The principles of making stock

Homemade stock is almost always better than store-bought stock. And making your own stock doesn’t need to be difficult or time consuming. With the help of a few general principles, you’ll be able to make everything from chicken stock to fish stock without ever having to look at a recipe.

Basic Rules

1. A general rule of thumb that applies to every type of stock is to start with cold water. (If you don’t start with cold water, you will almost certainly end up with a cloudy stock full of impurities.)

2. Never bring a stock to a boil. This is for the very same reason as #1.

3. Perhaps most important, never add salt to a stock. When you’re making stock, you’re concentrating all the flavors. Salt shouldn’t be one of them. Chances are, you’ll be concentrating your stock further when you make a sauce or a soup. You’ll want to be able to control the salt level later on.

Everything Else You Need to Know

Every meat-based stock has three components: animal bone, aromatics, and water.

The animal bones should be trimmed of as much fat and skin as possible. If you leave too much fat on, this will make for a greasy stock. Also, chop the larger pieces up - this way you’ll expose a greater surface area to cooking and extract more flavor from your bones. A special rule applies when making fish stock: Always use the bones of a lean, white fish, or you’ll end up with an overly fishy stock. For example, avoid using fish like salmon. Some good examples of fish to use include branzino, halibut, tilapia, and fluke.

Aromatics consist of a mirepoix, a 2:1:1 ratio of onion, carrot, and celery, and also a bouquet garni, a handful of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, and about a tablespoon of whole black peppercorns. How much do you need? Aromatics should typically weigh about twenty percent of the weight of the bones. If desired, you can add leeks, garlic, tomato paste, or a couple of cloves (cloves are very strong and a little goes a long way).

Feel free to experiment. For example, a rule of thumb I use when making chicken stock is about a handful of chopped onions, a couple carrots and a couple stalks of celery to one chicken body (which weighs about 1.5 pounds).

The rest is easy.

If you want a white stock, simply combine the aromatics and animal bone in a large pot and fill with cold water nearly to the top - about 6-7 quarts of water per chicken body. Bring to a simmer for several hours or until the liquid has evaporated by approximately half.

If you want a brown stock, heat some oil over high heat in a large pot. Brown the bones without moving them, and then add the vegetables in. Continue to cook until the vegetables are slightly brown around the edges. Then add cold water as usual.

A white stock will have a more neutral flavor than a brown stock, which will have a deeper, more savory flavor. Which one you decide to make depends on your intentions for the stock - for example, if you’re making a classic beurre blanc sauce, which is supposed to be a white sauce based on heavy cream, butter, and wine, you probably don’t want to ruin it by adding brown stock. But for many purposes, the two are interchangeable.

If you don’t have several hours, you can always use a pressure cooker. Depending on your pressure cooker, cooking time will be reduced by anywhere between one-third to two-thirds; refer to your manufacturer’s instructions. Just be sure that you start with plenty of liquid; the contents must always be submerged. And after the cooker reaches sufficient pressure, lower the heat as much as you can without losing pressure.

Once you’ve reduced the stock sufficiently, you’ll want to strain it through a colander. Discard the bones and aromatics - most of the nutrients should be in the stock by now. Immediately cool it down in an ice bath if you’re not using it right away by dividing the stock up into several, wide, shallow bowls set over bowls filled with ice. Use a ladle to swirl the liquid, scoop it out and pour it back in. This will help the stock cool rapidly, allowing you to refrigerate it as soon as possible, and will prevent it from spoiling or getting any bacterial growth.

Once the stock has cooled to room temperature, divide it up into sealed containers. Place in the refrigerator. After it has cooled sufficiently, a solid layer of fat may form. This is the easiest time to remove the fat from the stock. Gently scoop it out with a slotted spoon.

That’s all there is to it. You can now go on to make any number of delicious recipes, from gravy and stews to 101 soups for all seasons!