Stock Pots: The Topic

[Marlene]

! I'm in the midst of reading the stock lesson. I want to try again and get it right!

←

My motto is generally, if at first you don't suceed.... keep trying. But I'm rather stubborn that way I can't tell you how many times I've read through that stock course now.

I made stock last week when it was subzero.  Chilled quickly on the deck!  Poured the stock into these really big, wide tupperware containers I have.  They froze within a couple of hours.  Used a grapefruit spoon to scrape off the fat.

Gotta love my outdoor fridge!

←

Normally that would work well, but today it's plus 5 outside. Not cold enough. I'll just have to wait for my indoor fridges to do their work.

[bleachboy]

I have a stock-related question based on something I saw waaay up at the top of this thread, related to storing stock cubes in a freezer bag. Someone asserted that storing them like this causes them to get covered with ice crystals (true) and "degrade" -- are they actually degraded, though? I use stock cubes that have frost on them all the time. Should I start individually wrapping the cubes before I put 'em in the freezer bag?!?

[fifi]

I have a stock-related question based on something I saw waaay up at the top of this thread, related to storing stock cubes in a freezer bag.  Someone asserted that storing them like this causes them to get covered with ice crystals (true) and "degrade" -- are they actually degraded, though?  I use stock cubes that have frost on them all the time.  Should I start individually wrapping the cubes before I put 'em in the freezer bag?!?

←

I am a proponent of putting reduced stock in 8 or 4 ounce wide mouth canning jars. That way, you don't get that "freezer burn" dehydration and the darn things will keep forever. Also, the stock won't pick up odd flavors from the freezer or fridge.

[Shalmanese]

Bitter would indicate that you roasted for too long. You want brown but not black.

[Octaveman]

Since we're talking about stock, my chicken stock after reduction is a fairly dark color. it has a strong flavor and tastes like concentrated chicken stock but is brown in color. I did not roast any bones or use tomato paste to get this color. It was supposed to be a white stock. It's my first attempt at making stock so I'm not sure if this isn't a problem. Any thoughts?

Thanks

[EdS]

Since we're talking about stock, my chicken stock after reduction is a fairly dark color.  it has a strong flavor and tastes like concentrated chicken stock but is brown in color.  I did not roast any bones or use tomato paste to get this color.  It was supposed to be a white stock.  It's my first attempt at making stock so I'm not sure if this isn't a problem.  Any thoughts?

Thanks

←

I don't think you have a problem. The light color is, well, concentrated. You could take some of that concentrated stock and dilute it back to plain stock and check the color to be sure.

[EdS]

...I don't know if I roasted the bones too long, if I used an inferior tomato paste, if the fact that I let my stock accidentally come to a boil for a few minutes after I started simmering it, or if it was the fact that I just used bones and no meat (I have heard of brown stock being made both ways) ruined it, but it was bitter and too horrible to reduce....

...In the initial roasting, I roast some vegetables along with the meat/bones and add them to the final stock. Could this be what made my brown stock bitter?...

←

Something burned. It may have been the bones. It may have been the vegetables. I'll add a third possibility. The juices on the bottom of the pan may have burned and when you deglazed, those burned juices ended up in your stock, making it bitter. If your pan is much larger than needed to fit the ingredients, the juices can spread enough to burn rather easily. If my stock ingredients roasted fine but I found burned juices on the bottom of my pan, I'd continue with my stock but skip the deglazing.

[gperls]

Since we're talking about stock, my chicken stock after reduction is a fairly dark color.  it has a strong flavor and tastes like concentrated chicken stock but is brown in color.  I did not roast any bones or use tomato paste to get this color.  It was supposed to be a white stock.  It's my first attempt at making stock so I'm not sure if this isn't a problem.  Any thoughts?

Thanks

←

Are you putting the onion skins in your stock? I've found that makes a substantial difference in taste as well as color of chicken stock.

Greg

[bleachboy]

Are you putting the onion skins in your stock? I've found that makes a substantial difference in taste as well as color of chicken stock.

I agree. I always leave the skins on when I make chicken stock, and mine is always a dark, dark brown once reduced. If you re-dilute it with water, it turns back to a light tan, similar to about what you'd expect for chicken soup.

[Octaveman]

No skins. Good to know that a dark brown reduction is fine. Thanks.