How to make a proper stock

FUNDAMENTALS

A good stock is the quiet backbone of so much cooking — soups, risottos, braises and sauces all lean on it. Make your own and the difference over a cube is not subtle: deeper flavour, real body, and none of the harsh saltiness.

This guide covers what stock actually is, how it differs from broth, the few things you need, and a reliable method you can lean on every time.

How do you make stock?

To make stock, simmer bones (for meat stock) or chopped vegetables with aromatics — onion, carrot, celery, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns — in cold water. Bring it up slowly, hold it at a bare simmer and skim the surface as you go: one to two hours for chicken or fish, three to four for beef. Strain, cool quickly and it is ready to use or freeze. The single rule that matters most is never to let it boil hard, or the stock turns cloudy. The full method for chicken, beef, fish and vegetable stock is below.

What stock actually is

Stock is water that has been taught to taste of something. You simmer bones, vegetables and aromatics together long enough for everything they contain — collagen, minerals, natural sugars, flavour compounds — to dissolve into the liquid. What you’re left with is a deeply flavoured base that makes everything you cook with it better.

It is not the same as a cube. A stock cube is salt with flavouring. It has its place, but it is not stock.

Why stock matters

Stock adds body, savouriness and depth that water simply can’t. The collagen from the bones gives sauces their silky weight. The slow extraction of vegetables and aromatics gives a backdrop of flavour that you can taste in the finished dish even when you can’t quite name it. Shop-bought stock is mostly salt and flavouring — useful in a pinch, but never the same.

Why bother making your own

Shop-bought stock has improved considerably. There are some decent fresh stocks available in supermarkets now. But homemade stock has qualities that no carton can replicate.

When you make stock from bones, particularly roasted ones, you extract collagen that converts to gelatin as it cooks. A good stock, when chilled, should set to a loose jelly. That gelatin is what gives a sauce or a braise its body — that quality of coating your mouth rather than just washing over it.

Homemade stock is also almost free. You are using things that would otherwise be thrown away.

Stock vs broth

The two words get used interchangeably, but there’s a useful distinction.

Stock is made primarily from bones. It’s unseasoned, simmered for hours, and prized for its body — the gelatine from the bones is what makes a good stock set to a wobble in the fridge.

Broth is made from meat (often with bones), seasoned, and meant to be sipped or eaten on its own. It’s lighter, quicker, and tastes finished rather than foundational.

The four main stocks

• Chicken stock — the most versatile and the best place to start. Works in soups, risottos, sauces, braises, pasta dishes and more. Made from a chicken carcass, preferably roasted, with vegetables and aromatics.
• Beef stock — richer and more robust. Made from roasted beef bones, ideally with some marrow. Takes longer than chicken but rewards the patience. Essential for proper gravies, French onion soup and red wine braises.
• Vegetable stock — quicker than either of the above and a useful all-rounder. Made from vegetable trimmings, aromatics and herbs. Best used fresh as it doesn’t keep as well.
• Fish stock — the fastest of all, ready in under thirty minutes. Made from fish bones and heads. Delicate and quick to over-cook — don’t be tempted to simmer it longer than the recipe says or it turns bitter.

The basic method — chicken stock

This is the one to learn first. Once you understand it, the others follow naturally.

What you need

• 1 chicken carcass, ideally roasted
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 leek, roughly chopped
• 1 bulb of garlic, halved across the middle
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• A small bunch of flat leaf parsley stalks
• 10 black peppercorns
• Cold water to cover

Method

Place the carcass and all the vegetables in a large pot. Cover with cold water — always start with cold water, never hot, as this helps produce a clearer stock. Bring slowly to a gentle simmer.

As it heats you’ll see a grey foam rise to the surface. Skim this off with a spoon or ladle — it’s impurities from the bones and it will cloud your stock and dull the flavour if left.

Once skimmed, reduce to the lowest simmer you can manage. The surface should barely move — just an occasional lazy bubble. Cook for three to four hours.

Do not boil. A rolling boil forces fat and impurities back into the liquid and produces a cloudy, greasy stock.

