Hey Everybody. I’d like to start the New Year with a guest post from one of our readers – Chefbear58. Have you ever eaten MRE’s or camping food day in and day out for weeks on end and got sick of the same flavor day after day? I have and I’ve got to tell you it would have been nice having some idea of how to spice it up. Chefbear58 has agreed to share some TEOTWAWKI cooking tips with us. You just might want to print this out for your SHTF notebook. Read on…
–Jarhead Survivor
——————————————————————-
Stocks and Broths – just because you’re eating canned/dehydrated/freeze dried food, doesn’t mean it has to suck!
–Jarhead Survivor
——————————————————————-
Stocks and Broths – just because you’re eating canned/dehydrated/freeze dried food, doesn’t mean it has to suck!
Let’s start this post by explaining a few differences in the subjects.
1. Stock is made from bones and can be made “light” or “dark”, this refers to the color/flavor/texture.
2. Broth is made from meat, connective tissue, and bone and it can also include skin when made from some animals like poultry.
3. Stock/Broth/soup “bases” come in powder/paste/compressed “cube” forms, high salt, artificial flavors and MSG- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate -best bet is to avoid these unless the real stuff just isn’t your thing- limited uses.
Before we dive in to the long term storage /cooking uses, I am going to give you guys a simple recipe for stock. Below I will explain how to adjust stock into broth. This is a “Light” stock recipe; simple adjustments are made for “dark” stock, and once you have made one good stock you can make good stock out of almost any animal!
4lbs- Chicken carcasses (For stock- use bones only) (For broth- use meat, skin in domesticated poultry broth, and any connective tissues- Connective tissue will turn into gelatin, will explain why that’s good further down
1 bay leaf, 5 parsley stems, 1 ½ tsp peppercorns, 1 strip lemon zest (approximately 1”x2-3”), 2 rosemary stems, 2 garlic cloves- peeled
1 lb onion, ½” dice (avoid “sweet” onions, yellow, white and Spanish work best)
2 gallons water
½ lb celery, ½” dice
2 tbsp fat, oil/lard/butter- whatever you have will work
½ lb leeks, ½” dice (if you don’t have leeks use half the amount of onion)
Place all of the herbs and spices into a piece of cheesecloth, tie closed with a piece of butchers twine leave ~12” extra twine from the knot. Reserve the “sachet” for later. Heat the fat over medium heat, when its heated up, add in the vegetables and cook until softened, do not brown. Once the vegetables are softened add the chicken bones, allow the chicken bones to “warm up”, keep stirring so the veg doesn’t brown. Raise the heat to medium high, pour in the water. Place the “sachet” in the center of the pot, tie the “slack” end of the twine to one of the pot handles, keep the “sachet” off the bottom of the pot. Bring contents to a light boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 2-4 hours without stirring, use a ladle to skim off the foam that will float to the top of the pot. The foam will discolor the stock, and the flavor/texture will be negatively affected. When the bones are soft, strain the stock into a container and allow it to cool. Then place the stock into smaller containers and refrigerate, freeze, or can.
Now I am gonna share with you folks a little “family secret” about stock… after you strain out all the stuff used to flavor the stock, stir in 1 packet of unflavored gelatin for every gallon of water used. Gelatin acts like fat; it engages and coats every part of your mouth. This is the same effect you get when you eat something loaded with butter; the flavor seems to hit you from all sides! Gelatin is made from collagen, found in connective tissues.
Dark stock adjustments- Carrots in place of leeks; lightly brown the veg; roast the bones to obtain a light brown color; you can rub tomato product (i.e. sauce or ketchup) on the bones to get right color/flavor.
It is important to avoid using the spinal cord/skull for stock; they are more likely to contain disease (even if there are no signs, check out CWD or chronic wasting disease.)
Stock rule of thumb- If it walks.. Dark stock (use large bones, i.e. leg, shoulder, pelvis, tail); If it flies.. Light for domesticated.. Dark for game; Fish/Shellfish- DON’T USE oily fish (i.e. salmon) … Light stock method, about 45 minute simmer, may need about 1.5x extra herbs/spices, a “fumet” tends to be a little bland.
Ok, now that you have some stock that would make Emeril CRY, let’s get into how to use it!
