ISO help/advice w/beef stock/broth

[julesthegolfer]

Help!
I just made beef stock/broth from scratch. It smells wonderful but looks gross. Despite straining it through a sieve and cheesecloth it is still full of teeny, tiny little specs of something. Canned broth does not look like that. I'm afraid it will not look good in soups. I've read in the Culinary Institute's book about clarifying broth to make consume, but that looks quite involved. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[Dillbert]

probably boiled a bit - that puts up all kinds of really fine stuff....

mechanical solution: coffee filter

you've already seen the other clarifying methods.... they are involved and without some prior practice might not work exceptionally 'out of the box'

[Wyogal]

stock is made from boiling/simmering bones, broth is made by simmering the meat.
yes, one could use a coffee filter instead of the clarifying procedure.

[julesthegolfer]

Thanks all. I tired the coffee filters and it worked well. A bit labor intensive since the broth/stock only flowed freely for about 10 seconds and then I had to manually hold the filter and gently squeeze it. I call it broth/stock because I used both bones and meat. Dillbert (or anyone) - have you ever tried the clarification with the eggs whites and mirepoix?

[Andy M.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by julesthegolfer Thanks all. I tired the coffee filters and it worked well. A bit labor intensive since the broth/stock only flowed freely for about 10 seconds and then I had to manually hold the filter and gently squeeze it. I call it broth/stock because I used both bones and meat. Dillbert (or anyone) - have you ever tried the clarification with the eggs whites and mirepoix?

Call it stock as it was made with bones. The fact that meat was also present doesn't change that.

When you used cheesecloth to strain the stock, how many layers did you use? Folding a larger piece of cheesecloth over several times will enable you to filter out smaller particles.

[Wyogal]

I've done that in cooking school. It wasn't hard, just need to pay attention to it.

[Dillbert]

>>Dillbert (or anyone) - have you ever tried the clarification with the eggs whites and mirepoix?

yup. that's when I learned about coffee filters [g]

[Goodweed of the North]

The stock/broth nomenclatures are confusing, but don't have to be so. I've done considerable online research on the subject and have concluded from the many articles that stocks are made from meat and bones, and salt. The idea of a stock is to obtain flavor and nutrients from the bones, marrow, and meat, and stored to stock the pantry for future use, hence the name, stock. Broth is stock that has other ingredients added to it, such as onion, spices, and veggies used to alter the basic stock flavor, example, mirepoix and garlic are added. Stocks can be made from any meat, including fish and fowl, and are usually strained.

Consume is a clarified stock.

The hallmark of a good stock is that enough collagen has been leached from the bone marrow, cartillage, and connecting tissues so that when chilled, the liquid gels, creating an aspic.

That being the case, stock and broth are used interchangeably today, and the distinction has been blurred. So don't be overly concerned about it. Even different cooking texts give different definitions for stocks and broths. Just enjoy what you can do with the stuff after you've made it.

Tip, with any stocks, chill them before canning/bottling them for storage. Any fat will have floated to the top and hardened, making it easy to remove. Then reheat, and can or bottle according to your pressure canner instructions. Or, alternately, freeze in airtight containers, leaving room for expansion as the liquid freezes.

Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

[Wyogal]

Sorry, but my Cordon Bleu cookbook states that stock is made from bones and broth is made from simmering meat.
Stock also contains mirepoix and a bit of other ingredients, like tomato paste in beef stock. For a rich flavor, roast the mirepoix with the bones, then about halfway through, smear with tomato paste.

[julesthegolfer]

I made my chicken and beef stock/broth with both bones and meat. They are gelatinous and flavorful. I'm not sure why anyone would want only bones or only meat. Anyone know?
Back to the consume or clarification of the stock/broth. I was tempted to try it. It sounded like a fun challenge (my idea of fun thing to do has changed considerably the older I get, LOL). Le Cordon Bleu Techniques book had you add mirepoix, lemon juice and egg whites. I already had roasted mirepoix in my beef stock/broth and was afraid adding more, especially onion, would change the flavor. Also I was afraid of a lemon flavor. The Culinary Institute book has you also add ground beef so maybe that would counteract the added mirepoix. In one place it has you straining it through a paper filter (aka coffee filter, I assume) even after the clarification process.
For those who have done this, did the clarification ingredients change the flavor of the stock/broth? Did it actually work?