How to Make Broth-Based Clear Soup

Great lesson. I just wish it weren't so hot today. We'd be having the Phở tonight for sure. I'm really hungry now.

Thanks Linda, glad you liked it. You know, if you were in another culinary school, the teacher would say "it doesn't matter how hot it is outside...you still have to do your homework".

I guess that's the beauty of Rouxbe, you can finish your homework whenever you like, and you won't get in trouble :-)

Happy Cooking Linda, and make sure to bookmark the Phở for later, as it is a good one!

Soups are one of my favorite dishes and I didn't know that blanching meat and bones was even an option! And of course it makes perfect sense. Very interesting stuff.

In this lesson you show how to make broth-based soups. Can the meat and mirepoix be reused either in the soup or other dished. It seems like a waste to throw all of these ingredients away after cooking.

This is addressed in Topic 3 of the Broth-Based Clear Soup Lesson, around the 1:00 mark. Same goes for a Broth as well.

Saving the vegetables is not always done, but you could. I guess it would depend on how long the broth was cooked and whether or not the vegetables still have enough flavor and texture to make it worth it. Cheers!

My husband had the same question, until he saw the mass after I strained the broth. And the broth was oh so good.

Is consommé when you blanche your broth? I think I remember something using egg whites?

A consomme is a clarified meat or fish broth. Consommes are super clear due to something called a "raft", which is a combination of ground meats, egg whites and other aromatics and mirepoix. As the broth simmers the protein solids start to congeal and rise to the surface to form the raft which traps the impurities and clarifies the broth.

Consomme is something that will be covered in the future. Cheers!

Why does anyone want the broth to be super clear?

A well made consomme should be rich in flavor, properly seasoned, crystal clear and free of fat. Consomme is a specialty of French cuisine and if done right, it can be an elegant soup on its own. It is often served as a first course or as a palate cleanser. The beauty of a well-made consomme is that there is nothing to hide behind, so it is a true test of a cook's skills. Cheers!

This time of year, it seems like a good idea to think about what I can do with that left over cooked turkey carcass, neck, and bones.

My question is, should I be using the left-overs (including the carcass) to make soup? broth? or stock? or do I even have a choice?

My guess is that if I simmer the carcass and mirepoix with lots of water, for about 4 hours, I'll get turkey stock. If I reduce the stock long enough, or use a higher ratio of meat to water I'll get broth, and if I add some vegetables and a fresh supply of left-over meat, and other garniture at the finishing stage, I'll have Turkey Soup. Am I even close?

I guess the question becomes, what to do with that left-over turkey carcass?

I'm throwing the question back at you. It sounds like you have done some homework and already have your options :) What do you want to make? There is plenty of discussion in the forums on using leftover poultry carcasses for the things you describe. Now, it's just about getting in the kitchen and making something and practicing. Happy cooking!

Loved the lesson. Learned about blanching the meat which is something I did not do in the past. Each step was easy to understand and it was easy to follow along. Will be able to put this information to good use.

In the first part it says to skim the impurities as the chicken cooks. Then the next step tells you to discard the murky liquid. Why skim if I'm getting rid of it anyway? I was surprised that it said to discard it. I would have thought it could be filtered somehow. In any case, the broth came out really good.

It is best to get rid of any impurities as they rise to the surface whether you choose to blanch the bones or not. The more impurities that are removed, the clearer and cleaner the broth will be. Even if you drain the murky water, a lot of that gunk can stick to the bones/meat. It just helps to give you a cleaner broth. Cheers!

I never thought about the scum adhering to the meat and/or bones, even the sides of the pan. That makes total sense. Thanks for the explanation Kim.

Great job explaining the topic!

For some reason, I have never heard the term "mirepoix" although I did notice a bowl of celery, onion, and carrots. Does the term include other ingredients?

We do not have a glossary at this time; however, the video on "What is Mirepoix" is displayed in Topic 3 of this lesson. You can also search the site for other videos and tips/techniques by typing the term in the search bar at the top right of any page. Cheers!

I appreciate the distinction between a soup and basic broth but take issue with the True/False question: "The same amount of liquid is used when making a soup broth and a basic broth. Answer: False. It is my understand (and experience) that there is a higher percentage of ingredients to liquid in a soup broth - not necessarily less liquid.

Good point. The question has been updated. Cheers!

Newbie to cooking and was wondering if I can make broth ahead of time and store for later use? If so how long and can I freeze it? Also how long can it be kept in freezer and refrigerator?

