Using vegetable stock for making soups

[mkqq]

Hello,

I made a few very tasty soups using home-made vegetable stock (various vege scraps, carrots, onions, celery etc...) but I am somewhat confused to the concept of using the stock as a base.

Because it feels like you are adding "soup on top of soup".

The vegetable stock is essentially a soup in itself. When you are finished making it you throw the vegetables away.

Then you add more vegetables to the stock.

Why not just do it as a one-step process and use the vegetables in the soup that you actually want to use, simmer it for 2-3 hours and blend it up?

It just seems like double the work for me, and you are throwing the first "batch" of vegetables away. But this is how soups are generally made everywhere.

Am I missing something?

 

[larry_stewart]

The way I look at vegetable stock is it is a way to make use of scraps, odds and ends , and things that otherwise may disappear to the back of the fridge never to be seen again until they are covered with mold. Ill often make stock and just freeze it for later use. I know Jaacques Pepin keeps a container in the freezer which he adds veggie scraps to as they accumulate, and therefore has something to make stock with.
So basically for me, veggie stock is a way of being frugal and making use of the scraps.

I understand your point. When making a soup, I dont go out of my way to make a stock in addition to the soup. Ill use it if I have it on hand. That being said, I find many veggie soups to be a little ' empty', for lack of a better word without a little boost of something. Therefore, I will use a fake chicken flavored bouillon powder when adding the liquid to my soups. I find that it fills in that emptiness, adds a certain depth and acts was aa flavor enhancer, bringing out the veggie flavors even more.

Another issue I have with home made veggie stock is, unless you are following a specific stock recipe, it will vary every time depending on scraps on hand, seasonal veggies ... If Im making aa throw together soup, thats fine. But if Im trying to make something where I want to repeat the same flavors as previous, I like too use something that I can use over and over again in the future and get similar results. Or, if I want to pass down the recipe, I can be very specific and know whoever is making it, will basically have the same end result.

All the above is my take on veggie stocks.
Bottom line for me is, stock is a way to be frugal and use up what you got .

Im sure others Opinions will vary.

On a different note, I often marinate portobello mushrooms in water, salt, garlic, bay leaf. I bring all together with mushrooms to a boil, then let cool off. Ill then use those portobellos on the grill. That liquid I save and freeze as a base for a mushroom barley soup. For me it would be a crime to get rid of that mushroom flavored broth. But, even when I do make aa mushroom soup with that mushroom stock, Ill still add some bouillon for depth and flavor enhancement

 

[dragnlaw]

mkqq and larry - I agree with both of you. My vegie stock is not a clear one but very cloudy. Unless some of those vegies are extremely fibrous they stay. Truthfully I only make about 1 or 2 times a year. Each one is different.

Even then, like Larry, I will add some liquid or powder to help.

And I love your Mushroom Stock! We just had some grilled and wished I seen this last week! Mushroom Barley yummmmmmmmmmmm! One of my all time favourites.

Copied!

 

[GotGarlic]

I've only made veggie stock a few times, for butternut squash soup. I made it in my Instant Pot, which pretty much squeezes all the flavor and texture out of the vegetables. That's the reason for using fresh vegetables for the actual soup - a particular flavor profile along with texture.

Larry, a pinch of Ac'cent, aka MSG, would give you the umami flavor you're looking for. I have a container of it I got from my MIL's kitchen. When I tasted it plain, it reminded me of the intensely savory crusty bits from a well-grilled pork chop

 

[taxlady]

I have the container in the freezer of vegi scraps. I make more vegi stock when it gets full. I freeze the stock into "pellets" in a silicone muffin tray. Those go in a freezer bag. I generally use that to up the flavour of something I'm cooking. If I make gravy, I'll use some of those. If there was no fond, or only very little, I'll add some Better than Bullion chicken or beef base. I have tried doing that with plain water and the gravy is just better with the vegi stock.

I make a roasted vegi bisque that uses coconut milk as the liquid. Once the soup is pureed, if it is too thick, I throw in some of those vegi stock pellets, straight out of the freezer, one at a time, until the soup is the consistency I want.

 

[Bitser]

It's a way of getting food value from scraps that I wouldn't serve nor eat: leafy celery tops, onion and garlic skins, the tips and tops of carrots, peelings, leftovers, etc. I have a stock pot with a strainer, so after the scraps have simmered, I can lift out the strainer, let it drip in the sink, and then put the scraps in the compost.

The stock creates a solid base for the soup and the vegetables you add can be cooked for less time and keep their shape and texture, rather than being reduced to mush. I put extra stock in empty yogurt tubs and freeze it. When I need some, it thaws easily in the microwave.

 

[taxlady]

I have one of that type of stock pot. I learned that if you pull it out too fast, liquid will fountain out of those holes and make a mess.