1. Use stock in place of water to rehydrate meats- boosts natural flavors, dark chicken stock will work with beef, deer, or pork.
2. After straining the stock, reduce it over medium heat until it is a dark syrup consistency- It is now called “Glace”, the flavors concentrate, excess water evaporates, takes up less space and less is needed to cook with, you may need to add some water if using Glace in cooking.
3. Use the stock as a base for AWESOME soups/sauces.
4. Using “wild game” bones to make stock allows you to get about 1/6 more nutrients/calories from the animal.
5. Hot stock can help to soothe a sore throat, warm you up, and can sustain someone who is sick or unable to handle heavier foods.
6. Stock can be added to instant potatoes/rice to add flavor and texture, especially handy if you don’t have dairy products, but “plays nice” with milk/butter.
7. You might want some “gravy” for the rice/potatoes. You can just thicken the stock to the consistency you want (here is a link to some ideas for thickening, for the sake of space- http://learnsomethingnewtoday.us/2007/09/20/thickening-agents-for-cooking/). For REALLY GOOD GRAVY- cook some onion, garlic, spices, herbs, even bacon, and add to the gravy. Spirits like whiskey, brandy, port etc., all made flavorful additions.
8. Use stock instead of water to can meats with, this creates “double strength” stock to make a soup/sauce with. This “2x stock” can even be used to make TVP (textured vegetable protein) more palatable.
9. If you have stale bread, and some awesome homemade stock… You can make a basic soup! It’s actually pretty good, even better if you have meat/veg to throw in!
10. Use the “pile” of cooked down ingredients from your delicious stock, to lure some fresh meat into your cross-hairs! Mice, Muskrat, Coyote…the neighbor’s pets! Chances are they’re all hungry to, so bait ‘em and trap or shoot ‘em and eat ‘em!
11. Yep sneakin’ ONE more in… Stock/broth is a preservation method, if kept in a cool (<60F) dark place, sealed (Tupperware can wok) it has the potential to keep for weeks, canned it has the potential for months-years! Plus, the “chicks” dig a guy that can whip up some good eats! Use these post SHTF skills wisely young grasshopper!
OK guys, your turn! Have you used/made stock? Do you like it? Have you considered it for long term storage/cooking? After reading this do you think it could find a place on your shelf/in your list of skills? What are some other uses that you know of?
If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them to the absolute best of my knowledge!
Jarhead Survivor & Ranger Man, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge and being a part of your community!
10 comments
Very cool. Thanks for all the info!
To answer your question, I’ve never made stock or used it. My wife bought some one time and used it for something then it was never used again. We threw it out.
I’ve been looking for ways to stretch my protein sources (using the entire chicken for example, not just eating the meat) and it looks like you have me started in the right direction. I also never considered canning it, that’s a pretty powerful option.
Here is a simple idea that you can use today if you haven’t made stock before. Buy one of those precooked chickens you see in the grocery stores for dinner. with just two of us I can get three meals out of one chicken and have some stock left over. I cut the legs and thighs for our meal then I cut the breasts for another meal. Then I strip it of all other meat and put this in a baggy for a soup. Then take the carcase left over including skin and bits and pieces and put them into a pot with two quarts of water. Bring to a boil and set to a simmer for 2-3 hours. Strain out the broth and put into the firdge ofr another meal. I get three chicken meals for two of us from one $4.99 chicken already cooked for me plus some broth for a forth meal. When I make chicken soup I usually only use about a 1-1 1/2 cup of broth and add about the same amount of water. The broth is rich and can easily be thinned when you use it. Let your own taste decide this. For those of you who do not want to put the backbone into the stock pot just use your kitchen shears to snip it out. If you have never done this before let me tell you when the chicken is uncooked it takes more pressure to shear through the bones/ribs but the cut is pretty clean. When you cut the cooked chicken the bones are more brittle so protect your eyes by placing your hand or dishtowel over it when you shear through it.
Prepared N.D.- The canning idea definitely works best when you reduce the stock to a Glace, but it will work for regular stock. I keep both on my shelves.
