[cape chef]

Shimmer, I may have not explained this clearly enough, Sorry.

The mass of the raft is tiny compared to your volume of liquid, The sole purpose of the raft is to capture floating sediment, It is not designed to enhance the flavor, The raft is removed before you start your next stage of clarifying, With it will come a load of "skum" yes this is a real word used to discride the impurities.

Does this help?
cc

 

[pastachef]

I am loving this! So, the next stage in clarifying the consomme is maybe - straining? Cheesecloth? And if this is true, why can't the whole thing be done that way without using the raft? I appreciate that you are all sharing your education!

 

[shimmer]

I realize the raft will be small. My question is when you are finished cooking the liquid, what happens to the liquid minus the raft? Do you throw it out too? (This is similar to Pastachef's question). Or do you use it? I understand the raft is to be thrown away, with all its impurities.

Does this question make sense now?

 

[chrose]

Think of the raft as a big tasty filter. As Brad said lean meat is mixed with egg whites and some vegetables like carrots and leeks. It is mixed up and added to warm stock. Heat up the stock while whisking the raft in a circle. This is to keep it together rather than having it float all over the place defeating the purpose of the raft. As the stock heats to a fast simmer and the raft starts to solidify many chefs poke a hole in the middle of the raft. Set the stock off to one side, don't boil it, and allow it to simmer quickly. The motion of the simmering liquid will continue to pump the stock up through the raft. The raft will act as a filter with the proteins in the raft catching all the impurities in the stock. The meat and vegetables will add to the flavor of the stock. After a couple of hours the raft is carefully removed with a ladle. The stock is now consomme and should be rich in color and taste. When cooled it will have a very rich and thick consistency. It will have "body" when it's hot. If you like or if it's necessary you can further strain it through cheesecloth.
There are way too many fine impurities that will not be removed by a cheesecloth no matter how many times you run it through. These are particles and bits of protein that serve to cloud your stock and can't really be caught in cloth.
Hope this makes it a little clearer (cute huh?)

 

[thebighat]

One caveat I want to throw in here...make sure you follow all the principles for making a clear stock which are scattered throughout these message boards. You can't clarify a cloudy murky stock which has been vigorously boiled. Rinsing the bones, blanching, skimming, letting the stockpot smile, these techniques will give you a stock worth the effort of clarifying. One thing that's always bugged me though, did anyone ever notice the difference in taste between the stock and consomme made from it? It always seemed to me to go a little flat, but then, I've found over the years I never used enough salt.

 

[pastachef]

Now I understand the purpose of the bone. That is very interesting, and I'll have to practice the tecnique before I go back to work after winter break. Thank you again, everyone. Your knowledge is awesome

 

[cape chef]

Thank you chrose for taking the raft to the next level, I appreciate it. If you pass the consamme through cheese cloth this would be coulded a "double Consamme"

A technique I learned many years ago when I make a fish fumet to turn into a consamme I do what is called "fining" this is used also to clarfy wines. Lightly whipped eggs whites are placed on the fumet while still warm, This sets the whites and form a kind of cover over the fumet, You then let these whites slowly drop to the bottom of your stock, and with it goes all the impurites. This takes almost 8 hours.
cc

 

[chrose]

Bighat I think the difference is in what you put in your raft. I have always used a flavorful meat. I add the egg shells as well for extra albumen and calcium. I also use a lot of vegetables. In a sense it's like making a second soup. I don't go overboard contrary to how it might sound, but I think I get a lot more body and a much deeper flavor, that as you pointed out is possibly "flat" to some. Remember that you have taken out shall we say "bits of flavor" with those floating bits.

Also it's hard to make out your avatar but are you trying to scare my Diablo!

 

[thebighat]

The avatar is a photo of the earth from space. It kind of lost some detail in the shrinkage.

 

[chrose]

Okay, I see it now. Looks from here kind of like a skull. Still doesn't scare the Diablo!

 

[pastachef]

I went there. I always wondered what made you choose that one, Chrose. Now I know.

 

[rachel]

Cc and James Bond, using the egg whites to 'clean' wine; fining as what used to be done (probaby in the days when cucumber juice was the only fertilizer used . . .days long gone by now). It's one of the reasons why in Castille, central Spain there are so any desserts made traditionally by monks which consist mainly of egg yolk - they had to do something with them.

 

[shawtycat]

This post goes to show just how much I still have to learn. The clarifications regarding consomme were enough...Ive read about making consomme but just couldn't see it in my head. Like do you just add the stuff you make the raft with on top of the stock? Do you mix it first? And I also wouldnt know about the taste of consomme since Ive never had any or tasted real stock for that matter either.

Ah how I wish I could start school soon. I think I will put off biz plans until my education has progressed a little more. As much as I love pastry and baking I would LOVE to learn more about professional cooking. Im also going to reread this post and take some notes so I can better understand the meanings behind all that went wrong.

Chrose

Why did you stop posting these tests? I want to learn some more. CC and everyone here are such fonts of information and Id love to learn more from everyone here. Maybe I will be able to answer one of your tests soon.

Jodi