Hi I hope this is the right place on the site to ask this. I've now made three full batches as close to the video as I can with proportioned weight. Tasting it after strained, I'm kind of underwhelmed. I can taste some of the ingredients but a bitter taste sits on the back of my tongue. I was sure to remove mirepoix burnt bits etc. What am I missing? is this stuff that much better than water? when I read of instructors warming it up and drinking it, and how lovely it is, I have to be doing something wrong? or should I add something to it? I'm so confused by stock. Thanks

Hi Eric, first of all I'd like to comend you for your perserverance, as long as you keep cooking you will keep on improving. Stock is one of those core foundation of cooking that requires practice. Stock and sauce making in a professional kitchen is done by the saucier and this position is the most senior of all of them, so don't give up. Now to your points, if it is bitter then it is because some of the bones "tips" may have gotten too dark. Note that the bones don't have to be black to be burned thus bitter, dark brown and you are already too far. Even though we teach you with chicken bones because they are inexpensive and easy to get, beef bones are better as they will not get too dark as easily. Also you may want to rub the chicken bones with some oil using your fingers, this will protect them from browning too dark too fast. Try again, everytime you do, you will learn something new, tell me if it woks any better.
Hope it helps.

I really made sure they were extra brown, I thought that would deepen the flavor they almost looked deep fried. Also I'm confused about adding water. The instructors say if you don't add water it won't take flavor from anything above the water line, that makes sense, but if I keep adding water aren't I just diluting it down? and should I be tasting it through the cooking process? and should I skim all the fat I see and the white foam bubbles? Thanks

Tonight I pan fried chicken breasts and took some of that stock I made and reduced it. It just tasted like weak watered vegetable soup with some hint of chicken. No flavor of boquet garni anywhere. So I then deglazed the pan with it added some salt and pepper. It was all right but nothing amazing. What should I have done different?

Honestly Eric, at this point, I am not sure what to tell you. Stock, when executed properly, is wonderful and full of flavor. Ask any chef, in almost any kitchen and they will say that stock is one of the back bones of their kitchens.

I am not sure what to say to you. To me, it sounds like your stock is weak and therefore lacks flavor. Maybe the pot you were using was way too big? The bones and mirepoix should fit snuggly in the pot and then just be covered with water. I guess I can only repeat that these things take practice. Then again, it could have been a number of other things. Too many vegetables, roasting the bones too long, not enough bones to mirepoix/water.

Now that you have made the stock, re-watch the lesson and re-read the recipe to see if perhaps you did something differently.

Alternatively, you may want to check out the Drill-down called "Alternatives to Chicken Stock"

I would also encourage you to continue to write your comments regarding stock in the stock making lesson, rather than starting yet another thread. Cheers!

Dawn Kimberley asked me on the dark stock thread to post on the student forums.

What Kimberley meant in her previous response when she said "Also, keep in mind where you look for posted questions. The question and answer may not be attached to the practice recipe, but rather to the actual lessons on how to make various stocks. " was that it is much better to post questions related to a lesson on the actual lesson itself, rather than just on the a recipe.

I know it may seem confusing but you will get the hang of it. In the case of the dark chicken stock questions they are better posted on the lesson called "How to Make Dark Stock" (under the discussions tab) as this is where all related dark stock questions are generally asked and answered. This keeps them all in one central place. Cheers!

Ok also I ordered some stock from a gourmet website. I need the baseline to know what I should be shooting for. For all I know, I may have made it right, just was expecting it to be more than it was. I guess this is the limits of a website vs actually attending a culinary school. Feel free to delete this entire thread. Thanks