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paul o' vendange

paul o' vendange

29 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I used to not use salt in stock making, which is how I learned to do it in cooking school.  But then I read somewhere that a bit of salt at the beginning of, say, a white chicken stock, help to coagulate the proteins and schmutz, which then are very easy to skim off the top.

 

Now I salt all stocks at the start; very judiciously. And I skim pretty often (or when necessary) during the first hour, before mirepoix is added. 

 

Thanks weinoo.  I wondered about that. 

 

What do you think of his thing for white chicken stock to not skim at all?  I'm not certain of my memory, but I think Judy Rogers might have felt the same way, removing fat in the frigo.  Now that I think of it, she trained for a short while with the Troisgros brothers, and here's from their The Nouvelle Cuisine of Jean and Pierre Troisgros, on light chicken stock:

 

(after adding the chicken)...bring to the boil gently and skim..."

 

but then, after aromatics:  "...make certain that it stays at a rolling boil for 45 minutes...."

 

Unfortunately I only have the English translation so I guess it's possible that's a translation error but it sure seems specific.  Weirdly they say  right after "...45 minutes":

 

"...skim off the fat as it rises to the surface.  These two points [skimming, and the rolling boil] are important if you want to achieve a crystal-clear stock." Rolling boil with light chicken stock? Crystal clear?

 

I don't get it at all.  I understand from Steven and others that Ducasse has no problem with clear stocks and jus - with the butter giving it a beautiful sheen, without the lip-smacking unpleasantness of overly reduced stocks (after all these years, I'm moving in the same direction.  Just for home and friends now).  

 

What are your thoughts?

paul o' vendange

paul o' vendange

13 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I used to not use salt in stock making, which is how I learned to do it in cooking school.  But then I read somewhere that a bit of salt at the beginning of, say, a white chicken stock, help to coagulate the proteins and schmutz, which then are very easy to skim off the top.

 

Now I salt all stocks at the start; very judiciously. And I skim pretty often (or when necessary) during the first hour, before mirepoix is added. 

 

Thanks weinoo.  I wondered about that. 

 

What do you think of his thing for white chicken stock to not skim at all?  I'm not certain of my memory, but I think Judy Rogers might have felt the same way, removing fat in the frigo.  Now that I think of it, she trained for a short while with the Troisgros brothers, and here's from their The Nouvelle Cuisine of Jean and Pierre Troisgros, on light chicken stock:

 

(after adding the chicken)...bring to the boil gently and skim..."

 

but then, after aromatics:  "...make certain that it stays at a rolling boil for 45 minutes...."

 

Unfortunately I only have the English translation so I guess it's possible that's a translation error but it sure seems specific.  Weirdly they say  right after "...45 minutes":

 

"...skim off the fat as it rises to the surface.  These two points [skimming, and the rolling boil) are important if you want to achieve a crystal-clear stock." Rolling boil with light chicken stock? Crystal clear?

 

I don't get it at all.  I understand from Steven and others that Ducasse has no problem with clear stocks and jus - with the butter giving it a beautiful sheen, without the lip-smacking unpleasantness of overly reduced stocks (after all these years, I'm moving in the same direction.  Just for home and friends now).  

 

What are your thoughts?

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