Having rich stocks on hand in your freezer is the difference between just enjoying your meal and moaning in ecstasy while you rock back and forth in your chair, slurping divinity. It takes very little effort once you get in the habit of saving scraps. I keep a large ziplock bag in my freezer and keep adding to it until its full. Then I thaw it out, put it all in my stock pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer with the lid off until satisfied(a few hours for beef and chicken, one hour for fish & shellfish). Then, you just strain and freeze. The hardest part for me is remembering to thaw the stock out before I want to use it. As my brother likes to say, “Prior proper planning prevents a piss-poor performance.”. There is a big list of what not to put in your stock, but for the sake of brevity, I will just list what you should put in. Below is the basics for Chicken and Veggie stock(just omit the chicken bones).
Chicken Stock (from scraps)
- onion and garlic skins, tops, and ends
- carrot tops and tails(& peels if fresh, scrubbed, and organic)
- parsley, oregano, rosemary, & thyme stems
- celery ends
- lemon peels(in moderation)
- mushroom stems
- chicken, turkey, quail, geese, duck bones(from roasts, rotisserie, BBQ, smoked, whatever)
- ginger peels
To this I add a few bay leaves and black peppercorns.
Some special ingredients I usually save separately, like wild duck, geese, or smoked turkey bones, or a large quantity of shiitake stems. I won’t throw those in with everything else, but make a specialty broth to feature them. I might even splurge on using whole onions, celery, carrot, and garlic for the occasion!
Beef Stock
For beef bones, I like to roast them in a pan in the oven first with the onions(quartered), garlic(whole), and thyme. Then, I deglaze the pan with a glug or two of leftover red wine or sherry and scrape it into the stockpot, add carrots, mushrooms stems(if I have some), & peppercorns. Then, just cover with water, boil, and simmer uncovered for at least two hours(but really the longer the better as beef bones are dense).
For fish or shellfish stock, I keep it much simpler.
Fish & Shellfish Stock
- shrimp & crab shells OR fish bones and heads
- parsley
- lemon
- celery
- onion
- garlic
- a few black peppercorns
Place all ingredients in your stock pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer. After an about an hour, turn off the heat, let cool, strain, and refrigerate or freeze. I always refrigerate before I freeze to prevent freezer burn.
A word on fat
Chicken and beef stock will usually have some fat, the amount of which depends on the fattines of the bones used. Sometimes, you want a nice thin stock, sometimes you want some fat jelly in it. To separate the fat, just stick the strained broth in the fridge for an hour or so and the fat will solidify on the top. I like to keep at least a thin layer of fat on the top of my stocks when freezing them because it helps preserve them. I can always scrape it off when I go to use it if I want… or use it to sautée vegetables in or make a roux(depending on the quality of the fat and what I’m making).
One response to “Stocks:
How to make your own stocks from kitchen scraps
”Gosh I’m just reading and realized all my Christmas cooking and items I could have saved for a wonderful stock I threw on my compost pile . Rats, thanks Katie for reminding me. Love you. Mom