Help with making the perfect demiglace

[Andy M.]

Cook it longer over medium low heat and you will get darker roux. Stirring helps prevent burning. If it burns, there will be little black bits in the roux.

[Chopstix]

Originally Posted by jasonr

But I have one concern: won't charring the onions the way you suggest make the stock bitter?

Not at all. I even prefer roasting over fire rather than indirectly on the skillet -- this way the onion's totally charred.

[archiduc]

Hi Jasonr,
I hope your ears were burning yesterday, or maybe it should have been mine. I am registered to a couple of food forums and thought I was signed in to this one and had hidden the others and spent a long time answering the questions you had raised. I hit the post reply button to discover that somewhere along the line I had lost the connection to DiscoverCooking.com and lost all the work. This time, I`m printing out the thread so that I can give you my response. Hopefully, I`ll manage to stay connected when I finally answer you question, and my answer is going to be a long one. BUT, first let me say, you talk of making the "absolute perfect demi-glace" no, forget that - what you want to make is an excellent demi-glace that you can make again and again. Occasionally, you will know that you have made a sauce that is really out of this world - when you do this bottle it, freeze it and sell it for a fortune! If it was possible to reproduce it, some i.e., perfection, someone would have made a fortune by now but there are so many variables at play here. Strive for excellence. What you are trying to make is, in my opinion, the most difficult of roux based sauces and I`ll tell you why in my next posting.
Regards,
Archiduc

[jasonr]

I can't wait to hear your treatise on making the perfect demiglace Archiduc.

I made another batch this weekend. The stock was so concentrated, it turned solid in the fridge over night (in the past, it had gelatinized alot in the fridge, but still stayed somewhat soft, like a curdled custard; this time it was basically solid, like jello!). I got fresh bones this time from the local butcher. I think they were better bones than the supermarket stuff I usually use.

I substituted leeks for half of the onions, and cooked the roux much longer this time, getting it to a browner colour, about 30 minutes at low heat. The final colour was about on par with peanut butter, which I understand to be the correct colour for a classic french style roux (as opposed to the much darker creole style)

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to produce much stock this time, so I only got about 12 oz or 1 1/2 cups worth of demiglace by the end. I am definitely going to be doing it over again next weekend. I think I can up the quantity of my recipe somewhat since I have some extra capacity in my 16 quart stockpot. Next time it will be perfect, and I expect to produce a good 32 oz, or about 1 litre.

[STORMmcfearson]

Does demi really take days to make?