Strain through a fine sieve into a clean container. Press the solids gently to extract the last of the liquid but don’t force them through or the stock will cloud. Discard everything in the sieve — it has given everything it has. Leave to cool, then refrigerate. Once cold, any fat will solidify on the surface and can be lifted off cleanly.

How to know it’s good

A good chicken stock should be golden and clear, with a clean, rounded flavour. When cold it should thicken noticeably — ideally setting to a loose jelly. If it stays completely liquid when cold, it either needed more collagen (add some chicken wings next time) or more time.

Taste it. It should taste clean and savoury, not flat, not greasy, not salty. It shouldn’t taste finished — it’s a base, not a soup.

The four things you need

• Bones — chicken carcasses, beef marrow and knuckle, or fish frames. Ask your butcher; they’re often free or close to it. For vegetable stock, swap in a generous pile of trimmings and whole vegetables.
• Mirepoix — the classic French base of roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery in a 2:1:1 ratio. No need to peel. Leeks and fennel are welcome additions.
• Aromatics — a bay leaf, a few peppercorns, a sprig of thyme, parsley stalks. Garlic if you like. Keep it restrained — stock is a backdrop, not a feature.
• Cold water — enough to cover the bones by a couple of inches. Always start cold; it draws more flavour out as the temperature climbs.

White vs brown stock

Same ingredients, different approach.

White stock uses raw bones straight into the pot. It’s pale, clean and delicate — ideal for light sauces, risottos and poached dishes where you don’t want a heavy roasted note.

Brown stock starts by roasting the bones and vegetables in a hot oven until deeply coloured. The Maillard reaction adds a savoury, almost meaty depth that’s the foundation of classic gravies, French sauces and rich braises.

Step by step

• 1. Prepare the bones. For brown stock, roast at 220°C for 40 to 50 minutes until deep mahogany. For white stock, blanch raw bones briefly in boiling water then drain — this removes scum and gives a cleaner result.
• 2. Build the pot. Add the bones, mirepoix and aromatics to a tall, narrow pot. Cover with cold water by a couple of inches.
• 3. Bring up slowly. Heat gently to a bare simmer — never a rolling boil. A boil emulsifies the fat into the liquid and turns the stock cloudy and greasy.
• 4. Skim. For the first 20 minutes, skim the grey foam and fat that rises to the top. After that, leave it alone.
• 5. Simmer. Chicken stock: 3 to 4 hours. Beef or veal: 6 to 8 hours, longer if you can. Fish: 30 to 45 minutes only — any longer and it turns bitter. Vegetable: 45 minutes to an hour.
• 6. Strain. Pass through a fine sieve, ideally lined with muslin. Press gently — don’t crush the solids or you’ll cloud the liquid.
• 7. Cool quickly. Sit the pot in a sink of cold water and stir occasionally. Once cool, refrigerate. The fat will set on top and lift off cleanly the next day.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Boiling instead of simmering — the single most common error. Stock needs patience and a gentle heat.
• Not skimming — those grey impurities matter. Take five minutes at the start to skim properly and your stock will be cleaner and clearer.
• Adding salt — don’t season your stock. Season the dish you’re making with it. Stock reduces during cooking and salt concentrates — you can easily end up with something unpleasantly salty.
• Wasting vegetable trimmings — carrot peelings, celery leaves, onion skins, leek tops, parsley stalks. Keep a bag in the freezer and add them when you make stock. It costs you nothing.
• Using the wrong vegetables — avoid starchy vegetables like potato, which cloud the stock, and brassicas like broccoli or cabbage, which make it bitter. Stick to the classics.

Storing and using your stock

Stock keeps in the fridge for up to five days. It freezes beautifully for up to three months — freeze in usable portions, either in containers or in ice cube trays for small quantities.

Use it anywhere water or a cube would otherwise go. Risotto. Soups. Braises. Gravies. Deglazing a pan after searing meat. Cooking lentils. The more you make it, the more you’ll find yourself reaching for it.

A note on pressure cookers

If you have a pressure cooker or an Instant Pot, chicken stock can be made in around an hour rather than three to four. The results are slightly different — pressure cooking produces a more opaque stock as the agitation is greater — but the flavour is excellent and the time saving is significant.

Frequently asked questions