Cooking broth at home. Secrets of cooking delicious broths and soups

Bouillon As adults, we don't remember as often. But, when we get sick, sometimes the broth is not even included in the culinary recipe, but in the recipe prescribed by the doctor. And this is not surprising, because the broth is very easy to digest, warms and does not strain the weakened body. Plus, it has a controlled calorie content - excess fat can always be removed. But in a healthy time, the broth should not be forgotten. First, broth is the basis of many culinary dishes. And secondly ... After all, if the broth was cooked beautifully - transparent, appetizing in color, with cheerful greens - then it itself will become an ornament to any table. How to cook broth? Take your pick, there are many recipes! Don't forget to read the tips - how to make the broth clear, how to lighten the broth... If you wish, you can treat yourself to a variety and prepare the broth with different vegetables, for example, with cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, as well as with vermicelli, noodles, rice, scrambled eggs, dumplings , meatballs, scrambled eggs, rice, celery, egg. giblets and even with trepangs ... Although for me the most delicious is chicken broth with meatballs. Mom. And to cook it is as easy as shelling pears: I asked my mother - and you're done!

1. To make the broth rich and strong, bones, meat, fish, mushrooms, vegetables are poured with cold water. If you want the contents of the broth to retain more useful things in itself, without giving it away to the broth, then put it in hot water.
2. Water for 1 serving is usually poured 2-2.5 glasses, taking into account the fact that about a glass will evaporate during cooking. It is undesirable to add water later - the taste of the broth will be worse.
3. Salt the broth immediately. But if the broth is needed for the subsequent preparation of other dishes, then be careful with salt, so as not to run into a problem later. In this case, it is better to add salt later.
4. The broth should be boiled over medium heat. A strong fire is a cloudy broth, a weak fire is a weak broth.
5. As soon as the broth boils, remove the foam with a slotted spoon and reduce the heat.
6. In the course of cooking, it is recommended to remove fatty spangles, since if the fat is heated for a long time, it acquires an unpleasant taste and smell.
7. Remember that overcooked broth loses its taste and aroma. Meat broth is usually boiled for up to two hours (only pure bone broth can be boiled for up to three), fish - an hour, mushroom - until the mushrooms become soft.
8. An hour before the end of cooking, it is recommended to put onions, carrots, parsley and celery roots in the broth, and bay leaf 5 minutes in advance.
9. If you're making chicken broth with wonderful fresh chicken, it's best to avoid spices to preserve the natural flavor. But this is if from a wonderful and fresh ...
10. How to clarify the broth? If you want to lighten the broth, use special braces that can be made from meat or protein (see our recipes).
11. Ready broth is filtered.
12. Do not abuse bouillon cubes.
13. If you want to make proper chicken broth, never write "chicken", "bouillon", "broth".

The word "broth" comes from the French verb "boil". Let's learn how to cook the right transparent and delicious broth that will appeal to even the most sophisticated gourmets.

Broths and decoctions

What is the difference and how are broth and broth similar? Broths are anything that is boiled from meat, fish or poultry, while decoctions are quick broths based on vegetables or mushrooms. In both cases, the same cooking technique should be followed. Below we have collected the basic rules, following which you can cook your perfect broth.

Rule #1

We always put food in cold water. This is necessary so that all substances and taste pass into the liquid. Water is usually taken 3-4 times more than the product itself. If you do not have a large saucepan, then boil a concentrated broth, for it the proportion is reduced to 1.5-2.5 parts of water in relation to the main product, and then diluted when used in soup. Example: for 1 kg of chicken, take 1.5 liters of water, at the exit you will most likely get 1.2 liters of ready-made broth due to the boiling of moisture in the process. Add another 1.2 liters of water to boil the soup.

Rule #2

Add vegetables and herbs to flavor the broth. Pick spices, seasonings, vegetables and root vegetables in broths so that they do not interrupt the main taste. For example, in fish, use them minimally, as it has a very light taste. And in meat, you can add more, since it will be very difficult to interrupt the taste in it with anything. It is always better to add root vegetables to the broth: onions, carrots, celery root, parsley root, they make the broth tastier and cleaner. Cut them up big. Onions into 2-3 parts, and carrots into 2-4. Herbs can be added either fresh by tying them with a thread, or dry by putting them in a gauze bag first, so that it is easier to remove later. Universal combination of herbs (bouquet garni): thyme, bay leaf, parsley. It is better to put dry herbs at the beginning of cooking, while fresh ones can be put 20 minutes before the end.

