"Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
...
> Last night I made beef stock. Tasted very watery.
> Today I spent several hours reducing same.
> Tastes better but still very weak.
> Reading about, I see that this stock is intended to be the foundation
> for other things; serving as a 'base' with which to build i.e. use it
> to deglaze a pan, then (thus fortified, or with additional flavoring)
> reduce further and thicken.
> 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.
> - Mike
>

I have a myriad of questions

How did you make the stock? How much water did you use? Did you use bare
(rendering) bones or bones that had some meat on them? (I tend to save
bones left over from t-bone or porterhouse steaks or standing rib roasts, so
they still have a bit of meat on them*; store the bones in the freezer for
when you're ready to make stock.) If you used rendering bones from the
butcher you should roast them in the oven first for a couple of hours.

Did you add any beef stock base (I hesitate to call it boullion since that
conjurs up images of salty cube things) to enhance it? Did you cook it with
root vegetables? Did you make a bouquet garni of herbs and spices to season
the stock?

Stock needs to simmer on *very* low heat for a very long time... we're
talking 8-10 hours. You cannot rush it.

You mentioned in another post you wound up with lots of beef fat. I'm
assuming (probably a bad idea) you refrigerated it and the fat congealed on
the top? (Yes, this is a question.) From that I surmise you used bones
with meat and some fat still on them. There's nothing wrong with that. But
once you spoon off the congealed fat a good homemade stock should be fairly
gelatinous in its chilled state. If it's liquidyand watery, you made broth
with fat on top, not stock.

*You should always strain stock of added vegetables and any bits of meat and
remove the bouquet garni prior to chilling it.

Jill