5 ms·
There are two things a good meat stock provides, one is flavor, and the other is _gelatin_. Vegetable provides the first but not the second, and store bought m
by empath-nirvana 3y ago
There are two things a good meat stock provides, one is flavor, and the other is _gelatin_. Vegetable provides the first but not the second, and store bought meat stock has the first, but not the second. A really good homemade meat stock will gel _solid_ if you refrigerate it. I've never found a brand of store bought meat stock that has an appreciable amount of gelatin.
One way to level up your pan sauces at home is to dissolve a packet of clear unflavored gelatin per cup of stock before using it -- give it about 10 minutes to bloom first and then stir it. It'll make it much thicker and richer as it reduces -- and this works for basically any recipe that needs stock.
- zwieback 3y agoDiscovered by accident that really low end pork from the supermarket, which I throw in the slow cooker for various uses, yields a great nearly solid stock. I was going to just use the lard swimming on the top but when I tasted the stuff that solidifies underneath it was delicious.
- giantg2 3y agoThere's a technical name for that stuff. That's one on the main ingredients of Spam.
- dekhn 3y agoMost stock recipes have a "degreasing step" where you're splitting the lard from the stock (because fatty stock is kind of ... gross?)
- zwieback 3y agoRight, I use both. I degrease the stock but the lard is also fantastic. For chicken or turkey I would just throw the fat away but lard is great.
- plufz 3y agoAs someone who has been a vegetarian for over 25 years I’ve never heard of this. Why would you want your stock to have a thickener? Isn’t it easier to just add a thickener to the food you make so you can control how thick or thin the result is?
- papercrane 3y agoA more viscous sauce will adhere to the food it's on better and feels different in your mouth. Most people would describe it as "richer".
- Klonoar 3y agoYou've never heard of using cornstach slurries (sp) to thicken soups? I feel like that's a pretty well known trick for getting the mouth-feel right.
- plufz 3y agoSorry if I was vague. My question was why you would want your meat stock to have a thickener. I mean I don’t premix all my cornstarch with spices and salt since I want to be able to pick the right amount of aromas and taste separately from how thick I make my soup.
- ska 3y agoThey were pointing out that with meat stocks it depends what went into the pot - a good home made (or restaurant) one typically already has enough to make it “gel” in the fridge. The box types you mostly get in a store didn’t have this, so might want to add if your recipe assumes it.
- Klonoar 3y agoAh, got it - your comment(s) make more sense now for sure.
- clawlor 3y agoIt's more of a mouthfeel thing than a thickener. Gelatin, in the amounts found in a good stock, will still be quite liquid when the stock is at serving temperature, but will sort of coat your mouth with flavor even when the broth hasn't been thickened with a roux or cornstarch.
- tptacek 3y agoThis is a post about vegetable stock, not about meat stock.
- 369548684892826 3y ago[flagged]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Hikikomori 3y agoCan find it here, think it's a brand that mostly sell to restaurants. It's like a package of jelly when it comes out of the fridge, have to spoon it out. Otherwise I use gelatin in pan sauces if I'm not using flour or other thickeners. Also easier to hit the right consistency as I can just add more unlike with flour that should be cooked in fat first.