Yes you can. I make gallons of broth and stock at a time, so I seal 2 cup portions in FoodSaver packs. I label and date them, then freeze them and pull them out to thaw as needed. The nice thing about two cup packs is that it makes it easy to thaw only the amount you need, pre-measured, and easy to thaw quickly by immersing the sealed pack in boiling water, or overnight in the fridge. Because they are in airtight, frozen packs, they stay good for months. Even if not frozen, the sealed packs will keep the broth good for several weeks in the fridge.

i dont know what i did wrong nut the taste of the broth isnt strong. Taste is watered down. Is there any way to strenthen the the taste of this broth

The flavour of the broth is coming from the mirepoix, bones, and meat, bouquet and the amount of time it is simmered, and the amount of water used. I like to make sure that everything is 'just covered' with water, and slowly simmered for hours. I also make sure I leave fairly generous portions of meat on the bones. In general, the longer it simmers, the stonger the flavour.

One more thing, Efrain... be prepared for how jello like your stocks can become, particularly after being cooled. The gelatin is normal and desirable (for a stock). Initially it sort of grossed me out, but it makes amazing gravies, soups, and pilafs. I just don't let anyone watch me as I use it, since those watching tend to get grossed out too. :)

Thank you for info Leigh. When you say you simmer for hours you mean after you have taken the meat off the bone? Also can you tell roughly how long it takes to extract the the flavor of the chicken because I simmered the stock for quite a bit of time? Thank you in advance

OK. Two different approaches here... and forgive me, because I am still not totally clear on all the differences between stock and broth, so I'll just describe the procedures I use, and you can call it what you want:

Personal note: I don't really like the texture or flavour of boiled meat, so I usually just leave the meat simmering with the bones for the entire cooking time and throw the meat and bones to the dogs when I'm done. The dogs think I am the worst cook in the world because the bones I give them are so flavourless!! By the time I'm done with them all the flavour has been extracted -- and the dogs notice!

FROM RAW UNCOOKED BONES:
eg, when I lived on a little island in the Pacific, the chickens were so tough and scrawny that I would take two entire chickens and simmer them on the stovetop (along with the mirepoix, etc) overnight, skimming impurities from the surface occasionally and adding additional water every few hours. Lets put it this way, you can't really overcook it. I didn't add any salt, or other seasonings to the stock because I want to be able to season it as I use it in other dishes. So, by itself, it wasn't that tasty, but used as the base for other dishes, it was amazing. It was a great way of putting otherwise nearly inedible chickens to good use.

I used to enjoy having a few of the locals over for dinner and intrigue them with rice pilaf, and chicken pot pie. They had only ever had boiled white rice and barbequed chicken. Sauces, gravies and flavourful rice were totally foreign to them. It wasn't long before word got around that I was a good cook.

FROM COOKED MEATS AND BONES:
This is my favorite, particularly from ribs, chicken and turkey. Christmas was a gold mine for me. I volunteered to help clean up after the Christmas dinner that our church put on in early December. I gathered up all the Turkey carcasses. What everyone else saw as garbage, I knew I could turn into liquid gold. People were more than happy to give me all the waste! I took them home and cut the carcasses into pieces so I could fit more into the pot.

The smell in the house was amazing as the turkey bones simmered all day, and the resulting stock was incredible. Once stock is finished, it is important to cool it quickly, Now that I am back in Canada it was easy. I just took the pot outside and stuck it in the snow., once cooled, I stored it as described earlier. I was able to use the stock made from these turkeys to make gravy for my own Christmas dinner, and the leftover meat from Christmas Day to make Turkey Pot Pies.

What it has done for me is make it so I don't stress too much about getting every little piece of meat off the turkey/roast/chicken when I am carving it. I know it'll all get used in the resulting broth/stock.

That being said, stock making is very forgiving. If you want to remove the meat from the bones and use it for other recipes, go ahead. Just do while there is still some flavour left in the meat. You can, and usually should return the bones to the broth and then simmer as long as necessary. I find I am most successful when my ratio of bones to water is high. I throw all the inedible leftover pieces I can find into the stock pot. Skin, necks, bones, giblets, fat, juices. Nothing gets wasted.

Leigh

PS. I am just a student like you. I hope the information I have given is helpful, but don't take my experience as gospel. Now that you've tried a time or two, go back through the stock making lessons. You will always pick up things you've missed the first time through.

Great info Leigh! Just a couple things. The main difference between a stock and broth is that broth is cooked initially with the meat on the bones and if simmered, the meat can be removed once it is just cooked through and/or tender so it can be used in other dishes. The sequence is nearly the same.

One note about storing stocks or broths. For food safety reasons, both of these should only be stored in the refrigerator for a few days/up to a week. They contain protein, so it's like storing cooked meat in the refrigerator .Smell and/or taste before using and make sure to always bring stock/broth to a boil when using them. I store my stock in 1 or 2 cup plastic containers. I just run the container under hot water and pop out the block into a pot/pan and bring it to a boil. Cheers!