Stock
Stock is usually defined as an unctuous broth made from bones and cooked long enough to leach collagen from them causing the stock to gel when cold. Now-days you can buy something called “Bone Broth”. Really, stock is bone broth, unless you talk to a company selling them because they want you to buy both.
You can make a beef broth from bones leftover from a roast, or if you can find OxTail bones, they make great broth.
Chicken stock is harder. The chickens commonly found in the grocery store are bred to be tender. If you cook them in a pot for 6-8 hours they would be mush. Chicken stock is best made by as tough a chicken as you can find. We found a source of stewing hens at the Asian market. They don’t look like much but they make great chicken stock. It is an all-day event, so be ready.
I have added an addendum for Instant Pot Lovers!!
For this purpose, I am writing the recipe for chicken stock. You can substitute 1 – 1.5 lbs Ox Tail for beef stock.
Ingredients:
1-2 stewing chickens
1-2 lg onions, coarsely chopped
3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
7 clv garlic, mashed slightly
3 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 tbs whole peppercorns
1 tbs whole Allspice
2 tsp whole cumin
2 tsp whole coriander
3 dried peppers
2 tsp salt
Instructions:
Put everything into a large pot. Cover with water and simmer for 10-12 hours.
Remove all solids from the pot with a spider or slotted spoon and place into a colander set into a bowl. Pour the rest of the broth through a chinois or a strainer. Add anything that has drained off the solids. Put the broth in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, remove the solid fat from the top and prepare your stock for storage.
You can store in the freezer if you want to hold the stock more than a few days. Plastic containers are good, zip top bags work, jars are nice if you will use the stock soon.
Instant Pot Users:
If you have a steamer basket, put all the above ingredients into the steamer basket and set it all into you pot. Cover with water and hit the “soup” button. The timer should go to 4 hours.
When the time is complete, let the pressure release naturally. If you don’t it will sputter liquid all over the place!
The steamer basket makes it easy to remove your solids to a draining bowl.
Proceed as above.