ISO - Help Making Stock

[CWS4322]

I was taught to roast the bones first (I do this in the oven). And to crack them. I add just a splash of vinegar when I roast them. I brown marrow bones on the stovetop and then roast them overnight in the turkey roaster. I strain the stock, let it sit in the fridge, skim off any fat/grease and then make soup or freeze the stock. My soupmaking is a two-step process. I make the stock, then I take the strained stock and make the soup. I never make broth. Which reminds me, I have two turkey carcasses in the freezer...too hot to make stock today. When turkeys are on special in the fall, we usually buy enough to have a turkey/month until April/May. Because I was away Apr into June, I still have one turkey left in the freezer that I'll probably brine and smoke in September.

 

[jennyema]

That's what an egg float is used for, to clarify the stock. But the op isn't looking for consume, but tather, stock. It's ok if it's a bit cloudy. I don't mind cloudy. I can clarify it later if need be. Besides, cloudy make better gravy, IMHO. The particulates add to the gravy color and texture.

Unless its cloudy because you have emulsified the fat into the stock

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Unless its cloudy because you have emulsified the fat into the stock

I too place my stock in the fridge. The fat separates from the water and solidifies on top. I simply remove the sold mass of fat and discard it,, or use it to help light the grill.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

I'm going to go against the consensus here and agree with Jenny that you should not boil stock. In fact, when I make stock (which is on a regular basis), I barely let it come to a simmer and leave it that way for 6 hours or longer. Not even a full simmer, but occasional bubbles. And while we're on the subject, I don't stir it, either. I was taught many years ago by a friend who is a trained chef in Las Vegas that boiling and stirring stock traps the grease. By keeping the activity to a bare minimum all the fat will stay on top, where it can be easily skimmed off, resulting in a cleaner end product.

I was told that you want to raise the temperature slowly to a simmer. That way you don't cause the proteins to "stiffen" before the bones have given off their flavour.

 

[Addie]

My chicken stock is made from a combination of bones/parts from roasted and raw chickens that I accumulate for stock. That little sack of goodies (aside from the liver) in the cavities of whole chickens add a lot of flavor to stock.

When Chinese restaurants are placing their orders with their purveyors, they order chicken bones by the five pound box. The come frozen.

 

[CarolPa]

I was taught to roast the bones first (I do this in the oven). And to crack them. I add just a splash of vinegar when I roast them. I brown marrow bones on the stovetop and then roast them overnight in the turkey roaster. I strain the stock, let it sit in the fridge, skim off any fat/grease and then make soup or freeze the stock. My soupmaking is a two-step process. I make the stock, then I take the strained stock and make the soup. I never make broth. Which reminds me, I have two turkey carcasses in the freezer...too hot to make stock today. When turkeys are on special in the fall, we usually buy enough to have a turkey/month until April/May. Because I was away Apr into June, I still have one turkey left in the freezer that I'll probably brine and smoke in September.

What is the difference between stock and broth?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

What is the difference between stock and broth?

There is a great deal of debate about this, as the terms have become nearly synonymous. And research by many on this site hasn't made it that much clearer. So, I prefer to look at the root words, stock and broth. For me, stock is something that is stored to be used to make other things, i.e. metal stock, wood stock, etc. It has a quality of its own, but is used to make other things. And so, by association, the liquid stock we are discussing, is a flavored liquid made by simmering a combination of bones, and/or meats, or vegetables, with minimal seasonings and other ingredients, to be stored as a flavor base for other sauces, broths, soups, and gravies.

A broth is a stock flavored, or fortified with any of the following: spirits, vegetables, and/or seasonings.

Other definitions are also valid. These are mine.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Chief, I've always figured that stock is broth reduced by 50%. Then again, I figure wrong frequently...

Would I be able to freeze the bones or carcass from a rotisserie chicken to use later for stock?

I love making stock from rotisserie carcasses, I freeze them as well.

I buy rotisserie chickens specifically for making soup. I'll buy two, then we'll use one for dinner and leftovers, me reminding Himself with every knife cut "take it off the bones! I want them for stock!" I use the bones, skin, and trimmings from both birds to make the stock. I then use that and the meat from the second bird, to make a copycat version of Panera's Wild Rice Cream of Chicken soup.

