All About Making Stock at Home

[Karl Giles]

Stocks are extremely important when making sauces and soups. It is
basically a liquid that is prepared from simmering bones and/or meat
along with vegetables, herbs and seasoning. There are many different
types of stocks and they include beef, veal, chicken, vegetable and
fish.
Nearly all recipe books will tell you start preparing stock with
bones. However, you can use meat and bones to get a much deeper
flavor. If you want to make beef stock, try using cubed chuck steak.
Never use tender cuts like loin or rib to make beef stock. The flavor
will not be so great. When making chicken stock, use the entire
chicken.
The standard measurement for stock with bones and/or meat is six
quarts of water to eight pounds of meat and/or bones.
Recipes also advice you to roast the bones and vegetables before
putting them in water. This helps to get the flavor out and adds a
beautiful color to the stock. This method should be used when making
brown sauce.
If you are planning on roasting the bones, use some olive oil and
roast the bones for half an hour at 375 degrees. It is only after that
should you add the vegetables and continue roasting until the
vegetables turn brown. Place the bones and vegetables in your stockpot
and use some wine to deglaze the roasting pan and add that to the
stockpot.
The common vegetables used for meat-based stock are carrots, celery
and onions. For six quarts of water, use eight ounces of onions, four
ounces of carrots and four ounces of celery. You can also add a few
cloves of garlic to enhance the flavor. For vegetable stocks use
vegetables you use for meat stock and add turnips, leeks, cabbage and
tomatoes.
Herbs are usually added one and half hour before the stock is done.
The herbs traditionally used in stocks are parsley, thyme and couple
of bay leaves. However, you can also add celery leaves and freshly
ground pepper. Remember, you should never add salt in stock as the
natural salts present in the meats and vegetables are more than
enough. But if required, you can add salt in the finished product --
soup or sauce.
The stock should be slowly brought to a boil and then it should simmer
so that it reduces. During the entire cooking process, it stockpot
should be left uncovered. Usually fish stock is simmered for 30 to 40
minutes, vegetable stock for 45 to 60 minutes, chicken stock for 4 to
5 hours and beef stock for 6 to 8 hours.
While boiling and simmering a lot of impurities will rise to the top
and it is important to skim the stock frequently. After the stock is
done, run it through a fine sieve. If you are not going to use the
stock immediately, set the stockpot in ice cold water. This reduces
the risk of bacterial growth and cools the stock fast so that you can
refrigerate it. Once the stock is refrigerated, the fast will congeal
on the surface and you can easily remove it. You can also freeze some
stock for future use by storing them in plastic containers and keeping
them in the freezer.