On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:41:37 -0500, "jmcquown" >
wrote:

>"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
That's fine, we're going out for brunch and I'm practicing with my
MokaPot.

>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.
I followed the directions in the CIA Textbook:
Six pounds of beef bones (coat with oil and roasted), cold water to
cover, quickly up to a simmer, then down to between 180-200^F for 5
hours. At the beginning of hours six, throw in sweated mirpoix with
two Tablespoons of tomato paste. Simmer for another hour. Strain and
chill. Next day I removed the fat and simmered for about four more
hours, thus reducing to about 25%.

>
>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?

No stock; although I've used base before, I'm trying to see what the
big deal is with sauces and would like to follow the pros and see if
their results are superior to opening up a can of low sodium Swanson's
(my favorite, but salty). As this is a foundation, I figured I'd keep
my flexibility by leaving any additional flavoring until I was
deglazing something.
>
>Stock needs to simmer on *very* low heat for a very long time... we're
>talking 8-10 hours. You cannot rush it.
True; make bread in the interval.
>
>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 are correct. I'll go look....it looks like light coffee jello
>
>*You should always strain stock of added vegetables and any bits of meat and
>remove the bouquet garni prior to chilling it.
Did that.
>
>Jill
- Mike