Leaves are falling,

there’s a chill in the air, and we’re reaching for sweaters more often; this can mean only one thing: it’s soup season, baby. Whether it’s chicken noodle or cream of tomato, stock is the heart of any good soup recipe, and homemade stock is a great way to amp up all of your favourites. And it doesn’t just stop with soup. Why use water when stock can add flavour to rice, sauces, and more? The best part is that it’s easy to make. In a matter of hours, you can transform kitchen scraps into liquid gold. Have we convinced you yet? Let’s get into it.

What is Scum?

“Scum” is the broken down proteins and impurities found on the surface of along-simmering stock. It usually appears as a bunch of greyish particles floating on the top of the liquid.  It will look somewhat dirty and gross, and if you want a clear and more refined stock, simply skim off the scum with a spoon. Note: Scum doesn’t really affect the flavor of the stock, but it greatly affects the appearance of the stock and, as a result, how appetizing the stock looks.

Make it Your Own

Stock is an incredibly versatile ingredient, and it will change flavors depending on what you put in the pot. Typically, your best bet* for flavorful stocks are:

• Pork: Pork neck bones
• Beef : Beef neck bones
• Fish: Fish heads
• Chicken: Chicken Carcass

Pork and beef neck bones, as well as fish heads, are typically very cheap to purchase, and are often available at your local small market (We get ours from our Asian market). Chicken carcasses may be harder to come by on their own, but if you purchase a whole fryer chicken, and reserve the carcass, you get both the means to make stock and pairs of breasts, thighs, wings, and legs.

You can include root vegetables like carrot, celery, and onion, but you can also omit them entirely for a meat flavored stock. The flip side is also true – include only vegetables, and you have an easy vegetable stock for any soups you need to make on the fly. Only cook vegetable stocks for an hour, or else the stock may become bitter.

If you want to take your broth to the next level, you can add things like kombu, dried mushrooms, bacon, smoked fish or oysters, Worcestershire sauce, fresh herbs, whole spices, sambal, soy sauce – the list is endless, and entirely decided by what flavors you want on hand in your stock. Stocks are a blueprint: Play around with your favorite flavors and make it your own!

How to Make Stock

Everything in the pot

Add all ingredients to a large stockpot and bring to a boil.

Making stock is this simple! Wash all your ingredients, cut into large pieces, then add them in. If you want to blanch your bones before adding everything to the pot, feel free. Blanching is not required, but it will make your stock even clearer and more appealing to the eye: This is due to getting some extra impurities off of the bones even before you begin.

Simmer

Reduce heat and allow to simmer for at least 4 hours, occasionally skimming scum from the surface. If the liquid reduces too much, refresh the pot with more water.

Add water until it covers everything in the pot. If water levels get too low, just add more: Don’t worry about adding too much water. If you find the stock is too bland after 4 hours of cooking, simply keep cooking – the flavors will intensify as more collagen is extracted from the bones and more water evaporates from cooking.

Cool and Strain

Remove from heat, allow to cool, then strain.

If you want to have an easier time pouring the broth through a strainer, scoop out the large solids from the broth before pouring it.

Store

Divide the stock into clean containers. It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or can be frozen.

You can keep your stock in the freezer in large containers, or if you’re low on space, pour it into ice cube molds; then, you can pop the cubes out of the mold, and keep them all in a big, flexible plastic freezer bag. We love this method, as it allows us to add a little stock to different dishes on demand.

There you have it! You can now make stock and always have some on hand. Your tastebuds (and your wallet) will thank you, especially when you use it to make some comforting and delicious chicken noodle soup. Enjoy!