Is Stock Wasteful?

[Alotsa]

Me and a household member have this on going debate weather or not stock is wasteful.

I love making soup and have thus done a lot of research into stock making and i find that in the culinary world it is agreed that a lot of bones and meat is used for a relatively small amount of water and most recipes simply tell you to discard the left over meat and veggies, for example one of my favorite stocks consists of 2lb of chicken wings for 6 cups of water, the result is a flavourful gelatinous stock base.
Basically id like to know how much nutrients is absorbed into the water? and if tossing the over cooked leftovers is really a big waste or not (aside from the fiber which cant really be helped).
I, relatively speaking, do not think this is a wasteful use of meat and vegges if the outcome is a very nutritious soup especially with something like 2lbs of chicken wings,something that is likely to be wasted at the supermarket anyway, however with out knowing exactly how much nutrients is lost i cant say for sure.
If any one has any thoughts or incite about this subject id really like some feedback Ive tried to look on the Internet for some sort of study but failed. Thanks.

 

[keltin]

Nutrients that are water soluble will leech into the water, but there is much debate as to whether they are available for consumption. That is, does the water get infused with leeched nutrients making it “super water”? I don’t know for sure.

Aside from that, the idea of stock is to utilize every bit of the item. In veggies, you prep and serve the tender pieces of the vegetable for dinner, and save the harder roots and stems for stock. These piece have the same (and more intense) flavor but are too hard for a served dish, thus great stock material.

Bones are a fantastic piece of stock material because of the little bits of clinging fat and the marrow in the bones. The meat itself doesn’t contribute a whole lot to the stock, but instead it is the fat, blood, marrow, etc.

IMHO, boiling chicken wings whole for stock is wasteful when you could simply have chicken wings and then use the leftover bones (and marrow) for stock (not to mention the uncooked wing tips), or butcher your own chicken and use the backbone and innards for stock.

For shellfish stock, you save the discarded shrimp husks and crab shell.

For veggies, the stems and left over pieces.

Stocks are typically made from the inedible pieces of a thing thus allowing you to get the MOST from that which you have. To use a perfectly viable piece of meat (wing, rib, etc) is rather wasteful for a stock since most of a stock’s flavor comes from the harder, inedible pieces such as stems and bone marrow.

 

[Katie H]

I don't have the answer to your question about nutrition of loss of same, Alotsa. However, when I make chicken stock, I use the cut-off bits of chicken from my leg/thigh portions, cast-offs from cutting up a whole chicken, etc. I save these in the freezer until I have enough to make stock.

After I make my stock and strain out the veggies, the veggies (minus the onions) go to my outside kitties for their food. I also save the solidified fat for their food, too, so nothing goes to waste when I make stock.

 

[Alotsa]

Keltin, i agree with everything you said stock is great for making the most of your food. Let me just say I'm not one to waste a perfectly good backbone or shells from shrimp when i cook these things, I also try to either eat the veggies and meat or feed it to the dog if i can so im atleast mindfull of waste. However i think the argument can be made that meat does add something to the flavour party that is stock, as Jean-Georges Vongerichten said "The best stock tastes of meat, not bones. shorter cooking time, with lots of meat and not many bones produces the best stock."

 

[keltin]

Keltin, i agree with everything you said stock is great for making the most of your food. Let me just say I'm not one to waste a perfectly good backbone or shells from shrimp when i cook these things, I also try to either eat the veggies and meat or feed it to the dog if i can so im atleast mindfull of waste. However i think the argument can be made that meat does add something to the flavour party that is stock, as Jean-Georges Vongerichten said "The best stock tastes of meat, not bones."

I can agree with that, but most often the meat is contributing rendered fat to the mix. This can be accomplished by trimming your own meat, saving the fat and bones for marrow, saving rendered fat, etc, thus never requiring you to cook servable meat for a stock.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to cook servable meat for stock….not at all. It’s often much, much quicker. But when it comes to the mechanics of cooking, only the rendered fat and blood proteins offer much to a stock, so you can possibly be wasting good meat if you try to make stock from it.

 

[David Cottrell]

Stock Waste

Keltin, i agree with everything you said stock is great for making the most of your food. Let me just say I'm not one to waste a perfectly good backbone or shells from shrimp when i cook these things. However i think the argument can be made that meat does add something to the flavour party that is stock, as Jean-Georges Vongerichten said "The best stock tastes of meat, not bones."

I'm like the rest of you - I don't like to waste food. It was the way I was brought up - clean your plate!

