likes plain chicken, plus she doesn't need the salt). Can I take the "stock" and add some veggies, salt & pepper, simmer again for a while & end up with at least a usable stock?

2. Sometimes when I simmer the chicken I end up with a broth that turns into virtual chicken jell-o in the fridge. It's really gelatinous. Is that good or bad. I haven't had it get so thick in the past making my own. (though when making it for myself I was just using bones/carcass & not chicken thighs)

hello david

1. to not use salt is perfect for stock-making , osmotic-pressure will make the meet-bones to "upwelling" (online-trans!), so to say, to wash out.
if you salt the water, aromas do not porporly come out.
use this knowledge to cook:
-you need, better sauce/stock/bouillon = you don't salt while cooking
-you need, better meet/fish/veggis = you salt bevor/during cooking-process

so the answer is:
yes! youre stock is perfect usable for any kind of dish, to fill up currys, for risotto, every were you fill up with bouillon.
no! you don't need to add veggis or recook with spices, because now you do have all "spice-point-of-compass" you like to go with the dish you prepare with this stock
as a side winning you have a lot of umami-taste, even if you (when you taste the stock) beleve it's taste-less.
(sidequestion: would the cat bother if you simmer some veggis with it? )

2.
gooooood !
the collagen in the meet/bones is "un-raveled" and turns into gellatin (like a hair-queue that is disabled into singel-hairs "but in proteins")
so youre stock contains an amount of pure, and extremly "usable" proteins that are prcisous for the body (higher than proteins that comes from "veggis" like soja.

chicken has not a high amount of collagen
the brest: is sable for short-time-cooking (tender) and when looooong cooked it turns dry
the thighs: are not as tender and need a longer cooking to turn tender. but if cocked looooong they thurn jucy because of the turned-gelatin
this knowledge is even more imprtant for cooking gulasch (to choose the right meet or osso-bucco.


hope my answer is not to long and did not go to far, but because i "know" you from the readings of david-of-switzerland i thought you can take it

This is more or less what I do. A few times a year, I buy 4-6 ducks and portion out the leg quarters and the breasts. That leaves a lot left for the stock pot. I keep a "stock bin" in the freezer where I throw all the ends of onion, carrot, and celery. I add a couple of fresh onions and carrots, and this whole mess get roasted in the oven for a bit and then simmered & skimmed and reduced (gotta have room in the fridge).

Lee, I read that you use duck to make your stock. Do you use this stock the same way that I might use chicken/turkey stock? Rice, soup, veggies, etc. I have never made duck stock....why do you use duck, rather than chicken orturkey?

Returning to this thread for advice and views.

I've just boiled up a batch of chicken stock (purchased a dollar's worth of chicken frames from the poulterer) and it's sitting in the fridge now, to thicken up the fat layer so I can scrape it off.

When making stock, do you think it is best to roast the bones first or just chuck the raw bones and bits into water?

How long do you boil it? Do you go by time, or by "look"?

What about the relative merits of different kinds of meats?

Roasting or not roasting depends on the flavor you are aiming at.

Keller has several different stocks, the "brown chicken stock" is made from roasted bones.

His main stock, which uses a lot of chicken feet, is deliberately bland, and is often flavored by additions of other meats or stocks.

If you want a rich brown flavor in your soup, I'd go ahead and brown the bones.

Here's a couple of questions based on the fact that we are now having to cook chicken for our cat who is recovering from a broken leg. She's been rather picky for a while, though she is slowly going back to cat food.

1. We don't put any salt or other seasonings in when we simmer the chicken thighs in water. (The cat likes plain chicken, plus she doesn't need the salt). Can I take the "stock" and add some veggies, salt & pepper, simmer again for a while & end up with at least a usable stock?

2. Sometimes when I simmer the chicken I end up with a broth that turns into virtual chicken jell-o in the fridge. It's really gelatinous. Is that good or bad. I haven't had it get so thick in the past making my own. (though when making it for myself I was just using bones/carcass & not chicken thighs)

David, I don't have a cat, picky eater or otherwise. But when I make chicken stock I start with chicken breast (2 breasts halved/4 pieces). I cover them with about 3 quarts of water into which I dump two large chunked onions, the top parts of a whole stalk of celery leaves and all. at least 2 carrots, and include the leafy parts if available. If I think ahead I might include potato skins from several potatoes. I like a bay leaf, and several pepper corns, but no salt.

After I let the broth come to room temperature I take the meat and dice it for chicken salad. and pack the broth for later use. Recipe on demand, of wing it from the above.

I use rabbit for a neutral stock much like chicken. I also use duck and venison to make some heartier stocks. I sometimes flavor my duck stock with Asian five spice as I will usually use it to make my Asian-style soups.

rwj

This weekend I made shrimp stock and vegetable stock. Tonight I'm working on chicken stock. I should have made the chicken stock yesterday instead of starting it tonight after work..I'm going to be up for a while.

LOL Patti! That's usually what happens to me. I'm up at 10pm picking bones. Uhg.

I do usually make my own stock and have loads of little ziplock baggies in my freezer filled with 1 cup of stock. Usually chicken, turkey or beef, though occasionally lamb. I like to reduce it and use it as a sauce to go with rack of lamb, which we have quite frequently. I've never made seafood stock--that's one I'd like to try. However, Len said he decided I was a keeper early in our courtship days when he called me one night to see what I was doing and I happened to be making veal stock.

