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What is it about a pot of stock simmering on a wintery day?

2K views 26 replies 10 participants last post by  kingnothing 
#1 ·
Making stock today for Thanksgiving stuffing and gravy. The house smells amazing and savory and outside it's snowing like a banshee. Enjoy tomorrow folks /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif
 
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#4 · (Edited)
I made it with stuff I froze throughout the year.  Duck parts, chicken parts, smoked turkey leg, leek greens, mushroom stems, etc. + fresh celery, garlic and onion, a couple of dried chilies, some fresh herbs and black pepper.  Same with the stuffing a half an andouille, a couple of chorizos, pork sausage, etc.  As soon as the stock cools and separates I'll assemble the stuffing and bake it tomorrow.  My daughter in law cooks the turkey I haven't made one for Thanksgiving in several years.  I make stuffing, biscuits and gravy - someone else makes the other sides.  It's a good system.
 
#6 ·
I usually make chicken or beef stock in a stock pot on the stove, but I hear people use slow cookers to do it. Do any of you have any experience with this method?

Sometime I'd like to make broth for ramen- real ramen broth, the kind you simmer overnight. I wonder if you could make that in a slow cooker.

Mezz
 
#8 ·
We've long been happy with making our stocks in a pressure cooker: beef, chicken, and turkey in season.  Doesn't fill the house quite as well with aromas, but it's a lot faster.  When I got into cooking, I changed our 4-quart for a 10-quart and we made and froze a lot!

Mike
 
#10 ·
Another treatise and recipe on stock from a slightly overheated nutrition enthusiast:

http://wellnessmama.com/5888/how-to-make-bone-broth/

This is virtually the recipe my Mother-in-Law used starting close to 100 years ago. Pretty much what the Frugal Gourmet recommended, including roasting the bones. The MIL may have simmered it for 40 hours originally, but by the time I knew her, it was 30 minutes at 15psi... Works perfectly fine in the pressure cooker.

By the way, when you add the onions, include the skins. That's approved by the Froog, too. They add some nice color, and you're going to strain everything anyway.

Mike
 
#11 ·
I usually make chicken or beef stock in a stock pot on the stove, but I hear people use slow cookers to do it. Do any of you have any experience with this method?

Sometime I'd like to make broth for ramen- real ramen broth, the kind you simmer overnight. I wonder if you could make that in a slow cooker.

Mezz
When I make Portuguese Bean Soup, I slow simmer on low, some smoked ham hocks in my 7 quart slow cooker overnight.

I do have a heck of a time sleeping with that beautiful aroma floating into the bedroom, but then in the AM it's ready

to finish up.
 
#13 ·
Well, mjb...

Personally, I don't include garlic in my stocks because it may cut down a little on the versatility of the stored stock. There might be a dish using the stock that doesn't want garlic (though as a heavy-duty garlic freak I can scarcely imagine this /img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif.) So, I put in the garlic as needed later.

Mike

LOTS and LOTS of garlic
 
#16 · (Edited)
tiemu-

I really can't understand this. Stock-making isn't black magic, or even really hard. Do you use plenty of bones? Roast them? A few peppercorns? Yellow onions and their skins? Couple chicken feet if you're really desperate?

Use the recipe I linked to and simmer for a day-and-a-half like she does or 30 minutes in the pressure cooker like I do.

Dammit- do that and you can't avoid having a nice broth! But - what you describe - "couple chicken pieces and perhaps some onion" ain't ever going to give you stock. Just chicken-ish water.

Let us know.

Mike /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif

Oh, hey-- you live in Denver by any chance?
 
#18 ·
Not exactly- because if he is in Denver, elevation about 6,000 feet, simmering isn't cooking it nearly as fast as he thinks if he's using a sea-level recipe without adjustment.

Mike /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Although if he is in Denver he's probably noticed that by now.
 
#20 ·
Use the recipe I linked to and simmer for a day-and-a-half like she does or 30 minutes in the pressure cooker like I do.Let us know.
Mike /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif

Oh, hey-- you live in Denver by any chance?
A day and a half?! I thought 3 hours was already very long. I'd love to cook food for a whole day but gas and electricity prices have more than doubled in Australia recently so I only rarely cook for over an hour.
 
#21 ·
Actually, the lady's recipe I linked to wants two days-
  • Beef broth/stock: 48 hours
  • Chicken or poultry broth/stock: 24 hours
  • Fish broth: 8 hours
This doesn't sound unreasonable for a gently-simmered, flavorful stock.

Me, I go thirty minutes in the PC.

Mike
 
#22 ·
Pork stock seems to be non-existent in European based cuisines. I make it for any pork based chile and for some Asian recipes.  And I used chicken feet in a chicken stock for the first time recently. I was impressed with the result.

And most of my stocks go for 3, 4, 8 hours at the edge of simmering. Never tried using a pressure cooker. I don't have on, truth be told. My wife did when we got married but she gave it away, along with an interesting glass double boiler when we combined households many years ago. Oh well.

mjb.
 
#23 ·
Can a pressure cooker really achieve the depth of flavor that a slow simmering would in less time? Seems like would be something you couldn't really force to be sped up, but I suppose if you roast your veges and bones before hand you've already achieve the caramelization and are just releasing those flavors. How do you deal with the scum that needs to be skimmed from the surface? I assume you just do that all at once after releasing the pressure?
 
#24 ·
I can't really answer that because it's been so long since I've made stock by simmering.  We do roast the bones and veggies to a nice dark brown, and I let the PC cool down to room temp rather than running it under cold water.  It usually turns to a soft gel when it's cooled, if I've used enough bones, and I think the flavor is great.  Any skimming obviously happens after the PC in opened.

Mike
 
#26 · (Edited)
I get excellent stock simmering 3 - 4 hrs usually depending on the base.  I brown bones and some veg depending on what I'm after.  If I simmer 5 - 6 hrs most if not all of the collagen is extracted and I'm left with a gelatinous stock the next day.  I'm talking stock here and not broth.
 
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