LurfysMa wrote:

> I have a couple more questions about chicken stock and chicken soup.
>
> 1. About how many cups of soup can (should) be made from 1 cup of
> stock? The online recipes vary wildly, but it seems that a rough rule
> of thumb might be something like 1 cup of water for 1 cup of stock. Is
>
> that a reasonable place to start and then adjust to taste and feel?

Why not use all stock, why water down your stock? When i make a big pot
of stock, after skimming and removing the bones and used up veggies i
often have a cup of it as it is so very good. I do not put salt or
pepper in the stock, reserving seasonings for anything i use the stock
for.

>
>
> 2. What is the advantage of making the stock first and then making the
>
> soup as opposed to making the soup directly? One advantage is time and
>
> the ability to do them at different times. But if I have the time to
> do it all at once, is there any reason to do it in two steps?

A lot has to do with how much stock you are making, if you are making a
couple of gallons at a time it seems to me better to concentrate on the
stock making and then when it is finished make the soup, however, if you
were only making a pint or two you could remove the used up veggies and
bones and then add your soup ingredients directly to the skimmed stock,
but even then i like to have the stock ready to go and add fresh veggies
with each new soup recipe.

A simple vegetable soup could be made immediately with the stock but
just about any other soup, bean, cream, stew, or other more complex
soups are made in various stages so as to have all the meats and veggies
cooked for the appropriate amount of time.

If making a soup with meat, even already cooked meat one would still
want to do a bit of skimming after the meat has simmered a bit and then
let it become tender from simmering. And this is even more important if
using raw meats in a soup. Then adding the veggies for the soup at the
last moment and only simmering till they are ready to eat. The
exception to this would be fish soups, shrimp, or other cut up seafood
which cooks very quickly. Braising a large piece of fish is a good way
to get a small amount of tasty stock and a nicely cooked fish.
---
JL