Composting is the main reason I make vegi stock, rather than put those scraps in with the bones of a chicken or beef stock. Where I live, we are not supposed to compost animal products. I didn't want to waste those cooked vegi scraps. I wanted them in my compost. The bones have to go in the garbage. When I use my chicken stock, I add some of the vegi stock to make up for the veg that didn't go in while simmering the bones.

 

[pepperhead212]

I never make many "brothy" soups (usually mine are thickened some, from beans, barley, and things like that) but I do make some vegetable broth occasionally, to use up scraps, as others mentioned. And I also use the Instant Pot, to extract as much flavor as possible, as quickly as possible. And some of those cold summer soups I make, that often call for chicken broth, seem better with the vegetable broth.

 

[larry_stewart]

Larry, a pinch of Ac'cent, aka MSG, would give you the umami flavor you're looking for. I have a container of it I got from my MIL's kitchen. When I tasted it plain, it reminded me of the intensely savory crusty bits from a well-grilled pork chop

I actually always keep a bad of MSG I got at the Chinese Market on hand. I actually think the bouillon powder I use has MSG in it also. To me, a puree veggie broth although packed with flavor, just has that empty taste and needs a little boost.

Also, if Im intentionally trying to make a veggie broth, I try to balance out the flavors. Some veggies have such distinct flavors that they can totally take over the taste of the broth if too much is used. I find mushrooms, tomatoes and those in the cabbage family to have that affect. Sometimes Im looking for aa mushroom or tomato base in the broth, so I will go heavy with them if thats what Im looking for. Onions and garlic too, but I love onions and garlic, and they fall into the category of ' you can never have too much'.

Sometimes I take advantage of unintentional veggie broth, that would otherwise get tossed down the drain. For Example, when I make stuffed cabbage, to soften the cabbage leaves, I boil them . At the end of the process, Im left with a mild cabbage flavored broth. Dont want it to go to waste, so I use it as a soup base. I do the same when I boil corn, May have too strain the water to make sure none of the corn silk is in there. When its tomato storing season, late summer/ mid early fall, and im skinning dozens of tomatoes too process, Im left with tomato flavored water which, once again, Ill take advantage of. Almost time to pick the leeks . Ill cook down and freeze the white parts for future vichyssoise ( took me 3 times to spell it correctly) and make a stock out of the leek greens.

Im a big soup fan ( my wife not so much). I'd say 50% of my soups are intentional, the others are basically throw together, whatever I have left in the refrigerator soup, which usually turn out very good, but differ each time.

 

[msmofet]

I use "soup socks" when I make stock. I used to use a pasta pot with the insert, but as said above, sometimes the liquid would spill when the insert was lifted.


I buy the "soup socks" from Amazon (I get the 3 pack of 3, total 9 socks), but last time I went food shopping I found them hanging from a shelf hook.

REGENCY WRAPS Soup Socks for Making Clear Broth and Flavorful Soups, 100% Cotton, natural,24", 3 ct

Regency Soup Sock *Triple Pack*- total 9 Socks

Just lift it out and let drain. Then chuck the whole thing away. Saves me time cleaning and mess, so it's worth the money.
​

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

The confusion is between the words stock, and broth. If you are making a broth veggie soup, you are correct, it can be made by directly cooking the veggies in water, and seasoning. Example is New England Boiled Dinner, Italian Wedding Soup, Tomato Bisque, etc.

A stock is a base made for shelf-stable storage. This is why the veggies are strained out, or pureed into the stock before canning. Think of it this wat, a stock is for stocking your pantry. Veggies left in it would become soggy, and lose their flavor. Stocks van be used as a base fore soups, success, bisques, chowders, volute's, the mother sauces, Asian soups of all kinds, Mexican soups of all kinds, etc. They are a base ingredient to be used to make other things.

That's my best explanation

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North.

 

[blissful]

I dehydrate vegetables, then grind them, then make a mix I use all year, instead of having large volumes of stock or broth take up room. This is just easier for me.


Bouillon/Stock/Broth Powder (w/o salt)
Mushrooms 20 oz (dehydrated ground mushrooms shiitake)
Onion 19.4 ounces (dried onion powder)
Carrots 14.21 ounces (dried carrot powder)
Celery 7.05 ounces (dried celery powder)
Garlic 20 t or 6 T + 2 t (dehydrated garlic) (approx 2.5 ounces)
6 T of parsley, dehydrated and ground
3 T thyme dehydrated ground
5 t of black pepper ground
2 and 1/4 t bay leaf, dehydrated ground

End weight 64-70 ounces, or 3.9 lbs for 20 recipes.
Each recipe amount would be 3.5 ounces of vegetable/herb dehydrated matter/3 quarts of water.

