Stock and soup, step by step
Interactive lesson: bones and vegetables, white and brown stock, Sunday chicken soup, safe chilling, freezing and jars.
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The whole lesson as text
1. Bones and vegetables
Stock is made from the parts that would otherwise go in the bin.
- The stock bag — After every processing session, put necks, backs, feet and wing tips into a bag in the freezer. When 2–3 kg (4–7 lb) has collected, cook it.
- Feet give gelatine — Necks, backs and the parson's nose make up 50–70 % of the pot and give flavour. Scalded, peeled feet make up 10–20 % and give the most gelatine.
- Vegetables per 1 kg — Per 1 kg of bones: 1 carrot (100 g), a parsley root or small parsnip (50 g), a piece of celeriac (50 g) and an onion (100 g) with its skin for colour.
- Seasoning, no salt — Add 5–6 peppercorns, 1 bay leaf and parsley stalks. Leave salt out, or use very little: reduced stock becomes too salty.
Why: Meat gives flavour; gelatine from skin, cartilage and tendons gives body and richness. The best stock is a mix, and it feeds soups, stews, risotto and sauces all winter.
- Leave the liver out: it clouds the stock and turns it bitter. Heart and gizzard are fine, a little.
- Cool the bones from a roast chicken and freeze them the same day, for brown stock.
2. White stock
Slow heating and a gentle simmer give clear stock.
- Bones into cold water — For 2 kg (4.5 lb) of bones, 3.5–4 L of cold water, to cover them by 3–4 cm. Heat slowly to the boil, 30–40 minutes.
- Skim the foam — As soon as it boils, turn the heat down. Skim the foam with a slotted spoon for the first 20–30 minutes, while it gathers.
- Simmer 3–4 hours — At 85–95 °C (185–200 °F) the surface barely moves, with the odd bubble. Vegetables and seasoning go in for the last 60–90 minutes, or they cloud the stock.
- Strain through muslin — Strain through a sieve lined with muslin and do not press the bones. Chill at once: 2 kg of bones gives roughly 2–2.5 L.
Why: Boiling breaks fat and proteins into tiny droplets and clouds the stock. Cold water slowly draws out the proteins, which gather as foam, so you can skim them off.
- If the stock is cloudy anyway, strain it through a coffee filter or four layers of muslin.
- Lift the fat off like a lid once the stock has chilled. Chicken fat is excellent for frying potatoes and onions.
3. Brown stock · Locked
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4. Sunday chicken soup · Locked
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5. Safe chilling · Locked
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6. Storage and jars · Locked
Buy the Soups and stocks module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.