I love to make stock and do it frequently (one advantage is that it makes the house smell so wonderful). And technically there is a difference between stocks and broths, but as GB said the differences today have become very muddied. In fact we often vary our recipes, most stock making here is done by the seat of our pants, and whether what we have made is a stock or a broth is often not clear. But who cares if it tastes good!
The chicken broth that you can buy in any supermarket generally works just fine. You can find the low salt version and, depending upon what you are making, you might want to use that instead. Generally we just go with the regular chicken broth, unless the dish is already salty.
I have some problems with most canned beef broths. They have a very high salt content and, therefore, usually prefer not to use them. When I need to, will cut them with low salt chicken stock, sorry broth, and find the results usually acceptable.
There are also bouillon cubes, granules, and bases. You add the stuff to water and, voila, instant broth. The products contain a lot of salt and the taste varies significantly between products. However, there are some bases that are pretty good. You can find lobster bases, ham bases, chicken, beef, a fairly extensive variety of them. But you usually have to buy a tub of the stuff and they are not carried in most supermarkets. The brands vary in quality and are primarily used by professional cooks, but they are available to the home cook and are easily found on the web.
Sorry I went on so long, but I do love stocks/broths.
They form the basis of many dishes and if the base is poor, the final dish will be also.
But canned chicken stock usually works very well.
Enjoy.
I am making some fondue tomorrow night and the recipe calls for chicken stock. I looked down the cooking isle and the soup isle at the store and couldn't find it! What is it and where can I get it? Are there any substitutes in case I still can't find it? Thanks for your help.
