Soup Begins with a Great Broth or Stock Return to recipe page Let's start with the words 'stock' which is often used interchangeably with the word 'broth'. To make stock you only need two basic ingredients; water and bones... lots and lots of bones. Save the good pieces of meat for later; they go in the actual soup, not the stock. Broth is basically water that's had boney pieces of meat and some aromatic vegetables cooked in it. After all those bits and pieces have given up all their tasty goodness, they are removed and -- voila! -- you've got a great tasting stock or broth for the foundation of your next soup. BEFORE AFTER The best quality broth will gell and become firm and solid when chilled. If your stock doesn't set up, don't worry, if you're happy with the flavor, then your soup will still taste wonderful... so enjoy. The best meat stock uses shanks or neck bones from beef, pork, veal, lamb, or game, which are generally very, very cheap and yield unequal flavor for the buck. Another good cut of beef are oxtails which are crosscut and look like little bitty versions of the shank. Chicken, beef and pork feet are other popular cuts for making good tasting stocks. Consider smoked or cured meats too. Smoked meats come in a wide variety of wonderful choices to add much needed taste to bland foods like dried beans. There are many good goices like pigs feet, hocks, neck bones, or turkey wings and legs, all of these make an excellent soup base. For poultry base, use necks, backs and the wing tips, and chicken feet , and don't forget the carcass. Cooks in the know, prize chicken bones for their stock, and the carcass left over from a routisserie roast is just as -- if not better! -- than the one you roast at home. You can also take a lesson from frugal cooks and collect and freeze meat scraps and bones for a nearly free stock or broth. Whatever your choice, look for what's inexpensive or on sale when selecting your next stock or broth makin's. What's All the Fuss About Browning? There are recipes for white stock and brown veal stock. The brown stocks are made with browned or roasted bones and meat, the white stocks are made with uncooked bones and meat. I like to start with browned meat because for my tastes, it produces a better flavoredbroth than un-browned meats. Salt the meat. The salt is going to add flavor and it's going to coax up some protein laden juices that are hiding just under the surface. Once they are up on the surface, they can take part in the Maillard Reaction, which is responsible for browning... and browning equals great flavor, taste and aroma. Small quantities of meat and bones can be browned in the pressure cooker, but a heavy skillet is more practicle for larger amounts. For big bones and bulkier pieces, they will get browned easier in a oven. Once the meat has browned, everything is put in the pressure cooker. Don't forget to add the lovely, stuck on browned bits and any meat juices to the pot. After cooking, you may notice a foamy scum has accumulated on top of your stock or broth. Don't worry, it's just protein and if you are a purist you can skim it off, otherwise leave it as is. After cooking, strain your broth or stock, it's the rich liquid that's important, so all the solids can be discarded. If someone gifted you with one of those fancy, cone shaped, wire mesh strainers the French call a chinois, this is the time to use it. Unless you got one as a gift, however, don't run out and buy one because normally these go for anywhere from $60 to $90. Instead use a 90¢ piece of cheese cloth to line the colander and slowly pour your broth or stock through the cheesecloth. Nice and slow is the key. the liquid is probably going to take a few minutes to work its way through, but that's going to get all of that particulate matter out so the liquid soup base will be nice and clear. Don't push or mash on the solids as it will make the liquid cloudy, not a big deal, but there's no taste left in the solid matter after pressure cooking, so you don't really gain anything by trying to squeeze the last drops out of them. Skim off the fat from the base before using in your soup, or refrigerate it overnight and then simply lift off the solid layer of fat in the morning. Once chilled, you should see a rich, gelatinous liquid that has great body. At this stage you can use the liquid immediately in soups, stews, chilies, grains, rice or dried beans, or portion it out and freeze it for later use.   The Maillard reaction The Maillard reaction occurs when the proteins on the surface of the meat recombine with the sugars present. The combination creates the "meaty" flavor and changes the color. For this reason, it is also called the browning reaction. The Maillard reaction occurs most readily at around 300° F to 500° F. When meat is cooked, the outside reaches a higher temperature than the inside, triggering the Maillard reaction and creating the strongest flavors on the surface. In the early twentieth century, Louis-Camille Maillard happened upon what came to be known as the Maillard reaction when he was trying to figure out how amino acids linked up to form proteins. He discovered that when he heated sugars and amino acids together, the mixture slowly turned brown. It was not until the 1940s that people noticed a connection between the browning reaction and flavor. World War II soldiers were complaining about their powdered eggs turning brown and developing unappealing flavors. After many studies done in laboratories, scientists figured out that the unappetizing tastes were coming from the browning reaction. Even though the eggs were stored at room temperature, the concentration of amino acids and sugars in the dehydrated mix was high enough to produce a reaction. Most of the research done in the 1940s and 1950s centered around preventing this reaction. Eventually, however, scientists discovered the role the Maillard reaction plays in creating flavors and aromas. For example, as many as six hundred components have been identified in the aroma of browned beef.   What to Do About Too Salty Broth Sugar, used in the right proportion, can help cut the edge off other flavors. This approach can be tricky, though. You're not actually covering flavors, you're adding more flavors to distract your tongue from the one you want to be less prominent. Getting the right flavor balance depends on the ingredients and their proportions in your soup. If the proportion of salt to sugar is too small, they'll actually enhance each other. So you want to add enough sugar to cut the salt, but not so much that it makes the soup sweet. You might want to practice this one before putting it to use. The reverse of this is also true: Bitter, sour, and salty tastes can lower the intensity of sugar. Keep this relationship in mind when checking the labels on processed foods: Sugar and salt are often used to cover less-pleasant flavors that arise when food is processed. Processed foods often contain much more sugar and salt than your palate can detect, and often more than is necessary to balance flavors.