Stock, also called broth, is the base of all soups and gravies. Stock making involves simmering bones, meat, vegetables, fish or seafood with water and a few vegetables for long periods of time to bring out its hidden flour. The process of stock making takes a little bit of your time, plus some effort and in the end, delivers great results that will make most of your home cooked meals taste ten times better.
I got introduced to stock making by my husband, years ago, who was also lucky enough to learn this process from Chefs in cooking school when he was younger. Although he did not pursue cooking as a career, he did learn a lot and I have been fortunate enough to learn so much from him. So in this post, am going to share the secret to making your own stock/broth at home in a few easy steps that tastes way better than store bought stock, plus the quickest way to cool and store them.
Before diving in, let’s go through the must have Utensils;
Stock pot: In order for you to save yourself time, make your stock in a big stock pot. This way you have enough to freeze to limit how often you make them. This one here on Amazon is perfect.
And for those on a more tight budget, this stainless steel pot will get the job done.
Storage containers: You need to find durable storage containers that are leak proof and can freeze well without bursting out.
Strainer: Whether you are using cheese cloth or a mesh strainer, it is advisable to strain your stock to catch all the debris, so you end up with a clear and clean broth.
And now, let’s start making my favourite stock, which happens to be a Turkey stock.
Ingredients:
4 Packs ( 2.034 kg ) Turkey Soup Packs or bones or meat of your choice
2 Packs ( 960 g ) Vegetable Soup Packs
4 Pieces ( 400 g ) Onions
40 g Ginger
4 Cloves ( 40 g ) Garlic
7 Litres of Water
2 Tablespoons Coarse Salt
1 Tablespoon Peppercorn
Process:
Step one: I prefer to wash my Turkey soup pack a couple of times with hot water to get rid of some of the fat. Afterward, I make sure to clean my sink and my hands thoroughly.
The decision whether or not to wash poultry or wipe clean with paper towel is totally up to you.What I do know if that, with chicken you have to be very careful because splashing water from washing chicken can spread bacteria that can cause food poisoning. I then put my washed turkey in my 10 litres soup pot. I wash the soup vegetable packs, peel them and cut them into 2 -3 pieces, depending on their size. Watch the full video of this Recipe.
Step two: I wash the soup packs, peel them and cut them into 2-3 pieces, depending on their size. Peel onions and cut each in half. Now add it all to soup pot including garlic and ginger. Add water and salt to the pot and without the lid, let it come to a slow boil on a medium heat. Note that if you are making your stock in a smaller pot, you will need to adjust soup packs and water proportion. Keep your eye on your stock so it does not boil over.
Step three: Ones the soup comes to a slow boil, you will see foam rise to the top. Use a strainer ladle or just your normal ladle to collect foam. I do this extra step a few times because in the end, I don’t get a cloudy looking stock. When there is no more foam on top, add peppercorn and reduce heat to low. Put the pot lid on, half way and let broth simmer for 4 hours. Check every now and then to make sure it is not boiling hard.
Step four: After 4 hours, the broth will reduce and if you give it a taste, it should have lots of flavour. Now the broth has to cool completely and to achieve this, the best and fastest way is to fill a bath tub with very cold water, if you happen to have a bath tub.
Put a towel at the bottom and sit the pot on the towel. This is to protect the tub because remember the pot is extremely hot. In the past, I cooled my broth in the kitchen sink and this took longer to cool because the the cold water would heat up pretty fast and I had to let the water ran out and then fill again with fresh cold water. Although it was possible to cool this way, it took me a long time because of the size of the sink, compared to the size of bath tub.
Step five: Strain the broth and store them in containers. I love these Amazon soup containers, I have had them for over 6 years and they are still like new. It comes in a pack of 24 and are 32 oz which is 4 cups. They freeze incredibly, you can also microwave them if you want to tough your stock. I usually take my broth out of the freezer, and keep it in the refrigerator overnight to tough out .
Ones you have your stock made, you can enjoy delicious soups like my pumpkin cream soup,
This incredibly tasty leek and potato soup
Click here For Baby only Recipes
As always, I hope you find this post helpful and visit my facebook page and share your thoughts over there with me.
