Nothing is more elemental than making stocks. For thousands of years, leftover bones and inedible meat scraps were combined with vegetable peelings and water, perhaps some leftover ale or wine, and placed into an iron pot. The pot was swung over the last fire of the evening and as the hearth’s intensity waned, the broth steeped. By sunrise, the stock was cooked, providing the structure for the days first meal and the key ingredient to any other cooked food slated for that afternoon or evening. This process made good economic sense, utilizing every last morsel in the larder. Over the ensuing years, stocks have become the basis for the majority of all the soups, sauces, stews, braises and vapeurs cooked today. In the most modern of kitchens, stocks have become the solution to the question of reducing fat in food preparation and increasing the nutritional value of what we eat. From the great restaurants of Paris to the high end table cloth boites of New York City, stocks have moved from the progenitor of many great dishes to being the star of the dish itself. Paradoxically, in the culinary gold rush of the last few years, home cooks have realized that you are only as good as the quality of your ingredients. If you want to make soups as good as Grandma’s you need homemade stocks. If you want to make simple reductions like your favorite TV chef does, the secret is homemade stocks. If you want to increase the flavor quotient in your recipes, and replace unnecessary fats in your foods, you need to know how to make homemade stocks.

From a wellness standpoint, homemade stocks may be the cure-all your family needs to maintain optimum health. Science has recently validated what was long rumored to be a magical elixir with superior nutritional make up. Homemade stocks, and the broths made from them build better bones in our children and help cure many common illnesses. Stocks contain calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals, all in a natural format the body can readily process. In fact, supplements whose prices have reached astronomical proportions, like chondroitin and glucosamine are present in significant amounts in homemade stocks. Seafood stocks made from fish bones and shellfish contain high concentrations of iodine and trace minerals that enhance thyroid functions. Most importantly stocks contain high concentrations of gelatin, a natural substance that aids digestion and provides much needed amino acids such as glycine. Gelatin is one of Mother Earth’s great super foods helping combat ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle disease, jaundice and cancer. Gelatin aids in the preservation of joint function, extending the healthful life cycles of our bones, teeth and cartilage. Most importantly, you do not get these benefits from commercially prepared stocks. In fact, many of those types of products contain ingredients harmful to your body such as MSG, hydrolized proteins, trans fatty acids and unhealthy concentrations of sodium.

Stock is the strained liquid resulting from the cooking of meat, poultry, fish or vegetables in water. It is a building block for other dishes. It is a basic ingredient in all types of cookery and is easy to make. It differs from a broth. Broth is a stock that has been enhanced, or fortified, in some fashion, either through seasoning or volume reduction, making it ready for eating. All stock is edible, but not all stocks are ideal for serving on their own, in their natural states. Once you transport their essence into a broth, soup, braise or sauce the fun begins.

The scientific verdict is still out on the question of whether or not chicken broth has some magical healing qualities. The AMA says that it does provide relief from those with colds and congestion, but may not necessarily be the best choice for anyone afflicted with an upset stomach unless it is fat-free. Major medical studies indicate definitive healing properties of chicken soup. Doctors agree that a hot savory broth helps open nasal passages and soothes the throat, while sipping soup through a straw does not produce the same beneficial result as consuming the hot soup with a spoon. Vapor and aroma are important factors. Clear soups provide necessary vitamins, minerals and hydration while helping to stimulate the appetite. The mental and spiritual component might be most important of all. Memories of hearth and home, being pampered by Mom with soup as a child, or just the warm feeling of the hot soup on a cold winter’s day strongly come into play. We all know that love is a recipe’s number one ingredient, and you can never have enough of it with making stocks or soups.

Tips for making stock

Homemade stocks have particular properties that make it distinguishable from the store bought variety. Lack of salt, natural thickening abilities, visual clarity, deep and real flavor and absence of artificial ingredients such as MSG are all the hallmarks of good homemade stock. Insuring those properties means following a few simple rules.

Decide on light or dark stock. Washing and rinsing fresh poultry or meat bones in hot water, then utilizing them in their raw state will create light stocks. Roasting the bones before making your stock creates dark stocks, the more full flavored and richer variety.

Bones from younger animals make for better stocks, they have more collagen, gelatin and flavonoids than bones from older animals do. Mature animal bones tend to create stocks that taste very ‘mineralized’.

I recommend making stocks from bones with some meat and fat on them, the flavor is vastly improved and the fat can be removed later on.

Making stock is not expensive. In fact, merely saving the bones from trimming and butchering projects around the kitchen, or buying them from the butcher when on sale can result in a final expense counted in pennies, not dollars.

Feel free to add flavors to your stock where desired or appropriate. Mushrooms will add an earthy flavor to stocks. Try adding lemongrass peelings, ginger slices and a star anise bud to the basic recipe below and create a wonderful stock for Asian recipes.

Never boil your stock. Bones and meat contain many unwanted particles that are released when heated in water. Boiling breaks them into finer particles, making them difficult to strain out later on. Vigorous boiling may actually ‘emulsify’ them into the stock resulting in a final product that is off tasting or slightly bitter. Simmering your stock results in a cloudy final product that may lack the clarity you need for certain uses. Gentle steeping at 190 to 200 degrees will allow those solids and particles to bind together in clumps. They stay on top of the stock, or float to the bottom of your pot in a mass that in either case can be easily strained out.

Never press down on your stock when straining it, this may result in some of those unwanted coagulated solids in your stock.

For storage, you can reduce your stock in half by simmering it after it has been strained several times, chilled and de-fatted. Stock can then be stored in a zip-loc bag, in 2 cup portions. Freeze them flat on a cookie sheet. This will allow you to store them vertically in your freezer, making better use of space, and makes defrosting a breeze. Run the bag under cold water and it will defrost in minutes!

You can make stocks from any bones you like, or you can make vegetable stocks. Be aware that poultry and veal stocks are ‘all purpose’, but lamb or duck stocks may only be appropriate for dishes featuring lamb or duck.

Only use ripe or over-ripe vegetables in stocks, they contribute sweeter flavors.

Use a tall narrow pot to cook stock this slows evaporation.

Stocks can replace fats in many recipes as well. Reduce chicken stock by 2/3’s, making a light glaze. Use this reduction, seasoned, as a substitute for butter on baked potatoes, or as a sauce for grilled poultry or meats.

Most importantly…Be aware of rapidly cooling your stock once strained. You can drop the temperature of your stock very quickly by placing the strained stock in a clean metal pot, then placing the pot in a sink filled with ice. Then store in refrigerator or freezer.

Recipes for stocks

Chicken Stock

Beef/Veal Stock

Fish Fumet