Stocks & Broths
Stock (Bones to Water to Aromatics)
Also: white stock, brown stock, fond blanc, fond brun, bone broth ratio, bouillon ratio
1 kg bones : 3 litres cold water : 200 g mirepoix produces a deeply flavored, naturally gelling fond in 4–6 hours.
Stock is the foundational savory liquid of Western and many Asian cuisines: cold water drawn up through bones and aromatic vegetables by controlled simmering, then strained. The bones-to-water ratio determines final body and gelatin concentration; the aromatic proportion (mirepoix) provides sweetness and depth without overwhelming the bone character. Getting this ratio right is the single most important technique in professional and serious home cookery because every sauce, braise, and risotto built on the stock inherits its quality.
The proportions
- 1 kg
- Meaty bones (veal, chicken, beef, or pork) — Veal knuckles and feet highest in collagen; chicken backs and necks balance gelatin with mild flavor; roast for brown stock
- 3 litres
- Cold water — Always start cold — slow protein coagulation produces clearer stock; never add boiling water mid-cook
- 100 g
- Onion — Half of the mirepoix by weight; charred cut-face adds color in brown stocks
- 50 g
- Carrot — Adds sweetness and mild color; not used in white veal stock if perfect pallor is required
- 50 g
- Celery — Aromatic backbone; celery root (celeriac) gives deeper flavor
- 1 bundle
- Bouquet garni — Bay leaf, thyme sprigs, parsley stems, black peppercorns (4–6); tied or in cheesecloth — add at the start, remove before straining
Method
Rinse bones under cold water and place in a stockpot. Cover with cold water and bring slowly to a bare simmer (never a rolling boil). Skim grey foam diligently for the first 15 minutes until skimmings run clear. Add mirepoix and bouquet garni. Maintain a very gentle simmer (surface barely trembling, 85–90 °C) throughout: chicken 3–4 hours, veal 6–8 hours, beef 8–12 hours. Never stir — agitation clouds the stock. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve lined with damp cheesecloth. Cool rapidly over an ice bath to below 4 °C within 2 hours. Defat when cold.
Tips
- Blanching bones first (cover with cold water, bring to boil, discard water, rinse) dramatically reduces scum and produces clearer stock.
- A rolling boil emulsifies fat into the liquid permanently — there is no way to un-cloud a stock once boiled hard. Maintain a bare tremble.
- Salt is not added to stock. Season the final dish, not the base — over-salted stock becomes intolerably salty when reduced.
- The stock is done when it gels on a cold spoon in the freezer within 2 minutes. If it doesn't, simmer longer.
- Freezing in ice cube trays (approximately 30 ml each) lets you add precision amounts to sauces and risottos.
- Never cover a simmering stock — the lid causes condensation to drip back, diluting and clouding the liquid.
- A good veal stock will set to the consistency of Jell-O when refrigerated overnight — this is desirable, not a defect.
Variations
- Brown stock (fond brun)
Roast bones at 220 °C until deep mahogany; sauté mirepoix until caramelized; tomato paste added and pinçé before deglazing — produces richer, darker fond for demi-glace
- Chicken stock (fond de volaille)
1 kg chicken backs/necks : 3 litres water; 2–3 hours maximum; most versatile all-purpose stock
- Veal stock (fond de veau)
Highest gelatin content; basis for demi-glace and glace de viande; simmer 6–8 hours
- Pork stock
Common in Southeast Asian and Chinese cuisines; pork trotters exceptionally gelatinous; typically simmered 4–6 hours with ginger and scallion in Chinese applications
- Rôti (glace de viande)
Stock reduced by 90% to a syrupy gel; 1 litre stock → 100 ml glace; used as an instant flavor intensifier
- Korean gomtang / seolleongtang
12–24 hour boiling (not simmering) of ox bones produces milky-white collagen emulsion — a deliberate inversion of the classic French clarity rule
Related ratios
Shorter extraction, lighter aromatics, and far less gelatin — governed by a separate timing discipline
Finished stock is the base; natural gelatin content determines whether supplemental gelatin is required for aspic
- Demi-Glace (Stock Reduction)
Classic brown stock reduced by 50% with espagnole sauce; the canonical French mother-sauce derivative
Appears in
References
- 1.Escoffier, Auguste. Le Guide Culinaire. Flammarion, 1903 (trans. Cracknell & Kaufmann, Wiley, 2011)
- 2.Ruhlman, Michael. The Elements of Cooking. Scribner, 2007
- 3.McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner, 2004
- 4.Peterson, James. Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making. Wiley, 2008
Confidence: high
Notes
Cold start is not negotiable
Starting with cold water is the single most important clarity rule. As temperature rises slowly, proteins coagulate into large, filterable clumps that rise to the surface as skimmable foam. A hot or boiling start denatures proteins too quickly into fine particles that remain suspended — producing a permanently grey, murky stock no amount of straining will fix. This is why professional stocks are always begun in cold water, and why they are strained while still hot through wet cheesecloth, not allowed to cool in the pot.
Yield economics
The 1:3 bones-to-water ratio produces roughly a 33% reduction in final yield under normal simmering conditions. A 1 kg batch of bones started in 3 litres yields approximately 2 litres finished stock. Scaling up is linear. Professional kitchens often increase the bone ratio to 1:2 for a more concentrated result, then dilute to taste — this is more economical in energy but requires more bones per litre of output.