Making Soup - Beef or Chicken broth?

[whywhy]

When making soup should chicken or beef broth be used?

 

[GB]

It all depends on what type of soup you are making.

 

[Katie H]

Sometimes it depends on the type of soup you are making. Sometimes it doesn't. Could you be a bit more specific with your question? Such as the kind of soup you want to make.

Welcome to DC and have a great time!!

 

[VeraBlue]

How many guesses do I get?

Seriously, it depends on what type of soup you are making. Can you be more specific?

 

[Caine]

When making soup should chicken or beef broth be used?

...............................Yes!

 

[Aurora]

Why did you rule out vegetable or fish stock?

 

[auntdot]

Or how about a nice lamb broth or stock for Scotch broth?

Or using a pork and and cured pork stock for a lovely lentil or pea soup?

Agree with folks that say different stocks or broths (today the difference seems to have become more academic than real) have different flavors that add their own quality to a dish.

Good old chicken broth is always a reliable basis for many soups and can be substituted for others when more specific, and less available, ones are not readily available.

 

[Candocook]

I use chicken broth the most because I make my own and it is easiest and cheapest to have on hand. I use seafood when making that style soup and always try to have some shrimp broth on hand. Rarely use veggie broth any more since I am not cooking for a vegetarian--but vegetable broths rarely have enough oomph for me. I occasionally have a bit of pork broth that adds a very different sort of "sweetness". For dried bean/pea soups I use water and a ham bone for the flavor of the soup.
If I don't have homemade broth/stock Iusuallyuse Better Than Bouillion brand of instant soup base, although Asian markets have pretty good soup bases also.

 

[maxcook]

Different soups - different soup bases - Google minors soup bases for a great list from several sources

 

[moonglowlady]

Taking Stock

To my way of thinking a beef-based stock is for hearty soups. It stands up to say; onion soup, beef barley, bean and chili-type soups.
A chicken or turkey broth can certainly be made to be strong flavored, but they are also a delicate base for a cream soup, a noodle soup or avgolemmono. I swear by ham for split pea, and I save all seafood shells in the freezer to make a seafood stock for bisques or cioppino. (How Martha of me.)

 

[Constance]

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. When I make vegetable beef, I sear the beef in the soup pot first, then deglaze with tomatoes in their juice, so it makes it's own broth. Same thing with chili.

 

[Aria]

I use Chicken, Beef, and Vegetable Broths. It will depend on the original recipe I am using. Chicken Broth seems to be the one I use the most.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Since the "broth" (or stock, soup base, bullion cubes/powder) will be the foundation flavor of your soup - it depends on your application, and the flavor you are trying to achieve. In addition to beef and chicken there are pork, lamb, fish/shellfish and vegetable stocks.

Give us an idea of what kind of soup you are trying to make and we can be more helpful in selecting the correct flavor base for your soup.