What I do is to use the meat that I use in making stock in a salad - it's perfectly good protein and in a salad can be made tasty the way all salads are so I don't waste. For chicken by all means use a carcass that has been pretty well stripped, nothing wrong with a turkey carcass. Use plenty of beef bones. I really like borsch with a good rich meat broth but I don't waste!

As for the onion, carrots, parsnip, parsley root - well they might be wasted. But some of the parsnip and parsley root will probably stay with the borsch. I really don't make vegetable stock.

 

[kitchenelf]

I'm another one that can't help with the nutrient side of it but if you're gonna make stock make it so it tastes good. A few chicken wings aren't wasteful. I roast mine first though. I roast bones for beef stock too.

I don't consider throwing away the veggies when done making stock wasteful either - there's really nothing left to them. I have been known to make a meal out of them though in a pinch - little salt and pepper so they have some flavor tossed with a few egg noodles. It might not be nutritious but it certainly takes up stomach space!

If the other person in your household thinks using the chicken wings is wasteful then take off the "leg" part and eat those. Just use the other two parts for the stock.

 

[keltin]

I'm another one that can't help with the nutrient side of it but if you're gonna make stock make it so it tastes good. A few chicken wings aren't wasteful. I roast mine first though. I roast bones for beef stock too.

I don't consider throwing away the veggies when done making stock wasteful either - there's really nothing left to them. I have been known to make a meal out of them though in a pinch - little salt and pepper so they have some flavor tossed with a few egg noodles. It might not be nutritious but it certainly takes up stomach space!

If the other person in your household thinks using the chicken wings is wasteful then take off the "leg" part and eat those. Just use the other two parts for the stock.

Odd thing is, my favorite part on the wing is the “middle” part with the two bones. And I love the “tips” broiled with some garlic. Crunchy tips are a great treat for me (crunchy like fries!). I’m not a big fan of the “drumstick”, so if I was going to do it, I’d make stock of that!

 

[Dave Hutchins]

For years I made 2 60 gallon pots of stock every Sunday. In one pot I browned the bones, addes 10 pounds of onion ends ond tops that was saved during the week and all of the carrot tops, celery butts. and then the morning Cook had a good stock for his soup, sauces and what ever he had to make, ocasionaly we would have to use whole onionms,and ETC ... kudos to Kate e for giving her CATS the left overs Cats forever
Man can not know piece till he has a cat snugge up and purr in his or her ear Nirvana

 

[kitchenelf]

Odd thing is, my favorite part on the wing is the “middle” part with the two bones. And I love the “tips” broiled with some garlic. Crunchy tips are a great treat for me (crunchy like fries!). I’m not a big fan of the “drumstick”, so if I was going to do it, I’d make stock of that!

oh keltin - you and I could NOT eat chicken wings together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE the part with the two bones and I get to eat EVERYONE's cruncy tip part because no one wants to mess with it - that's my favorite part!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I absolutely do NOT like the leg part - I eat as few as possible. I just suggested that so the person who had an issue might get some sort of a meal out of them

You are indeed the only other person I know that eats that little crunchy part besides me and LOVES the part with the two bones - naw - it would be a nasty fight that may require wearing helmets and seatbelts if we ate wings together!

 

[Claire]

I grew up using bones and veggies you normaly would throw away. I "squish" (for lack of a better word) the veggies through a seive, and I use bones from meat we've already eaten (gasp!). In other words, I use the turkey or chicken carcass. I do buy beef for stock, but I don't throw away the meat, I make stew from it. I don't throw away perfectly good food.

And yes, I, too, use chicken wings. They have a great gelatanous food going (I refrigerate, then skim the fat).

 

[GotGarlic]

Nutrients that are water soluble will leech into the water, but there is much debate as to whether they are available for consumption. That is, does the water get infused with leeched nutrients making it “super water”? I don’t know for sure.

Hey, Keltin. Just curious - why would water-soluble nutrients not be available for consumption (do you mean absorption?) in stock? Unless I'm mistaken, they're available in other foods, some more than others, but still absorbable, by a healthy body anyway.

 

[keltin]

oh keltin - you and I could NOT eat chicken wings together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE the part with the two bones and I get to eat EVERYONE's cruncy tip part because no one wants to mess with it - that's my favorite part!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I absolutely do NOT like the leg part - I eat as few as possible. I just suggested that so the person who had an issue might get some sort of a meal out of them

You are indeed the only other person I know that eats that little crunchy part besides me and LOVES the part with the two bones - naw - it would be a nasty fight that may require wearing helmets and seatbelts if we ate wings together!