I rarely make a vast amount of stock. For the volume I make I've found a shortcut to remove the bones and skin. I make the stock in my pasta cooker. I can lift out the perforated basket, removing all the larger stuff. Then, when the pot cools a bit, I pour off the liquid through some cheesecloth, then skim the fat off the top when the liquid has cooled completely in the fridge...or garage, if it's winter and really cold outside. Love me my "walk-out" cooler!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Chief, I've always figured that stock is broth reduced by 50%. Then again, I figure wrong frequently...





I buy rotisserie chickens specifically for making soup. I'll buy two, then we'll use one for dinner and leftovers, me reminding Himself with every knife cut "take it off the bones! I want them for stock!" I use the bones, skin, and trimmings from both birds to make the stock. I then use that and the meat from the second bird, to make a copycat version of Panera's Wild Rice Cream of Chicken soup.

I rarely make a vast amount of stock. For the volume I make I've found a shortcut to remove the bones and skin. I make the stock in my pasta cooker. I can lift out the perforated basket, removing all the larger stuff. Then, when the pot cools a bit, I pour off the liquid through some cheesecloth, then skim the fat off the top when the liquid has cooled completely in the fridge...or garage, if it's winter and really cold outside. Love me my "walk-out" cooler!

I have the giant porch freezer too. Isn't it handy?

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Andy M.]

As Chief said, there are several answers. Mine is this.

Stock is made with bones and meat scraps seasoned or not with some aromatic veggies etc. Broth is made without bones, just meats and/or veggies, seasoned or not.

By this definition, you cannot have vegetable stock, just broth.

 

[taxlady]

I know it's not technically stock, but I still call it vegi stock. I think of broth as a soup or the liquid portion of something that is already soup.

And I use CG's shortcut when making stock. My stockpot has an insert like the one in a pasta pot.

 

[jennyema]

I too place my stock in the fridge. The fat separates from the water and solidifies on top. I simply remove the sold mass of fat and discard it,, or use it to help light the grill.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

If the fat has been emulsified into the liquid due to the mechanics of boiling, this will not work.

You'll have unpleasant greasy stock.

Which is one reason you should never boil it.

 

[jennyema]

What is the difference between stock and broth?

Stock is made with bones. Broth is not.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Just curious; isn't a sauce, that's been concentrated by boiling away water, called a reduction?

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CarolPa]

Chief, I've always figured that stock is broth reduced by 50%. Then again, I figure wrong frequently...





I buy rotisserie chickens specifically for making soup. I'll buy two, then we'll use one for dinner and leftovers, me reminding Himself with every knife cut "take it off the bones! I want them for stock!" I use the bones, skin, and trimmings from both birds to make the stock. I then use that and the meat from the second bird, to make a copycat version of Panera's Wild Rice Cream of Chicken soup.

I rarely make a vast amount of stock. For the volume I make I've found a shortcut to remove the bones and skin. I make the stock in my pasta cooker. I can lift out the perforated basket, removing all the larger stuff. Then, when the pot cools a bit, I pour off the liquid through some cheesecloth, then skim the fat off the top when the liquid has cooled completely in the fridge...or garage, if it's winter and really cold outside. Love me my "walk-out" cooler!

That's a great idea to make it in the pasta cooker. I never thought I needed a pasta cooker, now I have a good use for one!

 

[GotGarlic]

That's a great idea to make it in the pasta cooker. I never thought I needed a pasta cooker, now I have a good use for one!

Tongs and a spider work, too, and take up a lot less space

 

[Addie]

Tongs and a spider work, too, and take up a lot less space

But if you are going to have a stock pot, make it serve two purposes. Pasta and stock.

 

[taxlady]

Since the strainer/insert in the pasta pot or stock pot sit inside the pot, it doesn't take up much space at at all. I like the fact that I can walk away while it drips.

 

[GotGarlic]

But if you are going to have a stock pot, make it serve two purposes. Pasta and stock.

I have two different size pots with pasta inserts. I only use the inserts for steaming (usually tamales because I don't like steamed veg) because it requires way too much water to fill either of the pots enough to cover the insert and up the side to have enough water to boil the pasta.

Then when you pull the insert out, you have a piece of dripping hot metal to put down somewhere. Then you need another pot to strain the liquid into. Maybe CG has worked out a better method, but it doesn't work for me.

 

[GotGarlic]

Since the strainer/insert in the pasta pot or stock pot sit inside the pot, it doesn't take up much space at at all. I like the fact that I can walk away while it drips.

It does if you already have a stock pot but not a pasta pot