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Question to all the HN users cooking broth on vegetable scraps: How do you determine what part of the vegetable is good enough for stock, but not good enough t

Question to all the HN users cooking broth on vegetable scraps: How do you determine what part of the vegetable is good enough for stock, but not good enough to eat? Off my the top of my head: - People say carrot peelings go in the stock, but I am assuming no one is throwing their potato peeling in the stock. (I use neither - that's why I'm peeling it) - Do you use the carrot top? The part you cut off so as not to eat the green. What about the green? - What about either end of an onion? The paper like skin? If so, do you wash it?

fader 3y ago
There's a bit of trial and error to figure it out, depending on the vegetables you eat. Some things make bad stock (e.g. the inner membranes of a bell pepper or any cruciferous veggies will be bitter), some make little difference (the papery onion skin), others are great (carrot peelings). A good stock will have some carrots (peels or chunks), celery (leaves are great for this), onion (the ends are perfect), tomatoes (again, the cut off ends are perfect), and probably whatever parsley or any other veggies that are hanging around and will spoil before I eat them. I keep the flavor profile pretty neutral so maybe a bit of pepper and salt but nothing else. I don't throw in anything that is obviously bad or filthy, but a quick rinse at best is really all you need. The stock will be boiled at least once, more than likely twice (when you cook with it) so I'm more concerned with flavor than bacteria.