Following up my post from yesterday on my head chefs excuse for a veg stock. Today I made a proper one 👌. This is what I’d say is the most common sense method 🤷🏻♂️.
I hope this isn’t new info to anyone here🤞
Roughly chop your onions, I like a varying of size, so some take longer to break down – then lightly sweat them off.
Add more aromatics like chopped celery, leeks, carrots, garlic and herbs – preferably thyme and rosemary.
Let those guys get to know each-other in the pot. You don’t want to brown the veg too much as it will make the stock too dark.
Fill the pot up with cold water, add whatever trimmings you have from preparing your veg, and bring the stock up to the boil, then leave to reduce. About half way through i add a bit salt, and after preferably 5/6 hours, pass the stock and you can reduce it even further for a more intense flavour.
Let me know if you guys make it any different 🤗
by Wheeezy420
42 Comments
i can smell the fourth picture
That person was not a chef or even a cook.
Is that clear stock in the last pic?
You’re the man. One day you’ll be that dumb Chef 👍
With the herbs I am a big fan of a pinch of oregano. To give some notes to the overall broth without over powering anything else.
This is Day 2 restaurant knowledge i hope
Are you putting onion skins in your stock? Don’t do that
Ok – quick question/ poll. I note you use your trimmings including onion skins and ends And know it all gets boiled down and sieved, but those onion skins, garlic skins, and ends- how clean are they? I ask cause I worked in a Japanese steak place and they would not use the trim for stock as they felt it wasn’t clean. My wife also feels “weird” with the onion skins at our home stock cause she also feels it is “dirty” and can’t get cleaned. Specially onion skins that often have some surface mold and dirt.
What is your take on the skins/trimmings versus not including ? I am not sure I would know the difference in taste as never noticed any difference in the stock we made at the Japanese place versus other prior purchases places.
How much does adding them change or enhance the taste?
But stock is for soup. You don’t have any room for the water with all that food in the way!
So hotdog water is not veg stock?
Vegetable fumet
That’s a solid stock . Starting with cold water . Buddy understands shit
Had to look at the other post, what in tarnation is that???
You said add cold water. What am I losing out on with my method?
I usually add hot, nearly boiling water to the hot veg that is sauteeing. Using a second pot to start the water when I start the stock (or soup). That way I save 10 or so minutes to reach a simmer. And also, the cooked veg is not chilled down by the water (but idk if that changes anything)
I was told not to salt the stock because it can become too salty as it reduces. Salt the soup, not the stock, is what I heard.
Doing Dog’s work right there. Praise Cheeses.
Chickpeas add great body to veg stock. I used to put a couple of handfuls in, but it seemed wasteful. Now I save my chickpea cooking liquid when I cook them for hummus and other things and add about a quart to each 3-4 gallon batch. It’s so good!
I try not to use onion skin, pepper cores, and certain other things that cause bitterness
Gotta skim the scum off and throw in ice to congeal any fat used to sauteed and brown the veg.
Are you single. Can we get married. Asking for a friend (me) who saw your stock.
What do you mean by ‘sweat them off?’
The two longest jobs I held (a Sodexho unit and a hotel line cook job), the chefs had pretty similar veg stock methods. Find all the suitable veg in the walk in that looked effed up – carrots, celery, onions, and anything else not weird (like do not put ginger in FFS) that was going stanky. Put that in something very big (at Sodexho we had 80, 100, and 150 gallon steam jacket kettles from the 1800s, amazing to use) and simmer a ways above sous-vide all day. Strain and store. Go home.
Beef stock it helps to burn the heck out of the bones. Otherwise same instructions apply.
Out of season right now but I like to include parsnips
That thumbs up pic make me smile! Great job on the stock!
Id be snipping those roots so there’s not dirt in my stock, other than that it just depends what you’re going for. Looks great as is.
Not really in a resturaunt that makes homeade stock (yet, hopefully), but whenever I make a couple gallons of stock at home I pile all my veg on sheet trays and load my ovens up to roast them for about 30 minutes. I personally feel like that gives a more intense flavor than sweating them in the pot.
I’m not a big fan of the roots or skins because of dirt and possibly off-flavors, but that’s just me. It’s not like I don’t know there are bug parts in flour, and that doesn’t stop me from eating baked goods…
Do you have bay leaf in there? I couldn’t see any in the pics, but I’d definitely add some bay if you haven’t already.
Interesting, just a home cook but I always thought my veg stocks tasted best around 1-1.5 hours and then started losing flavor after.
Quick question for you guys.
I want to make stock with a lot of Parmesan rinds, but when I do, it usually sinks to the bottom and melts on the bottom, getting stuck. Is there a way to stop this from happening?
Do none of you roast your vegetables first?
i thought the 2 carrots and 1 onion had charm
Helllll yeah bud that’s a good start to so many delicious things
“Let those guys get to know each other in the pot.”
I heard that in Kevin’s voice immediately.
Did you just put fucking peels in your stock????
Personally I’d avoid adding onion skins, but other than that looks delicious
“An explosion of flavor! I’m dealing with some very unstable *herbs!*”
Tbh I’m surprised to see the root base of the onions still on, was always instructed to remove them and their little core as they add bitterness.
Also, bring to just under a boil, you get added impurities and bitterness from boiling a stock (this is why purists don’t use pressure cookers for stock) though an egg raft and good straining through cheese cloth will grab most of this.
Now if you want to get more of a Pho/Ramen vibe going to it char the veg exteriors on a wood grill or under a broiler before covering with water.
Obviously much better than hotdog water but its funny to me you’re talking like an expert then you put those filthy ass onion skins in your stock.
Hitchhiker thumb gang
Hell yeah chef.
I’m not a fan of the rosemary because its uses are a little more specific than the other things in there (mirepoix, thyme, bay leaf, garlic) but if everything you’re using it for makes sense with rosemary than hell yeah again, chef.
Getting the onion skins in. Hell yes.
One caveat: If it’s general purpose stock, leave out the salt and garlic. Those can get overpowering if you end up reducing it (for instance, line cook keeps adding stock to keep a sauce alive).
I prefer roasting the vegetables in a convection oven, no oil.