Dark Stock

Z28Camaro

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Since moving to Russia I have been missing the availability of pre-made broth/stock. It simply doesn’t exist in the stores here and instead people either use bullion cubes or make their own broth.

Bullion cubes are convenient but I find their taste to be a bit like chemicals. After learning some Russian recipes I decided to make a batch of my own to keep in the freezer. Not being one to do things the easy way, I went all out and made some really good dark stock that will work well for a lot of different things. Process I followed is as follows.

I started with beef bones, about 5 lbs. Veal bones are the best if you can get them due to the extra collagen. Chicken bones will also work and are easy to get.

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I mixed a couple tablespoons of tomato paste with a little water and brushed it all over the bones. Then take a couple tablespoons of flour and dust them all a bit on all sides.
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Oil some pans and throw the bones on and throw in the oven at about 400F. Turn them every 20 minutes or so and make sure they don’t burn. There is no need to preheat the oven and the times vary based on your bones and oven.

Rough chop a couple onions, carrots and stalks of celery and put them on another pan. Roast that for about 30 minutes

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Once the roasting is done throw everything in a large stock pot and fill with cold water with peppercorns, bay leaves, thyme, parsley and rosemary.

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The careful cooking of the stock now is key. You can boil the shit out of everything and rush it but the stock will be cloudy. If you slowly bring it to a low simmer and hold it there for 8-12 hours you will have a good result to be proud of. Skim off the fat and foam as it cooks and set it aside. Never boil, only slowly simmer. There is no need to stir anything here, just simmer it forever. You are not trying to reduce the amount of liquid by evaporation.

Once you are satisfied with the cooking of things down, take the pot off the heat and pull out the bones with some tongs. Pour the both through a fine mesh or sieve or cheesecloth.
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Put it in the fridge or freezer and use it and enjoy it.

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Z28Camaro

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Made another batch today and decided to take it to the next level and make some demi-glace.

Followed all the steps above and made a pot of the broth. Then in a second pot, poured a bottle of red wine and some chopped shallots and boiled that down until it was reduced by about half.

Then added the entire pot of broth and brought it all to a good simmer. Continued to slowly simmer and reduce this for several hours until only about 2 cups of liquid was remaining. Strained this through a fine mesh sieve and some cheesecloth a few times. Liquid was not syrup yet but highly concentrated. Put into small containers and then the freezer to add to sauces and other goods later.
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Z28Camaro

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I find I am making a batch of this about once a month now. Every bag of bones I get is unique and it’s easy to compare them. Here are a couple photos from two bags I roasted this evening. You can see the first photo with one of the pans has almost all lumbar vertebrae/T-bones. First time I have seen that as typically it’s rib bones or a mix. The second pan/bag is just a bunch of weird stuff.
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Z28Camaro

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Couple more photos. This is what it looks like after a low simmer for about 24 hours and then the finished result. I don’t think there’s much value to keep it going longer than that. I then let it cool, skim off the fat, pull out the chunks, run it through a fine mesh strainer and a couple layers of cheesecloth and put it in the cups, then throw it in the freezer.

This time I roasted the bones in the oven longer and at a lower temperature. When I roasted the vegetables I ran it at much higher and with the convection fan. Final results are better and the stock has a deeper color and more rich aroma and taste. Using this stuff in recipes like risotto or just about anything that calls for good broth is a game changer. It seems like a lot of work but it doesn’t really take very long for any of the steps except for the simmering. Since it’s low and slow and requires no stirring the stove does the work.


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Z28Camaro

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Made a batch with the carcass and bones of the Thanksgiving turkey. When I roast the turkey I stuff it full of chopped onions, celery, carrots and herbs so all this went in to the stockpot. Went about 12 hours and I left a little of the fat for flavor this time. Cooling in the fridge and then most of it will go to the freezer.

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