 

[larry_stewart]

I dehydrate vegetables, then grind them, then make a mix I use all year, instead of having large volumes of stock or broth take up room. This is just easier for me.


Bouillon/Stock/Broth Powder (w/o salt)
Mushrooms 20 oz (dehydrated ground mushrooms shiitake)
Onion 19.4 ounces (dried onion powder)
Carrots 14.21 ounces (dried carrot powder)
Celery 7.05 ounces (dried celery powder)
Garlic 20 t or 6 T + 2 t (dehydrated garlic) (approx 2.5 ounces)
6 T of parsley, dehydrated and ground
3 T thyme dehydrated ground
5 t of black pepper ground
2 and 1/4 t bay leaf, dehydrated ground

End weight 64-70 ounces, or 3.9 lbs for 20 recipes.
Each recipe amount would be 3.5 ounces of vegetable/herb dehydrated matter/3 quarts of water.

like that idea, I have a few celery n the garden which dont look the best for eating, but might find purpose in dehydrating along with the other veggies.

Do you use thee celery leaves along with the stalks ?

 

[blissful]

like that idea, I have a few celery n the garden which dont look the best for eating, but might find purpose in dehydrating along with the other veggies.

Do you use thee celery leaves along with the stalks ?

Yes I use both.
A few other tips:
Use fresh carrots, just scrub them good, and I avoid peeling them.
Onion powder is pretty economical to buy.
Buying shiitake dehydrated mushrooms have about 11-13% moisture in them which means they won't grind easily, so I further dehydrate them to brittle crisp, and they break up with a hammer, then a food processor.


The choice of spices/herbs, is really something you may want to tailor to your cultural background, familiar tastes. We come from german slovenian, and the herbs/spices we use are mostly what I have in the mix.

 

[larry_stewart]

Yes I use both.
A few other tips:
Use fresh carrots, just scrub them good, and I avoid peeling them.
Onion powder is pretty economical to buy.
Buying shiitake dehydrated mushrooms have about 11-13% moisture in them which means they won't grind easily, so I further dehydrate them to brittle crisp, and they break up with a hammer, then a food processor.


The choice of spices/herbs, is really something you may want to tailor to your cultural background, familiar tastes. We come from german slovenian, and the herbs/spices we use are mostly what I have in the mix.

Great!!! Thanks for the tips. Ill probably play around with it in the near future.
After dehydrating and grinding, do you sift it to get a finer powder with no pieces ? or are you able to get that just with grinding them up?

 

[blissful]

Great!!! Thanks for the tips. Ill probably play around with it in the near future.
After dehydrating and grinding, do you sift it to get a finer powder with no pieces ? or are you able to get that just with grinding them up?

Well, if they are crisp and brittle, and small enough, they will powder. I did find the mushrooms the hardest to powder, so I sifted. Then I stored the mushroom crumbles separately and use them when I make a tomato mushroom spaghetti sauce.

I use a food processor and I make it suffer, quite badly, quite often!

 

[larry_stewart]

I also sift and save the mushroom pieces . I have a few recipes that call for them.

 

[larry_stewart]

I dehydrate vegetables, then grind them, then make a mix I use all year, instead of having large volumes of stock or broth take up room. This is just easier for me.


Bouillon/Stock/Broth Powder (w/o salt)
Mushrooms 20 oz (dehydrated ground mushrooms shiitake)
Onion 19.4 ounces (dried onion powder)
Carrots 14.21 ounces (dried carrot powder)
Celery 7.05 ounces (dried celery powder)
Garlic 20 t or 6 T + 2 t (dehydrated garlic) (approx 2.5 ounces)
6 T of parsley, dehydrated and ground
3 T thyme dehydrated ground
5 t of black pepper ground
2 and 1/4 t bay leaf, dehydrated ground

End weight 64-70 ounces, or 3.9 lbs for 20 recipes.
Each recipe amount would be 3.5 ounces of vegetable/herb dehydrated matter/3 quarts of water.

Do you dry the parsley stems , leaves and all ? or do you just do the leaves ?

 

[blissful]

Larry, I leave the small stems but the big stems I put in a pile. Also with anything from the celery that I don't use. Those get thrown in the asparagus garden, they repel the asparagus (beetle?) bug, that lays eggs on asparagus. It's made a big difference on the asparagus so I collect the stems for that.


Edit: also, I'm growing a PINK celery this year, seeds from Baker's Creek. They are really growing but not thick stalks. I made the dry veg mix the fall before last, and I will probably make some this fall again. Most of the work is the celery, carrots, and mushrooms.

 

[blissful]

Celery is mostly water, so if I recall correctly, it took two sink fulls of celery to make enough powder for the recipe.