Deep, Flavourful, Rich, Bone Broth or Stock – The Basis of Many Great Dishes

I am going to have to alter my tradition of putting the recipe first as the recipe is basically the whole post when it comes to something like a great bone broth.

Here is my shot:

• Take bones of animals
• Roast with leftover veggies drizzled in oil
• Put in a vessel
• Add liquid
• Cook forever
• Get delicious stock

This can be done with poultry, beef, pork, or technically anything with bones, but I prefer the first two as they are the base for many major dishes, soups, stews, sauces (yum), and a great base to have on hand.

You can get beef bones from your butcher, a friend……someone really into anatomy; usually a butcher. I make my chicken stock the exact same way except I just use the bones from the whole chickens I roast/cook (the chicken neck/spine is great for a stock as it is a little tough to eat, but brings great flavour). Place on a pan with parchment paper.

Aside: What is the difference between a stock vs a broth? From my learnings a broth is made with the meat of the animal while a stock (also referred to as bone broth) is made with the bones as well. What makes a stock great besides all the purported health benefits — not going to link as I find a lot of the ‘research’ filled with anecdotes and not following scientific methods — is the cooking of collagen in the marrow turns into gelatin; this naturally thickens the liquid while giving a deeper flavour (tip from momma Cathy is that your chicken soup should look like Jello coming out of the fridge; that’s how you know it is good!)

Add in all the bits you have been cutting off the rest of your cooking and storing away in the freezer like any good squirrel. I keep garlic ends and skins, onion roots, pepper ends, older celery, carrots, parmesan rinds (these can stick to the bottom in some cases so be cautious (they give great umami to a stock) and drizzle with vegetable oil (I use olive or canola).

The oil helps to brown some of the bits, causing some caramelization as well as promoting the Maillard reaction. Pro momma Cathy tip: cook it longer than you think — I have found it is extremely tough to burn —and deglaze the pan with a bit of water after to catch all the good parts

Aside: I really love making stock for a number of reasons including reusing plant and animal parts respects the cooking process to not waste if you don’t have to (I am not a hippy, but there is nothing wrong with trying to be a good person). The results are an absolute game changer when making pho, chicken soup, beef and barley soup, sauces, the list goes on and on; and for reasons I was not aware of the smell and look of the roasted bones and veggies is next level.

Most recipes add the advice to add a bit of white vinegar in order to pull out more flavour from the bones; I am not sure if this has any basis other than adding some acidity can ‘brighten’ a dish, but if someone knows please let me know.

Add herbs: I use whole peppercorns, bay leaf, and whatever else I am feeling at the time.

Fill with liquid; you can use water for standard broth, or if you are making a soup or final product, using boxed stock as the liquid will make an extremely flavourful result. Simmer for as long as you would like. My advice would be an absolute minimum of 4/5 hours, but many people talk about simmering for 12-24 hours to get the maximum benefit. Secretly I use an Instapot for nearly all my stock (The pictures above were my only attempt at trying stovetop to see the difference) and it turns out great.

After it is ready to go, strain all the solids off and put in 1 L jars and into the freezer once they have cooled down (adding too many jars of hot liquid directly into the freezer can cause the temperature to warm significantly and effect food safety).

I don’t say this often but it is nearly impossible to make this poorly; make the effort and the result is awesome.

Something simple like this dish/prep really makes me connect with my roots and people that have come before me. It’s something that has been made by my mother, grand mother, great grand mother, and back to their start in Hungary. It is made by the poor as well as the extremely wealthy and, I might be waxing poetic, but it is just cool making something so delicious, accessible, and ubiquitous in our culture.

Cole rating 10/10 (really hard to fuck up)