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Pork stock...


Simon Patrice

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Hi,

I just bought a couple of pig's feet and tails at my butcher thinking that would make good pork stock. But now, I'm not too sure about how to do it best. I often make chicken or veal stock but for these I only use bones, no meat. So, here are the questions:

1.Should I but the feet skin on or off?

2. If I let the whole thing simmer for a couple of hours, take the meat off the feet and tails and put back the bones for the rest of the time, is there gonna be enough substance to get a good stock or should I just leave the whole thing in and discard the meat? (Since I usually simmer my stocks for around 12 hours, I'm guessing the meat would have no taste left after that.)

3. Do I use the same kind of water to bone/meat ratio as with other stocks? Same veggies?

I guess that's about it. Thanks for your help!

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There are lots of opinions about stock. Here's mine:

1. Leave the skin on. Lots of collagen to render, which will give you very gelatinous product.

2. Give up the meat to the stock. It will make it more obviously porky.

3. I use two pounds of meaty bones to yield one quart of stock, and I don't bother with vegetables. I've yet to see any reason to change that.

Dave Scantland
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Eat more chicken skin.

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That is a really gelatinous bit to start with. I would just do an extremely low simmer for long time - barely a bubble now and again - to take advantage of the gelatin. It has been a while since I used those ingredients so interested to hear opinions.

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The feet and tails are surely going to give you a ton of gelatinous goodness, but my instinct tells me to grab some pork neck bones to balance out the flavor and richness. That said, I don't have a ton of experience with pork stocks. People in the know, is that a good idea?

 

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Dave, is not using vegetables your MO with all stock, or just pork stock? I like the idea, but have never tried it.

Pretty much, yeah. It started with reading a Cook's Illustrated article on quick stock, where they tested with all the possible combinations of the typical veg: celery, carrots, onion. They dismissed all but the onion. I tested too, and agreed. Then I dropped the onion, too, deciding it was more trouble than it was worth. I can always add onion in the dish. I think tradition -- in stock making, anyway -- is needlessly confining.

The feet and tails are surely going to give you a ton of gelatinous goodness, but my instinct tells me to grab some pork neck bones to balance out the flavor and richness. That said, I don't have a ton of experience with pork stocks. People in the know, is that a good idea?

I think this is probably a good idea. Bone-in sliced pork shoulder (aka country-style ribs) would work, too, and it's a little easier to come by.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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The feet and tails are surely going to give you a ton of gelatinous goodness, but my instinct tells me to grab some pork neck bones to balance out the flavor and richness. That said, I don't have a ton of experience with pork stocks. People in the know, is that a good idea?

I think this is probably a good idea. Bone-in sliced pork shoulder (aka country-style ribs) would work, too, and it's a little easier to come by.

Good thinking. On that note, hocks might work, too: higher meat-and-bone to cartilage ratio than feet.

For folks with access to Asian or Hispanic markets, they're a sure bet for neck bones.

 

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Almost sound like you are making tonkotsu soup. Let us know how it goes.

From what I have seen in Japanese ramen cookbooks which I can't really read. Tonkotsu broth often has some veggies, sometime dried fishes, sometime some chicken and very often a bunch of parts from the pig.

If you boil it long enough you should end up with some creamy goodness. What will you use your broth for?

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Question from a pork newbie:

What exactly does one use pork stock for which isn't exotic to your average unsophisticated cook? For instance, I've never heard of tonkotsu soup before.

Thanks.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I make pork stock all the time. I use the feet and tails and I also use fresh pork hocks. I leave the skin on. I roast them before making the stock as I generally prefer roasted stocks. Unlike Dave, I do use the usual carrots and onions. I never use celery in any of my stocks. Pork stock, like beef, takes longer than a chicken stock. I tend to simmer it overnight, strain in the morning and chill for a day or so, then defat and reduce somewhat.

I use pork stock for things like pork gravy, baked beans, making a cream sauce for pork chops that would usually call for chicken stock. That sort of thing.

Edited by Marlene (log)

Marlene

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Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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I've never made a strictly fresh pork stock, but I do make a Chinese stock for wonton soup using a combo of chicken and pork neck bones, which seem to be very flavorful. Learned that on eGullet, thank you very much!

Smoked pork (that would be ham, no?) makes a great stock for red beans & rice or many other bean dishes. For that I use ham shanks rather than hocks, since they are meatier and I like to have a little ham to add to the beans or make a hash or something. Around here the hocks and the shanks are often the same price per pound, and the shanks seem like a better deal.

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Question from a pork newbie:

What exactly does one use pork stock for which isn't exotic to your average unsophisticated cook? For instance, I've never heard of tonkotsu soup before.

Thanks.

I use it to make potato and leek soup and it gets raves.

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I keep pigs so I make lots of this when I've butchered a carcass. Use it where a recipe calls for chicken stock, and I have none. Or not much and I want to save what I have for something specific - a particularly delicate sauce perhaps. I make lots of Chinese influenced stews and broths and it's great for that. Or, of course, the jelly for a pork pie.

Me, I'd just chop everything up with a cleaver, to get more surface area of meat/bone to water. I usually roast pork bones first, otherwise I'd boil then discard the water and start again to get rid of the scum that'll come with raw bones. Chuck in "some" onion and carrot. Celery if I have it. Few black peppercorns. But as has been stated earlier, it may not make much difference, I just haven't tried without.

If I know I'm going to use it for Chinese style dishes I'll just add a bashed knob of ginger and maybe a few spring onions.

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Pork stock is the country cousin of veal stock, which is unfair. Pork is cheap and veal is not, that's all.

I like to make baked beans with equal amounts of pork, beef and chicken stock. The combo adds great depth to the beans.

Peter Gamble aka "Peter the eater"

I just made a cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . .

Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with spam? . . .

Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?

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I used smoked hocks, which are cheap and tasty. These hocks have very little meat, mostly skin. I simmer for a few hours, then break it up to expose more of the meat and tendons, then simmer for a few more hours.

I also would be tempted to smoke them. Red beans & rice? Split pea soup?

Monterey Bay area

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Could a whole head be of any interest to the stock if I don't find neck bones or would it be wasting the head?

Depends how much of a palate you have for fat and skin :-) I like brawn, but if I butcher 3 pigs I only use about half a head for that. You could try something like this,

My link

but I don't yearn for it. I tend to cut out the cheeks, and remove the brain because they're delicious, and the rest goes for stock.

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I'd like advice on a different but related problem: using beef broth.

I sometimes boil a pork shoulder for picadillo. That leaves me with a gallon or more of cooking liquid, infused with meat and onion. It's typically "heavily salted", but I suppose that could be dialed back and some salt added while shredding....

But what do I do with the liquid? Perhaps use it to make stock? But that would give you very porky pork stock, which might not be an entirely good thing.

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But what do I do with the liquid? Perhaps use it to make stock? But that would give you very porky pork stock, which might not be an entirely good thing.

Would it work as a base for a pea soup, in the way you might otherwise use a ham stock?

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  • 7 years later...

Pork stock is my project for today.  Actually red-cooked pork is my project for today but the red-cooked pork recipe (from Kian Lam Kho's Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees) calls for pork stock.  The stock recipe calls for shoulder bones.  I have a package of cut up shoulder including bone, but I wonder if I ought to look for more bones of some sort to put in?

 

The only flavorings are scallions, ginger, and wine.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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45 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Got a pig foot kicking around in the freezer?

 

No, but I was looking at a nice selection of pig feet at the store this afternoon.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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