Veal Stock -- a personal reflection

[Chef Jack]

Not sure if you got an answer yet!

Typically (very basic rule of thumb) is 8# of bones, 5 qts of water will get you 4 qts of stock.

I don't measure anymore, I just cover the bones with 2-3 inches of water and let simmer over night.

Jack

veal stocks should go atleast 18 hours imho.

[abadoozy]

Typically (very basic rule of thumb) is 8# of bones, 5 qts of water will get you 4 qts of stock.

That's in sync with what I've found from my stock making.

10# bones & 10 qt water doesn't equal 2 qts stock unless you purposefully reduce it. I don't see anything in the recipe that calls for a reduction (that's not to say that I won't reduce it some... it depends on my freezer space). Maybe that's a mistake in the book?

[JAZ]

On his blog, talking about making a smaller quantity, Ruhlman says:

Put two or three pounds of bones in a 2-quart pot, cover with water, bring it to a simmer, skim anything that looks unpleasant off the surface, and put it in the oven set to 190 degrees for as long as you wish, a few hours at least or for beef and veal 10 hours is good.  Add an onion, two carrots and a bay leaf for the last hour of cooking.  Strain (the finer the strainer, the better the stock—I strain through a cloth).  This will give you about a quart of stock.

I don't know if he's ever actually tried to fit three pounds of bones in a 2-qt. pt, but I rather doubt it. I'm sure he's never ended up with a quart of stock that way. It seems clear that he's just not very precise in his descriptions of stock making. Which is odd, given his insistence on how it will improve one's cooking.

I'd have thought that the book would have been edited to catch something like that, though.

[RobertCollins]

starting with 10 pounds of bones & 10 quarts water, you end up with 2 quarts of stock. Is that correct?

....

So... am I missing something, or is the "2 quarts finished veal stock" incorrect?

←

I use MR's Recipe only as Chef Jack said, I just add water to cover a bit. I do not do any big reduction. 10# produced between 24 and 30 1 cup portions in the freezer. I used some in supper the day I made it so I don;t know how much but likely not more than a few cups.

I buy 8 oz plastic hi ball glasses that are tapered and freeze in one cup lots. Then I vac pack the cup of stock. It has never lasted long enough to know how long it will last frozen.

PS all the negative views of MR's book not withstanding, I say, as I did a year plus ago, I enjoyed it and I learned a fair bit too.

Edited February 6, 2009 by RobertCollins (log)

[abadoozy]

Great, thanks for all the replies. Given that I'm paying something like $2/pound for these bones, that was going to be some pretty expensive stock if it only made 2 quarts.

And I, too, like Ruhlman's book. I can understand the criticism - it certainly doesn't have full coverage of every single element of cooking - but for what it has, it's great. He's managed to kick me off my ass and make sure I have stock in the freezer, something I learned at my mother's side but have too often been lax on. And I have no excuse at all seeing as someone gave me a full size freezer about a year ago. I have no children, it's just me and the hubby, what ELSE am I gonna do with a huge freezer other than fill it with stock?

[Batard]

I can't find veal bones at any of my local "real" butchers or premium markets. But I can always find $1.00 lb veal breast, necks, and (sometimes) split veal hooves at my local Shop Rite. Ten pounds of nice bone/cartridge/meat mix costs about $10.00. I'm very surprised, given that people seem to have a very hard time finding bones for veal stock in their areas. There's nothing special about my neighborhood. It's a pretty middle-class neighborhood, not particularly ethnic or filled with Foodie types. I can't figure out what such an oasis of veal bones is doing in the middle of this food desert I call home.

[JAZ]

It's interesting that four years after writing:

Taking this one item, veal stock, and adding it to your kitchen is like taking the four-cylinder engine of your Mitsubishi and turbo charging it; with the addition of a turbo, the engine becomes not only faster but more fuel efficient. Veal stock, same thing -- it not only makes your food taste better by miles, it makes you more efficient in your efforts at creating delicious food.

Ruhlman has apparently changed his mind. Stock --any kind of stock -- doesn't even make it into the top twenty things to know in his new book. And although he includes a recipe for chicken stock, there isn't one for veal stock.