Anonymous Modernist 10517

Agreed, but why then does the recipe give 1 star anise as the volume equivalent? Shouldn't it be 4? A single star anise that weighs 4g must be some sort of giant franken-anise Neil

I just made a recipe of brown beef stock using the pork variation. I accurately measured the amount of meat that went in (I used pork spare ribs as indicated) and the amount of the liquids. When all was said and done I had barely 2 c. of stock. This is the second time I've made either brown or pork stock and the yield has been less than half of what's indicated. Is this normal? How on earth are you supposed to get 4 c. of stock from only 3 3/4 c. of starting liquid? Neil

Well, we finished this tonight and it was a fail After reducing it was so thick you could stand a spoon in it, and that was before it was down to 1/3rd of a cup. My guess is it's my fault for a substitution: using beef shanks instead of knucklebones. We couldn't find knucklebones. Neil

I was just coming here to ask this very same question. The recipe is definitely missing a step: after browning all the ground beef it is never mentioned again in the recipe. I assume it goes in with the knucklebones to pressure cook for 2 hours. Neil

I'm trying to make the aromatic chicken broth recipe from Modernist Cuisine at Home (p 266) and am very confused about the spice amounts. The recipe says: Star anise / 4g / 1 star anise Black peppercorns / 4 g / 1/2 tsp The problem is those volumes don't come close to matching the given weights. 4g of star anise is almost 5 whole star anise pods, and matches what appears to be in the photo for step 3. Same for the peppercorns: it appears the volume is off by 4x to get the amount shown in picture 3. Which one is correct? 4 star anise pods in 4.5 cups of broth seems like an awful lot? Neil