PS. Veal stock is wonderful in so many applications. I love to add a little to a wild mushroom crostini dish I make.

Always begin with cold water and never salt stock. Avoid the strongly flavored vegetables and all starches in stock. Leave the skins on all vegetables for both flavor and color (you're going to strain the stock anyway).

I think it depends on how must faith you have in the exterior of the vegetables and their contact. When I make stock I never boil it. Some sorts of "things" that can cause food poisoning are not killed by cooking. Also the length of time the liquid/water is taking to reach temperature can act as a window for growth. Salmonella comes to mind. I am perhaps overly cautious but living in the rural area while in the Peace Corps taught me it is a good idea.

My freezers and freezing compartments of my refrigerators all have an array of stocks. For the most part I make mine a bit concentrated and them place them in small labeled containers which I keep in the doors so I can find them easily. Right now I have vegetable, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, pheasant, beef, veal, pork and crab stocks in my freezers. I generally use one of my crockpots to make the stocks. When I had my restaurants I thought the best stocks were made in our jacketed steamkettle. A crockpot is the closest thing I now have.

A couple of vegetables I use in almost all my stocks are leeks and one of my chopped oven-dried frozen tomatoes. I generally use what ever array of vegetables I have on hand. I do avoid the starch vegetables in my stocks. I also have a preference for making all my stock from meat/bone/skin/shell scraps that have been roasted or browned. I prefer the more rich flavors.

A few months ago I had a taste for French Onion Soup and discovered I was missing sufficient beef and veal stock. I substituted some duck stock and WOW it was the most savory rich onion soup I have made.

When I am lazy and have a taste for whole roasted chicken I admit I purchase a pre-roasted the local supermarket. It is an "Amish" chicken with none of the marinades or MSG added. The skin and carcass are the sources of my chicken stock.

Yes, I always taught my students to rapidly bring the stock up to temperature - to the boil so they could "see" the temperature - and then immediately reduce it to the simmer, where the surface is just barely stirring.

You're still going to get albumen rising to the top.

As to the vegetables, principally carrots, celery, onion and garlic - they are not known for their salmonella-carrying capacity and should there be some traces (much more likely on the chicken than the veggies) the simmering temperature will quite adequately dispatch them.

Oh, and as to the gelatinous stock - which I absolutely love, no there's not a lot of collagen in chicken - unless one includes the head and feet.That makes the very best stock.

When I make a chicken stock I always use breast meat and then use the chicken for chicken salad. In the broth I always include onion, celery, and carrots. If possible I like to use the leafy parts of the celery and carrots. I have to slabs of really bony lamb ribs, and am thinking of making a lamb stock. Would it be best to cook the lamb b4 putting it into the stock pot? And, should I use the same veggies as for chicken stock? And should I include a sprig or two of both rosemary and thyme? Never done and it doesn't hurt to ask, especially here.

When I make a chicken stock I always use breast meat and then use the chicken for chicken salad. In the broth I always include onion, celery, and carrots. If possible I like to use the leafy parts of the celery and carrots. I have to slabs of really bony lamb ribs, and am thinking of making a lamb stock. Would it be best to cook the lamb b4 putting it into the stock pot? And, should I use the same veggies as for chicken stock? And should I include a sprig or two of both rosemary and thyme? Never done and it doesn't hurt to ask, especially here.

Those ribs will make a good - if strong - stock. Yeah, I would definitely caramelize the lamb first. Two reasons, depth of flavor and by rendering some of the fat you can reduce the strength of the lamb flavor to a manageable level. I always include the fat in the stock-making with the more "tame" tasting varmints. I'd toss the fat here. Yes, same veggies. Lamb can handle some stronger stuff, too. I make a classic soup with barley, lamb and turnips.

I can't see where the rosemary would hurt a whit. I've not done it with lamb stock myself - but maybe I should have tried it. Definitely include the thyme and lots of garlic cloves, clothed and smashed. Parsley and whole black peppercorns would be good too.

Let me know how it comes out!

I can't see where the rosemary would hurt a whit. I've not done it with lamb stock myself - but maybe I should have tried it. Definitely include the thyme and lots of garlic cloves, clothed and smashed. Parsley and whole black peppercorns would be good too.

Let me know how it comes out!

Will do Chef, and thanks for the reply so soon. I can just imagine how rich this stock would make a lamb stew. I really like the idea of maybe a dozen cloves of garlic. Thanks again.

Lately I've been reducing my stock by boiling it down after I've discarded all the hard ingredients so as to concentrate the flavors, but the discussion about boiling vs the slow simmer makes me wonder: if you want a more concentrated stock is it better to reduce it, or use less water to begin with?

Lately I've been reducing my stock by boiling it down after I've discarded all the hard ingredients so as to concentrate the flavors, but the discussion about boiling vs the slow simmer makes me wonder: if you want a more concentrated stock is it better to reduce it, or use less water to begin with?

I don't know of any negative effects boiling would produce after one has removed the solids. All you are doing is strengthening the concentration of flavor by driving off some water.

Thanks. I figured as much, and recommend doing it.

Does anyone else have the problem that they make more stock than they use? I buy whole chickens mostly, and quickly end up with a dozen carcasses which makes gallons of stock. Even boiled down to jelly it takes up room. I just don't make enough soups and sauces to use it all. Will it go bad in the freezer?

Walt

I've boiled stocks down to jelly and frozen them in tupperware containers. Then I hack off a piece and reconstitute it whenever I need some. Lasts for months.