Zero Waste Kitchen Stock
Let’s give kitchen scraps, that would’ve been normally thrown away, a new purpose.
My recipe for kitchen stock really isn’t a recipe at all. It’s more like a complication of ingredients that I have accumulated over time. I save bones, poultry carcasses, veggie peelings, and most greens that come from root vegetables. I freeze them and save them for when I want to make stock at a moment's notice.
I know it sounds a bit strange to save up bones and scraps but it’s really a great way to give kitchen scraps, that would’ve been normally thrown away, a new purpose. You would be shocked to know how much flavor these scraps still have to offer. They make way better stock than you ever buy in any grocery store. So save your money and make your own!
If you are thinking, “doesn’t stock take a lot of time and effort to make?” You would be pleasantly surprised to know that it actually doesn’t. You can easily put on a pot of stock and do something else in the process. It’s definitely a recipe for serial multitaskers, like myself. I can effortlessly clean my house or bake a loaf of bread while I have a pot of this liquid gold cooking. When you have an extremely long to-do list, getting multiple things done at the same time is a truly magical thing. It’s extremely fulfilling to have a fridge filled with homemade stock, that YOU made, for soup AND have a fresh loaf of bread to go with it. What could be better than that?! Let me tell ya, not much. It might seem like a simplistic desire but sometimes it’s the simplest things in life that make you the happiest. For me that just so happens to be homemade soup and fresh bread.
So on that insightful note; let’s pick up a pot, fill it up and get cooking!
Kitchen Stock
Variety of Clean Kitchen scraps Dried herbs and spices Water
Favorite Stock Ingredients: chicken bones, onions, whole carrots, vegetable greens, mushrooms, whole black peppercorns, dried bay leaves and celery seeds.
Don’t let my suggestions limit you! Try a variety of different scraps and spices to suit your tastes.
Add all of your kitchen scraps to a large pot along with your dried herbs and spices. Cover with cool water, taking care that most of your ingredients are submerged. If some of your items are floating that’s ok, they will sink once they start cooking.
Cover the pot and set to high heat on the stove.
Once your stock starts to boil, uncover and turn down to medium heat.
At this point your stock might develop a foam on top, don't panic! It’s just the proteins cooking out of the veggies and bones. Just skim it off with a spoon and discard, problem solved!
Continue cooking your stock for at least two hours. At the end of the cooking time the vegetables should be very soft and fall apart.
When done, strain your stock into a bowl using a mesh strainer. You want to strain the stock away from large pieces of vegetables and/or bones.
After you get done with the initial straining, you have the option to strain it again with cheesecloth. This will remove the fine particulates that were left behind. I always strain my stock for a second time because I like to have a very clear stock.
Store your finished and strained stock in glass jars or containers, refrigerate for up to a week.
*Notes: The two hour cooking period is very important. It reduces excess liquid and condenses the flavors. You can cook it a bit more than two hours but two is the minimum for a flavorful stock.
I do not add salt to my stock. I often use my stock for various recipes and I do not want my food to end up being over salted. It’s easy to misjudge the salt when you’re working with a salted product. Working with an unsalted stock is also a good way to control your sodium intake, if you’re watching it.