Oh wow! A kindred soul! I thought I was the only one! If we ever dine together, I'll make sure to have the steak!

 

[keltin]

Nutrients that are water soluble will leech into the water, but there is much debate as to whether they are available for consumption. That is, does the water get infused with leeched nutrients making it “super water”? I don’t know for sure.

Hey, Keltin. Just curious - why would water-soluble nutrients not be available for consumption (do you mean absorption?) in stock? Unless I'm mistaken, they're available in other foods, some more than others, but still absorbable, by a healthy body anyway.

I just didn’t know what would happen to the nutrients once they leached into the water. Do they break down and deteriorate? Does the heat destroy them? I just did a quick search, and found this site. There they say:

Not all water is bad, however; it's only when you aren't consuming the liquids that the nutrients are leached into. That's the great thing about soup, says Lanou. "You consume the water-soluble vitamins that go into the broth," she says. For the most part, it's the leaching that causes the problem, not the heat.

So, it appears that, as long as you consume the liquid, you will get all of the nutrients from your veggies which would mean stocks and soups are great sources of veggie nutrients.

 

[sattie]

I think making stock is a wonderful way to use 'discards'. As has been mentioned in earlier posts, using stems of asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, you name it.... I toss it all in a big bag and freeze till I have enough to make stock. Buy whole chickens and use the carcass/innards/scraps to make stock. When carving roasts, save the bones and make stock. I think stock is one of the best ways to utilize every last little bit! Fresh herbs going bad? Throw them in the freezer and add them to your next stock pot!

 

[GB]

Is stock wasteful? No it is not. You are getting something out of those bones, veggies and meat. And the meat can be used too. Just leave it in long enough to cook then pull the meat out and you can use it for other uses, then you can continue to cook the veggies and bones until you have your stock.

 

[Walt Bulander]

With chicken, I just roast the cut up chicken in a 400 degree oven for about 1 1/2 hours, pick out the meat, and make stock out of the bones. The meat gets frozen for chicken soup or a casserole.

In our area, you can often buy 10# packages of thighs and legs for under $4.

I don't bother roasting the veg. etc. Just put into the simmering stock.

 

[DramaQueen]

I too buy the 10 lb. packages of chicken thighs and legs. My supermarket had them recently for 2.99 for 10 lbs. I put the whole 10 lbs. in a huge pot, add as many wing "tips" as I have saved over a few months, any bones that I take out of the chicken after roasting and chicken feet, yes, chicken feet from an Asian market, loaded with cartilage and bones, and all this makes a very inexpensive, rich, intense chicken broth.

 

[BreezyCooking]

If I were buying large packages of chicken wings, thighs, legs, etc. just to make stock & had no plans to use the resultant meat for anything else, than I guess my personal opinion would be that that's wasteful. Only because I find that I can make unbelievably rich stocks using the chicken wing tips, backbones, & carcasses; leaving the better parts for worthwhile meals.

Unfortunately, DramaQueen's coup for 10 lbs. of chicken for only $2.99 isn't a nationwide tradition, & chicken can be fairly pricey these days since many folks began steering away from red meat. While I've definitely found chicken parts on sale for $2.99 PER POUND, $2.99 for 10 pounds of chicken is not only unheard of around here, but frankly would make me rather suspect. In that case, stock might very well be the best way to deal with that chicken. : )

 

[DramaQueen]

If I were buying large packages of chicken wings, thighs, legs, etc. just to make stock & had no plans to use the resultant meat for anything else, than I guess my personal opinion would be that that's wasteful. Only because I find that I can make unbelievably rich stocks using the chicken wing tips, backbones, & carcasses; leaving the better parts for worthwhile meals.

Unfortunately, DramaQueen's coup for 10 lbs. of chicken for only $2.99 isn't a nationwide tradition, & chicken can be fairly pricey these days since many folks began steering away from red meat. While I've definitely found chicken parts on sale for $2.99 PER POUND, $2.99 for 10 pounds of chicken is not only unheard of around here, but frankly would make me rather suspect. In that case, stock might very well be the best way to deal with that chicken. : )

I probably should have qualified my statement about using such cheap chicken for stock. The chicken in not of good enough quality to eat, maybe old chicken, who knows? I have tried roasting the legs and thighs and even cooking them in the crockpot. While they are tender to a point, they just don't taste good. Nothing wrong with them and they are clean and wholesome. But strangely enough they make terrific broth and I have no idea why. I too have to question the quality of chicken that sells for .29 cents per pound, but as I said I don't eat it - I make great broth with it. Go figure.