Rule #3

Salt is better in parts. At the very beginning, add just a couple of pinches of salt to help the extractives pass into the water. But we recommend bringing the broth to taste at the end. Firstly, if you cook stock stock, it is preserved without salt. Secondly, during the cooking process, the liquid will evaporate, and the concentration of added salt will increase at the beginning, so if you add salt at the end, you do not risk oversalting the broth.

Rule #4

It is not necessary to drain the first broth. Often there is advice to be sure to drain the first broth: bring the product to a boil, cook for a few minutes and drain the water. It is believed that in this way the future broth is cleared of harmful substances. But this is only the point of view of some culinary specialists - there are serious justifications, and even more so, there are no studies on this topic. Traditionally, this method is used to prepare light or dietary broth, the recipes for which can be found in cookbooks, especially on dietary nutrition. Such a broth is called the second or third: after boiling, the meat, poultry or fish is taken out and washed, and the broth is drained and they start all over again - pour cold water, wait for it to boil, remove the foam. For the third broth, these steps are repeated twice.

Rule #5

It is better to remove the foam with a ladle or a large spoon. When the broth boils, foam forms. It is removed so that the broth remains clear. To remove it, contrary to tradition, is better not with a skimmer (you won’t catch much with holes), but with an ordinary spoon or a small ladle. And at the moment of boiling, it is better to spend all the time next to the pan, otherwise it is easy to miss the moment when the foam settles to the bottom. It is important to know that the stronger the boil, the more foam is formed. Therefore, do not forget immediately after boiling to reduce the fire to a minimum.

Rule #6

Rule #7

Ready broth must be filtered, if necessary, clarified. The theme of transparency runs like a red thread through the entire process of cooking the broth. Therefore, after it is welded, the last battle for transparency awaits us. We strain the broth through a damp cloth or cheesecloth so that excess fat and escaping foam flakes remain on it. But it happens that in spite of everything, the broth still turns out to be cloudy. It can be brightened up. The easiest and most affordable way is clarification with egg whites. Proteins are taken at the rate of 1 protein per 1.5 liters of broth and whipped into foam until their volume increases by 2-3 times. The broth is cooled to 60 degrees. After that, the broth is mixed with proteins and brought to a boil. It is boiled a little and filtered through a sieve or gauze.

Well, we have gone through the basic rules for making broth, now we will consider the nuances of popular types.

meat broth

A tasty meat broth requires bones, some meat and a minimum of fat - the less fat, the clearer the broth. The extractives contained in the bones will add richness and flavor to the broth, and if you cook the broth only from meat, it will turn out too light. It is recommended to combine the bones with the sinewy parts of the carcass. For pork broth, choose lean, bone-in and skinless cuts. A shoulder blade, front and back knuckle, ribs, or any bones with leftover meat are perfect. Use as an addition to other broths or use smoked pork belly or smoked ribs on your own. For 1 kg of bones, you will need 2-5 liters of water and 2-4 hours of cooking. The pork broth will be a little cloudy, but that's the nature of the meat. For beef broth, parts of the carcass with a high content of connective tissue are used - beef shank, shoulder blade, lower thigh, neck, costal part. It is also highly recommended to use the bones with the remnants of meat. If possible, ask the butcher to cut the bones in half before buying - this way the contact with the liquid will be maximum, and the broth will be more rich. For 1 kg of bones, use 2-5 liters of water; such a broth will cook from 2 to 6 hours. Lamb broth is cooked almost according to the rules of beef broth, but it is important to consider that lamb is fatty meat with a specific taste. Such a broth requires more spices to mask this aftertaste. Water for 1 kg of bones also needs from 2 to 5 liters, the cooking time will be 2-5 hours.

