The Golden Rules Of Making Good Stock

Stock is defined as nutritious, flavor-full and unseasoned thin liquid which is made from vegetables, seafood items or discarded and cartilage bone  such as fish, chicken, mutton, lamb, veal, beef and game items . It is flavored by adding mirepoix which is consist of diced vegetables of carrot, onion and celery and herbs and spices  are also used for flavoring  . Basically, stock is simmered in sufficient water to cover the bones for 25 mins to 6 hours .  stock is used as foundation for sauces, soups, gravies and so on . In other word, stock is a base of soup, sauces, gravies, stewing, braising . stock is also called the foundation of continental cuisine . In French term, stock is called fond, which comes from the word 'foundation' . fond provides the foundation for many culinary preparation . The type of stock can be named by the ingredient used for example chicken stock is prepared by chicken bone, similarly beef stock is prepared by beef bones . There are almost all the basic rules and tips for preparing delicious stock .

• stocks are cooked by using simmering method . Do not try to boil it to extract the flavor because boiling allowed liquid to evaporate and goes cloudy as a result, stock will be bitter and have off flavor . 
• scum should be removed from time to time during simmering or else it will make the stock cloudy , spoil the color and taste too .  stock pot shouldn't  cover  with the lid  otherwise stock will evaporate and go cloudy .
• stock should not be seasoned . 
•  It is essential to used proper ratio of vegetables , herbs and spices to get excess flavor . Always use fresh mirepoix, herbs & spices  to get strong aromatic flavor . Besides mirepoix,  other flavoring vegetables can be used such as turnip, parsnip, leek, celery root, and mushrooms . The less desirable part of the veggies that may not be eaten can be also used such as skin of  carrot, celery cores and leaves, but it depends upon the chef .
• The vegetables are cut into small size that will allow for good flavoring extraction .The size of the mirepoix will also depends upon the cooking duration such as use small size of vegetable with short cooking process and use large piece or left whole with long process . The small size of vegetables infuse their flavor quickly, on the other hand, large one takes time to extract their aromatic flavor .
• garlic clove and pepper corn are common in stock, you can use whole or crushed garlic , but always use whole pepper corn because crushed corn might better the stock when it is simmering long time . 
• Herbs might be added in the stock near the end of cooking for more distinct flavor or at the starting for more blended flavors , It is said that, ground spices & herbs release their aromatic flavor easily, but whole spices  release their flavor slowly than ground one .
• In term of bone, always use fresh and younger animals bone for more flavor-full stock. The best part of the bones are joint bone, cartilage bone, marrow bone and discarded bone . cartilage and bone marrow has collagen , it is a gluten-free gelatin that helps to thicken the stock and make it more flavor-full when it is heat & dissolved in the liquid . 
• for fish stock, white fish is best to make fish stock because it has less amount of fat. The fish includes cod, bass and snappers . 
• Don't use oily fish to make fish stock because oily fish has more fat that make the stock oily and greasy . The fish includes mackerels. 
• The best part of fish for stock are head, tail, rib and spines of mild and non-oily fish .
• Add bone in cold water because albumin which is a type of protein ,found in bone, release in cold water and helps to clarify the stock . 
• white mirepoix or light color vegetables are used to prepare white stock such as onion, celery root , parsnip and turnip, mushroom because it does not impact on the color of the stock . 
• Herbs and spices must be used fresh to get strong aromatic flavor . while making a white stock, always add sachet d'epices and bouquet garni at the beginning or at the end of the cooking just for 30 mins because it can change the color of white stock . 
• Brown stock, first brown the bone with little oil and separately brown the mirepoix because the cooking timing is different so if you brown together, it is more likely to be burnt the vegetables.
• vegetable stock might be brown or white, it depends upon the vegetables are used . 

Contact Information
Writer : Chef BBS
page : Culinarian Institute

Email : culinarianinstitute@gmail.com