Stocking Up - Part One     Return to recipe page     Part 1 2 3 4 The reality is few of us take the time to make stock from scratch these days and rely instead on whatever we find on our supermarket shelf. Do you find yourself buying canned chicken broth and yet throwing out the bones of roasted chicken? Does your beef broth consist of a bouillon cube and some boiling water? Does your brown gravy start with brown powdered mix? Grandmother Saved Everything for Stock Making In an ideal world, we would have containers of rich and flavorful homemade stock tucked away in our freezer waiting for the next batch of soup, stew, gravy or sauce. Contrary to what giant food producing companies would have us believe, stocks are extremely easy to make and the best part is that many of the ingredients may be had for free! Stock making is quite simple, it mostly consists of bones, some pieces of meat and fat, vegetables, a few herbs and water. Good stock making is also very frugal and uses scraps and leftovers that might otherwise be thrown out. Save all kinds of bones, meat trimmings, scraps, fat, grizzle, tendons and skin. Don't throw out those discarded ends or parings from carrots, celery, parsnips, leeks, broccoli, add them to your stock bag in the freezer. The advantages of homemade stock include: 1) it extracts every bit of goodness out of kitchen scraps like bones, meat and vegetable remnants so nothing is wasted and that saves you money. 2) it contains no artificial colors, additives, or preservatives and you can adjust the sodium content to your taste or dietary needs 3) it is nutritious and easily digested 4) it is versatile and has many uses 5) it freezes superbly for use when you need it 6) you get higher quality and more a flavorful product than commercial products, and for less money I find it handy to keep separate bags in the freezer for collecting vegetable and meat scraps, bones and even fruit. The simplest way to accumulate ingredients for stock is to keep containers or ziploc baggies in your freezer. Store the stock making ingredients all together or separate, whatever works for the way you cook. Keep adding kitchen scraps like meat bones, chicken skin, vegetable peelings and mature produce you don't care to use, and so forth, until you've gathered enough ingredients for a pot of stock. You will need about 2 lbs of meat and bones and at least 1 lb of mixed vegetable parts to include some onions, carrots and celery. Types Of Stock White stocks are made from un-browned bones and remain relatively clear and should not have a strong color. White Stock is made by simmering poultry, beef, or fish bones with herbs and spices in water to extract the water-soluble proteins that provide flavor and body. Mushrooms trimmings, onions and celery are most generally used. Brown Stock is made by first browning poultry, beef, veal, or game bones. Brown stocks achieve their deep rich color and aroma when bones and meat are browned during preliminary roasting process. The color of vegetable stock depends upon the type of vegetables and the amounts used.