Poultry broth

The ideal poultry broth is made from a whole special soup carcass or "frame" - a skeleton, for example, of a chicken with the remains of meat on it. For chicken or turkey broth, you need to take an adult bird, it cooks longer, but does not fall apart, and its firm muscles have a brighter taste that will be clearly visible in the broth. The back, wings and hips are also suitable. Be sure to remove the skin - it makes the broth more cloudy and oily. You can add extra flavor to the broth by adding bones or smoked poultry meat. For 1 kg of bones, 2-4 liters of water and 1.5-4 hours of time will be required. Those who are on a diet should boil chicken breast broth without skin.

fish broth

The backbone, tail and head of the carcass go into the fish broth. From the head, you must first remove the gills and remnants of the scales. The most delicious fish broth will come from a mixture of river and sea fish. The addition of red fish to the broth gives a beautiful hue, and the chicken bones when boiling the fish broth add richness. For broth from any fish, take 1.5-3 liters of water per 1 kg of fish and bones - the less water, the higher the concentration of the broth, but it will also be more cloudy. Cooking time - from 1 to 3 hours. For red fish broths, use small gutted sea fish. The taste of this broth is the most delicate and rich. A broth made only from red fish will have a reddish tint.

When cooking white sea fish broths, remember that white fish of the northern seas are often oily, and when boiling broths, it is best to mix it with other varieties. The taste of fat when cooking broth only from northern breeds will be especially pronounced. It can be softened by adding fennel - a few stems and part of a white head. You can use river fish for broth, but it is better partially, in half with sea fish. The broth only from river fish can have a specific taste, we recommend draining the first broth and adding root vegetables and a bouquet of garni.

A decoction of vegetables

The composition of vegetable broth is always variable: onions and carrots are required in it, and then use vegetables as desired - parsley and celery roots, celery stalks, leeks, a little garlic. Vegetables need to be cut into several parts, so they will better give the taste to the broth. Spices must be added to the vegetable broth. Classics of the genre - black peppercorns and bay leaf. A decoction with the addition of a couple of sprigs of thyme is very good. For 1 kg of vegetables, take 2 liters of water, bring to a boil, cook for 20-40 minutes and let it brew for 1 to 5 hours.

Decoction of mushrooms

The best choice for such a decoction is dried forest mushrooms, ideally porcini. First, the mushrooms will need to be washed and soaked for 1-2 hours. For 100 grams of dried forest mushrooms, use 1-1.5 liters of water, boil them for 15-25 minutes, and then let them brew for 1 to 5 hours. In the absence of dried mushrooms, you can take frozen ones, after washing, boil them without soaking. For every 100 grams you need 1 liter of water. You can take fresh champignons, but the taste of the broth will turn out to be less saturated. Before cooking, be sure to cut them into 3-4 parts. You will also need 1 liter of water for every 100 grams, after boiling, you need to cook the mushrooms for no more than 2-3 minutes, and after cooling, they must be filtered.

First of all, the broth must be properly cooked. To make a medium pot of broth you will need: - half a skinless chicken breast or 150-200g lean beef on the bone; - 1 medium-sized peeled carrot; - 1 small peeled onion; - 2-3 bay leaves; - half a small bunch of parsley (no need to chop); - a few peas of black pepper; - optional: celery stalk, 2-3 cloves, leeks.

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and fill them with cold running water so that all the food is hidden under it. Then put the pan on a large fire, and after boiling, reduce it to a small one. The broth should be boiled until cooked, which is easy to determine by the lagging of the meat from the bone. For chicken it will take less than an hour, about 40 minutes, and for beef it will take 1.5-2 hours, depending on the toughness of the meat.

When the broth is boiled until cooked, you should throw away all the excess: boiled vegetables, roots, bay leaves and black pepper. The meat and the resulting aromatic liquid should be left to cool, after which the broth should be filtered.

How to properly strain the broth

The broth is filtered in order to get rid of debris, bone fragments and foam formed as a result of boiling the meat. Straining makes the broth golden and very appetizing. So, to make a cloudy broth transparent, you will need: - several layers of gauze; - a saucepan of a size similar to the one in which the broth is cooked; - a colander or sieve that can be installed on the pan. First, get rid of excess fat in the broth. If the broth is chilled well enough, you will see rounds of congealed white fat floating on its surface. They need to be removed with a slotted spoon. Then place the colander in a clean, empty pot. Spread gauze rolled up in several layers over a colander.

