Why You Should Be Making Your Own Stock (And How To Do It In Half The Time)

Almost all restaurants make their own stock – it’s one of the things that gives restaurant food that additional depth of flavor and texture. Traditionally, this process takes 8 – 12 hours at home, but the method here takes less than 2 – and most of that time is hands off – thanks to using a pressure cooker (Instant Pot).

So, why should you make your own stock?

Well, restaurants make their own stock because they also produce a lot of scraps throughout the course of the day – odds and ends of onion, shallots, garlic, celery, carrots; stems of herbs; bones and carcasses of various animals – and the list goes on. Rather than letting all that go to waste, restaurants repurpose this material to save money.

You can do the same thing. Basically, here’s the game plan. EVERY time you cook, save all that stuff you throw away, such as:

The stems and unused leaves of various herbs: Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary
The tops and root ends of onions and shallots
The bottoms, tops, and limp center parts of celery stalks
Carrot peels, and the root ends of carrots
Those little, useless, tiny garlic cloves in the middle of the head of garlic

Instead of tossing this stuff in the garbage, toss it all into a bowl while you’re cooking. Get a 2 gallon Ziploc Freezer Bag going that you keep in your freezer. It’ll take a while to fill that sucker up, but that’s the whole idea. When it’s 2/3 full, you’ve probably got enough stuff for a stock base.

Get another freezer bag going to keep bones from chicken wings, wing tips, thigh bones, breast bones, that bone from the steak you made last weekend, that bone from your pork shoulder you smoked or made ragu with, etc. I used to do chicken stock, beef stock, pork stock… but honestly, these days I just make something I call “Essential Bone Stock” call it a day.

The only exception is seafood stock – Keep lobster bodies, shrimp shells, crab legs and pieces in another Ziploc.

But it’s not just about saving money – it’s also about delivering a superior product. See, bones are rich in marrow, collagen and gelatin which provide for a stock which is easier to emulsify in sauces and has a fuller, silkier mouthfeel. Make your own stock, and you can rule the world (or at least your kitchen).

Here’s how to do it:

Instructions

Preheat Oven to 450°F
Put all that stuff you saved from your freezer bags (bones and odds-and-ends of carrots, onion, celery, garlic bits, herbs, etc) on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil
Roast for 20 – 30 minutes until well browned (a little charring is desirable, but not too much, so keep an eye on it)
Place roasted items into the instant pot
Add aromatics (additional herbs, a knob of ginger if you like, whatever) and gelatin if using
Add 1 gallon (16 cups) of water, or fill Instant Pot to capacity (MAX line)
Seal pressure cooker and cook on high pressure according to the times in the chart below these instructions
Release pressure (or allow time for a natural release if a clearer stock is desired)
Strain large items through a colander – it’s okay if a few smaller bits of stuff are in there
Allow stock to cool to around 100°F
Pour stock into a fat separator through a mesh strainer. If allowing stock to cool in the fridge to separate the fat, strain the stock through a strainer before refriderating
Pour cooled stock 2 cups at a time into 1 Quart Freezer bags and freeze until ready to use