Stock vs broth
Stock simmers from bones for 4 to 6 hours (chicken). It's rich in gelatin and sets like jelly when cold. Broth is mostly meat, simmered 1 to 2 hours, lighter and usually seasoned. Use stock for sauces and braises, broth for sipping.
Gentle heat, no salt
Keep stock at a bare simmer so it stays clear, skim the foam early, and skip the salt because stock gets reduced later. Cool it fast in shallow containers. It keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or freeze it in small portions.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
You simmer one pot of chicken breast meat and one pot of chicken bones for 4 hours. Which sets like jelly in the fridge?
The bone pot, because bones contain collagen. Collagen from the bones turns into gelatin, which gels when cold.
True or false: A good bone stock often sets into a jelly in the fridge.
True. The gelatin from the bones gels when cold.
What went wrong? You boil stock hard for two hours. It ends up cloudy and greasy.
Hard boiling churned fat and proteins into the liquid. Keep stock at a bare simmer so the fat and proteins stay out of the liquid.
Fill the blank: Cold stock sets like jelly because collagen from the bones turned into ___.
Cold stock sets like jelly because collagen from the bones turned into gelatin. Collagen turns into gelatin, which gels when cold.
Why wait to salt a big pot of stock?
Evaporation concentrates salt, so it can end up too salty. Boiling off water concentrates the salt, so season at the end.
