LurfysMa wrote:

> Thanks to the help I received here and elsewhere, my chicken
> stock/soup and beef stock/stew results are steadily improving.
>
> I just took a tub of chicken soup out of the freezer -- made about a
> week ago. It was pretty good. Not great, but good.

I never freeze my stock, it has always seemed to go stale by the time i
take it out of the freezer.

If you want to preserve the stock for longer than immediate use try
boiling it down to a thick gel, a 'glace'. Instructions can be easily
found in most good french cook books, but its just a matter of time and
tediously skimming and transferring to smaller and smaller pans. Kept
tightly covered in the fridge it can keep for weeks if not months. But
it is very important to keep it in an air tight container, transferring
it to smaller containers as it is used up. I do this during the winter
holidays when there is an over abundance of stock making materials,
otherwise i just reheat my stock every day.

>
>
> However, I noticed that there were a lot of little pieces of orange
> "paper" floating here and there. I think it's carrot skin -- as that's
>
> the only orange ingredient.
>
> I did not peel the carrots because I have been told that I wouold lose
>
> a lot of the vitamins. It that true?

Yes when eaten raw, but stock is for flavor not nutrition, yes there is
residual nutrition, mostly protean from any meat and i suppose a few
minerals, but nutrition is not the point of stock, rather taste or
flavor is what stock is made for.

A good veggie stock can then be heated up and a few fresh, peeled or un
peeled veggies simmered in the stock till the degree of doneness is
reached and then served.

>
>
> I just scrubbed them well with a coarse sponge pot scrubber.
>
> I don't mind the skins. They are not at all tough, but they look a
> little funny. I would feel odd serving them to anyone.

After my stock is completely done, skimmed and old bones, meats and
veggies removed i then filter it with several layers of cheese cloth,
this will remove any small bits that not only are unsightly but can
spoil and cause the whole stock to 'go off'.

There is a technique using egg shells to clarify stock but i have never
found it particularly helpful, if a meat stock is attended to properly,
started in cold water and allowed to heat up, and skimmed as the meat or
bones throw of particulate mater at various temperatures a non cloudy
stock should be the result. Same with veggies, usually the reason a
veggie stock is cloudy is that the veggies have been cooked too long and
have started to dissolve, this is only important from an aesthetic
perspective, a clear stock, it is argued, is better looking than a
cloudy stock.

>
>
> Suggestions?

See above.
---
JL

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