Making Basic Vegetable Stock
The best stock is built from the remnants of the week's cooking. Storing carrot peels, onion skins, and celery ends in the freezer until you have enough to fill a pot ensures nothing goes to waste while keeping your pantry stocked with a base for soups and grains.
Watch your bitter balance.
Avoid cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, or cabbage, as they turn the broth sour and sulfurous during long boils. Stick to roots, alliums, and herbs for a clean, sweet profile.
- large stockpot
- fine-mesh strainer
- large bowl
What goes in.
- 2 lbsassorted vegetable scraps (carrot peels, onion skins, celery ends, mushroom stems)
- 1 wholeyellow onion, quartered (skin on is fine for color)
- 3celery stalks, chopped
- 2carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 headgarlic, halved horizontally
- 1 small bunchfresh parsley stems
- 2bay leaves
- 1 tspblack peppercorns
- 3 quartscold water
Don't boil your broth.
A vigorous boil emulsifies impurities and makes the stock cloudy. Keep the liquid at a lazy, bubbling simmer to maintain clarity and extract flavor cleanly.
The method.
Combine
Place all vegetables, herbs, and aromatics into your stockpot. Pour the cold water over them until submerged.
Heat
Set the pot over medium-high heat until the water barely begins to tremble. Reduce the heat immediately to low.
Simmer
Let the pot sit uncovered for one hour. Skim off any gray foam that rises to the surface during the first fifteen minutes.
Strain
Place your fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour the contents through, pressing lightly on the solids to release the liquid, then discard the spent vegetables.
Other turns to take.
Roasted Stock
Toss the carrots, onions, and celery in oil and roast at 400°F until browned before simmering to create a darker, deeper flavor.
Umami Bomb
Add a strip of dried kombu or a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms to the pot for a more savory, intense result.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Cool the stock as quickly as possible by placing the bowl in an ice bath before moving it to the refrigerator.
Do not salt the stock while it simmers; salt it only when you eventually use it in a specific dish.
Freeze leftover stock in ice cube trays for easy measurement when you only need a splash to deglaze a pan.
The ones that keep coming up.
Can I keep adding scraps to the pot?
No. Build your collection in a bag in the freezer first. Once the bag is full, start the batch all at once.
How long will this stay good?
It lasts four days in the refrigerator or up to three months in the freezer.
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