GoneWithTheWind- I thought I left it in, but must have taken it out when editing, sorry… The spinal cord/skull in a stock is only really an issue when you are using bones from quadrupeds such as beef, deer and animals like them. It’s best to avoid using those parts due to issues such as CWD (mentioned above, typically found in deer/elk) and “mad cow” disease. Chiscken, turkey and other poultry should not be an issue. Remember whenever harvesting any type of animal, if it acts differently than normal or has any unusual characteristics its best not to eat them.
Also, again I must have mistakenly taken it out when editing; Stock can be used to re-hydrate freeze-dried and dehydrated foods. It will help to add flavor to more bland dishes and deepen the flavors in others.
Great ideas. I was planning, when I raise chickens again. To use their parts for stock. This included the spine. I was also thinking of using the wong tips as well to make broth, after I cut off the winglets to use for BBQ wings.
If I’m not mistaken, you can use all parts of a rabbit as the same as poultry. So the spine and skull therein is also safe, but I definitely agree that any hoofed animal should not gave their spine/skull used for food. Perhaps they canbe used for bonemeal for a soil amendment instead?
You are correct, the biggest concern is in large hoofed animals, though it is probably a good idea to not use animals that may have “scavenged” large hoofed animals. Therefore most smaller animals like rabbit should be fine. You can use every part of the chicken for stock, except organs and feathers, I know a few people who use chicken feet they buy from the Asian market they work great and add a lot of collagen.
I usually make stock with chicken or turkey bones. A couple of weeks ago I made pork stock, and it turned out well: lots of garlic, onion and some bay leaves. I use it to make flavored rice, also as a soup base. Although I have never heard of using unflavored gelatine for stock before-this I have to try!! Thanks for sharing your secret recipe.
The last stock I made was lamb dark stock it made some great “Sheppard’s pie”, I have made pork stock it’s almost as versatile as a chicken stock. As mentioned the gelatin really only adds some textural components and helps to make all of your taste buds “pick up” the flavors. Your welcome, and thanks for reading/replying.
Thanks, ChefBear, for your great stock & broth recipes. Can’t wait to try your method of sauteing the veggies first and cooking them with the bones. I think your stock will taste so much better than mine…I go the lazy route and just throw the bones in, then add the veggies after the broth is strained and bones removed.
GoneWithTheWind…you might want to try roasting the chicken yourself. (Although those storeboughts sure are mighty easy). The reason I say this is, save the drippings (the jelly and the fat). I usually throw this into the pot when I’m making up my soup….makes the broth very rich and tasty. I usually end up scooping out most of the fat, though. Just a thought. Hmmm…getting hungry for another chicken LOL. Something I also do is use most of one breast and make up some enchiladas. Usually makes 8 enchiladas with enough left over filling for one BIG burrito. Depending on how much meat is actually used, I might add a can of corn plus some black beans. Mmmm…very tasty. Am just thinking here, but if you’re eating your dehydrated food stores, you could probably use some of the broth from the soup to rehydrate the corn and soak the beans. OK, I’m officially hungry now…..
LindaG- The liquid that comes in the bottom of the rotisserie chickens you buy from the store does contain some gelatin, but as you stated it is mostly fat. It is a good little addition to the stock/broth, but again as you mentioned should be separated from the finished product. An easy way to do this is to chill the stock, the fat will solidify when it is cold enough and make it very easy to remove. This fat can be saved and used to cook with in a situation where the calories ingested really count.
One important thing to note when using stock to rehydrate foods, is that especially for vegetables, using stock will “open it up” for food borne pathogens that they would not typically be subject to. Therefore it is best to rehydrate only what you will be using within a day or so. In everyday life where access to refrigeration is not an issue, re-hydrated foods can be kept up to 7 days (according to the VA dept. of Health).
Thank you all for the responses! I was kind of expecting folks to read and not respond, or just pass this subject by. I hope my post has “sparked” some ideas for your kitchens, and I hope that these ideas will help you all in situations that will certainly happen in the future.
Also, your responses have “sparked” my imagination and I am considering an attempt at squirrel/rabbit stock! Depending on the luck I have hunting in the next few weeks. If I get enough carcasses I will attempt it and will post a reply with my results.
Jarhead & Ranger Man, Thank you again for allowing me to share a little of my knowledge on your blog!