Michael Horowitz > wrote:

> Is there a standard taste or feel that cooks use to determine how much
> reduction of the stock is enough or is that something that is a
> variable, corrected during a final reduction?
> Certainly the stronger the stock, the more flavorful the final sauce.

I am afraid that any such standard taste or feel would be quite
impossible to describe, unless you reduce the stock further to the
demi-glace consistency. However, you should not be discouraged, as it
appears that you have done everything basically correctly. It is just
as you say - a stock is a base, a foundation, a stepping stone - and has
in its basic state very little flavour of its own. Jacques Pépin will
(actually does, in his _Complete Techniques_) tell you that such a stock
is supposed to be practically tasteless.

Victor