vegetable stock

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I agree, I have stopped using stock cubes now due to high fat/ sugar/ salt content. I usually chuck a carrot, celery and onion in whatever I'm making and that does the trick!

Serena51

Definitely use the marigold bouillon but another good one to try is Vecon. This is like a paste and is based on veggies and also sea veggies. It gives a lovely veg stock for casseroles etc.

kittyscarlett

I use Marigold Bouillon powder for veg stock, have done for years. You can get vegan/low salt versions. It is not cheap but I feel is good value for money because of the quality/taste.

I used to make my own veg stock from scratch years ago but what with the rising cost of veg its not really economical any more. You can use veg peelings to make stock with and thats what I do when I make chicken stock. But you would need an awful lot of peelings to make pure veg stock ! I would not advise using potato peelings in veg stock. They add nothing to the flavour and give a bit of an unpleasant texture/look to it too. A good tip is to save any liquid you cook veg in and add to it stocks/soups/gravies etc, adds flavour and retains more of the vitamins

maltesers_2

kittyscarlett wrote: »

I would not advise using potato peelings in veg stock. They add nothing to the flavour and give a bit of an unpleasant texture/look to it too. A good tip is to save any liquid you cook veg in and add to it stocks/soups/gravies etc, adds flavour and retains more of the vitamins

Potato peelings can be used in stock and in fact are one of the the best sources of potassium. Basic stock is usually made from onion, carrot and celery which can all be frozen if using for stock but you can add any sort of veg available. If you freeze odd bits of veg, and bargain veg buys and even peelings you can make a pot ful of stock when you have accumulated enough and reduce it down and freeze in stock cube portions in ice cubes etc.

kittyscarlett

Quite honestly I would rather eat the potatoes with the skin on ( yes, even for mash ) and get my potassium that way. If the skins *need* peeling from my spuds then they are not going to be in a fit enough condition for me to want to do anything else with them apart from consign them to the compost heap. I was always taught not to use potato peelings or potatoes when making stock ( not soups, but stock ), I have seen numerous references to same by cookery writers over the years, and on the odd occasion when I did think " oh sod it, let's try chucking them in " the result has been impaired stock.

daska

I'm with kitty on this one, eat your skins with your potatos (with the possible exception of gnocchi) and if they're not in good enough condition to eat then chuck them in the compost. BTW, I use the Marigold, they do a low salt version but I've never managed to track down anyone who stocks large tubs. I just use less!

janb5

Daska, I`ve seen the larger tubs in Holland and Barratt which surprised me but it`s worth a look. I agree with you- I like it and prefer the taste of it as opposed to stock cubes.

Jan

daska

They do the large tubs of the regular version but not the low-salt. I've just checked the marigold site again and they don't even list a large size low-salt any more - presumably the slow sales of a product no-one could get hold of proved it wasn't popular...

kittyscarlett

That's just daft, isn't it ? you would think with people trying to cut down on salt for health reasons these days the reduced salt version would be selling well !

I know sometimes I mention the stuff so much it sounds like I'm promoting it, but its honestly through years of experience with cooking and experimenting with different stock making methods & products. A decent pure veg stock is actually harder to get right than meat or poultry stock. The manufactured version can often taste like salty cack and the made from scratch can resemble bitter swamp water. Its a case of trial and error, everyone will discover the method and ingredients that works for them

zippychick

maltesers wrote: »

Potato peelings can be used in stock and in fact are one of the the best sources of potassium. Basic stock is usually made from onion, carrot and celery which can all be frozen if using for stock but you can add any sort of veg available. If you freeze odd bits of veg, and bargain veg buys and even peelings you can make a pot ful of stock when you have accumulated enough and reduce it down and freeze in stock cube portions in ice cubes etc.

Can someone explain to me about reducing down? I've never quite understood how that works or how to do it..... Possibly sounds silly but I don't understand how you can concentrate the flavour into one small quantity but would be interested to know.

Another thing like this I need to learn about is deglazing so I must go search now!