Best way to make stock??

HOLsale

LearningToSave. wrote:

well the title says it all really!!! how do i go about making my own stock?
i totally have no idea how to go about it so an idiots guide would be appreciated :rolleyes:

i save all bones, skin, fat, tops and tails from carrots etc, skins from veg, beetroot juice, pickle juice, onion skins, broccoli stems, you name it in bags in the freezer. when i get enough to fill up a slowcooker i toss them in, add water and allow to cook on low for about 3 hours. simply drain solids and save the liquid for stock, super nutrious and delicious!

HOLsale

Loretta_Tucker wrote:

Everyone thinks this is complicated but it is easy and very satisfying. You can make it out of anything.

I. As I go along I put everything into my box in the freezer (my rubbish box) a left over potato, handful of veg, the odd left over sausage cooked or raw, left over meat juice of any kind, cabbage and potato water all these go into the pot. !

i hadn't read your post yet when i pretty much said that i do the same thing i have rarely ever had a bad stock by doing this...

i even toss in chips that don't get eaten. they make the stock cloudy but why waste the nutrients right? also, skin and bones from rotisserie chicken (reduced to a pittance) makes some of the tastiest stock ever

great minds must think alike eh?

maryb

I find a pressure cooker is fantastic for stock. A chicken carcass fits in perfectly Just put in enough water to come halfway up plus onion skins parsley stalks etc then cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. It's really quick and I find the colour and flavour is much more intense than when I do it in the slow cooker

HOLsale

oh i forgot to mention

i also chuck in pears and apples that dd has taken a few bites of then decided she doesn't want

they are gorgeous in savoury stocks, really adding some depth, a bit like adding wine

oh leftover wine and beer go nice in stock too

Jay-Jay_4

When I've picked all the useable meat off a chicken (If the oven's still on after I've stripped the chicken, I put the carcass back in the oven to get that 'roast' flavour before I put it in the pan.) I chuck it in a pan, add a couple of carrots chopped into quarters, half an onion, bit of black pepper and cover with boiling water.

I boil it then turn it down to simmer for a few hours.

Seive it and freeze it in tubs.

If I need instant gravy I defrost a tub of stock, bring to the boil, add a beef oxo cube and thicken with cornflour.

Pal

I make loads of my own stocks using chicken carcasses, beef, lamb or pork bones and a few choice veg and a few herbs. I agree with Loretta - stock making becomes addictive! I even bought a new chest freezer that lives in the garage just to store stocks and leftover meats for stockmaking!

I always stick a pigs trotter in my stocks as well. It makes the stock set like jelly when it is cold and it tastes great, even if you are not making a pork stock (pork is pretty neutral tasting and can go in any meat stock, or pork stock itself can be substituted for chicken stock in any recipe).

One tip is to simmer the stock on as low a heat as possible once it has boiled - only a few bubbles a minute if possible. This stops the stock going too cloudy.

My favourite thing is to turn a good stock into a consume, which is dead easy:

Get a big pot of cold cloudy stock with the fat skimmed out, and whisk a couple of egg whites into it until well mixed. Chuck in a diced carrot or two, finely chopped onion, any leftover mushrooms, a few sticks of celery, maybe a leak, and a bit more lean meat that matches the stock (eg chicken for chicken stock). Add more herbs if you like.

Then start heating it all up. Stir a few times as it heats up to keep the egg white moving around within the stock. As it approaches a boil, stop stirring. The veg and egg will solidify and form a mat on top of the stock that acts like a lid, turn the heat right down and very gently simmer it for half an hour or so (the bubbles will rise through holes in the "veg" lid). Let it cool for 15 minutes.

If you then break a small hole in the lid, you will see that the stock underneath is now totally clear as the egg has bound itself to all the cloudy bits. Either ladle the stock out through a hole, or strain the whole lot through a muslin cloth, and chuck away all the veg and eggs (they have done their job and the flavour is in the stock now).

You are left with a total clear, deeply coloured and fantastically flavoured consume that can be used as stock, but is good enough to be eaten as soup by itself.

I did this with some lamb stock from the sunday joint this week. Yesterday I got some of the lamb consume, and cooked a handful of pasta in it. It hen added a bit of chilli, some peas, a few sauted mushrooms, and a handful of leftover lamb from the fridge. Mrs Pal reckons it was one of the best soups she has ever had. <smug smiley>

tenuissent

I mentioned to my butcher the other day that I wanted quite bony pork chops because I wanted to make stock with the leftovers, and he dived into his coldroom and came out with huge bags of bones and three chicken carcases which he gave me free, saying he normally throws them away.

Ask your butcher! Personally I wouldn't have thought of putting left over baked beans into my stockpot, but sparkling fresh butcher's bones cannot be beaten. All of them, by the way, had enough meat left on them for several meals if I hadn't been in such a hurry.

KG

HOLsale wrote:

i save all bones, skin, fat, tops and tails from carrots etc, skins from veg, beetroot juice, pickle juice, onion skins, broccoli stems, you name it in bags in the freezer. when i get enough to fill up a slowcooker i toss them in, add water and allow to cook on low for about 3 hours. simply drain solids and save the liquid for stock, super nutrious and delicious!

I was always taought in home ec that you had to 'blanche' veggies before you freeze them. Is that right withe the leftovers / peelings of veg you use or do you just put them straight into the freezer from raw?

KG

HOLsale

tenuissent wrote:

I mentioned to my butcher the other day that I wanted quite bony pork chops because I wanted to make stock with the leftovers, and he dived into his coldroom and came out with huge bags of bones and three chicken carcases which he gave me free, saying he normally throws them away.

Ask your butcher! Personally I wouldn't have thought of putting left over baked beans into my stockpot, but sparkling fresh butcher's bones cannot be beaten. All of them, by the way, had enough meat left on them for several meals if I hadn't been in such a hurry.

i used to get lamb shoulder bones from a butcher in glasgow. they had hardly any meat left on them but they made the tastiest stock base ever! free of course!

i have few butchers near me, i really should try this again, thanks for the reminder

HOLsale

KG wrote:

I was always taought in home ec that you had to 'blanche' veggies before you freeze them. Is that right withe the leftovers / peelings of veg you use or do you just put them straight into the freezer from raw?

KG

they just go straight in. the blanching allows the veg to retain their texture. bit of a moot point if you're only making stock from them!

you throw away the solids after you've drained off the stock though i root through mine first for any meat that is left on the bones as it's quite easy to remove by then