Making Stock

Recently I’ve taken to making my own stocks. I’ve made chicken and a pork and beef combo stock. I haven’t tried veggie although I should start since I always have a bunch of leftover trimmings.

I use stock a lot in cooking, everything from cooking rice to making soups.  I have it on hand at all times and it’s a pantry staple.

We don’t eat enough meat to keep us supplied with stock but I’ve been saving the bones after meals and storing them in the freezer.  Once I’ve got enough, I’ll make a pot of stock.

I admit that I was initially intimidated about making stock because people always stress (to the point of almost freaking out it seems) about making sure to properly cool the stock.

Most recommend sticking a bowl of the stock either in a sink full of ice or another bigger bowl full of ice.

I don’t have that much ice.

And truth be told, I’m not buying or making that much ice just to cool some liquid.

Sorry.

I talked to others, ones that make stock all the time, and no one mentioned the ice method.  Most people it seems just allow the stock to cool on it’s own.

Well I can do that.

And so I’ve started making stock as soon as I’ve got enough bones and scraps on hand.  It always smells amazing and tastes way better than store bought variety.

Not enough to warrant an increase in our meat consumption though!  Right now this works perfectly.

In a follow-up post I’ll tell you my approach to making stock and how easy it actually is!

10 thoughts on “Making Stock

  1. Nicole says:

    I always seem to have two gallon size bags of veggie scraps in the freezer, which always makes it easy to throw together a pot for stock. I usually make it during the week while J is at work so I don’t have to hear him complain that it “smells funny.” I think it smells awesome!

  2. My husband is kind of obsessed with stock – he won’t let any bones go to waste. They must be made into stock.

    We don’t cool with ice but we do freeze our stock after its made and cooler. Storing in the freezer is easy and an added step that would kill any bad bugs that might take advantage of the warm stock environment.

  3. I pressure can my stock, but I also try to do it on a cold winter weekend. I did mine a few weekends back and it was probably the only one cold enough to cool my stock on the deck so I could skim. Then I reheat and pressure can. I store it in my pantry, and it’s easier for my daughter to take to college that way.

  4. I was watching Alton Brown’s episode about stock, and he suggested freezing a couple of plastic bottles of water and then sticking those in your stock to help cool it fast. I thought that was a brilliant suggestion!

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