Do not use new gauze, it may have a strong odor. Before use, such gauze should be washed

Carefully pour the broth from one pot to another. As a result, you should get a completely transparent, ready-to-use liquid. Based on this broth, you can cook a delicious soup.

Easiest Chicken Noodle Soup

You will need: - 2–2.5 liters of strong chicken broth; - half chicken breast meat; - 1 teaspoon of salt; - a few sprigs of parsley; - 100 g of vermicelli (1/5 pack). Dilute the pre-strained broth with water (up to 3 liters) and put on fire, it should boil. After boiling, pour vermicelli and salt crushed up to 3 cm into it.

It is hard to imagine home cooking without mouth-watering and golden meat broth. It is good as an independent dish and is the basis for the preparation of soups, jelly, cereals, meat and vegetable stews, gravy and sauces. Traditionally, chicken broth is used to treat a protracted cough, and in order for children to take this “medicine” with pleasure, the broth must be appetizing and rich. Delicious meat broth is not so difficult to cook if you know some tricks and do not save on meat.

How to cook meat broth: what kind of meat to choose

For beef, always choose the meat of bulls, whose age does not exceed three years. Veal cooks quickly and is ideal for broth because it is healthy, soft, juicy, lean, and high in collagen, which releases gelatin when cooked. The best pork for broth is lean and tender bacon pig meat with a very thin layer of lard, and lamb should be fresh and tender. Chicken broth is made from fresh farm chickens raised without hormones and antibiotics and not frozen. This is especially important if the broth is intended for baby food or to maintain strength during an illness. Rabbit, poultry and its offal, offal, meat bones and smoked meats are perfect for broth. The use of meat of different varieties makes the broth more tasty and rich.

The Best Chunks for Concentrated Meat Broth

The most delicious is obtained from meat with connective tissue, which releases gelling substances into the broth, making it rich and thick. Tenderloin from different parts of the carcass of an animal differs in quality and nutritional value, so experienced chefs can determine the “suitability” of meat at a glance. Beef brisket, ham and neck, pork and lamb shoulder, lamb ribs, shank, brisket and neck are ideal for broth. Rabbit and poultry for broth can be boiled whole or in parts, it all depends on your culinary preferences. It is best to use fresh meat, but it is not always possible to buy it, so meat from the freezer is also suitable. The main thing is that it be thawed according to all the rules at room temperature.

How to put meat in water

Ideal if you cook the broth on spring, well, filtered or bottled water, which must be soft. This is one of the secrets of making delicious broth. So, well-washed pieces of meat are poured with cold water and the pan is put on fire. Why do we take cold water and not boiling water? The fact is that with slow heating, the meat releases extractive substances and saturates the broth with them. If you lower the meat into hot water, then the proteins immediately coagulate, and a film instantly forms on the surface of the meat. It turns out that all the nutrients remain in the pulp. In this case, the meat is tender, juicy and aromatic, and the taste of the broth, unfortunately, leaves much to be desired.

For this reason, for an appetizing broth, the meat is poured only with cold water, and at the same time it should not be cut into small pieces. The meat should release its juices slowly to enrich the taste of the broth. The more water, the less concentrated the broth will turn out - usually up to 3 liters of water are taken per 1 kg of meat with bones.

How to cook clear meat broth

For the transparency of the broth, some housewives pre-soak the meat for several hours in cold water, and then boil it, draining the old water. Naturally, the water will evaporate during the boiling process, but you should not add it, otherwise the broth will become cloudy, and its taste will disappoint you.

Do not allow the liquid to boil rapidly and remove the foam in time, which will settle to the bottom in large, ugly flakes, and the broth will lose its appetizing appearance. A good effect is given by an onion or an eggshell - they are added to the water at the beginning of cooking. After readiness, the broth must be strained, otherwise it will be cloudy. And by the way, if you cook the broth only from meat tenderloin without bones, it will turn out much more transparent.

Vegetables, spices and herbs

Carrots, celery root and onions are considered classic additives for making meat broth. For taste, you can add turnips, garlic, cloves, black peppercorns, various roots and related bunches of greens. The French flavor the broth with the famous Bouquet Garni seasoning, which includes thyme, leek, bay leaf and parsley. If the vegetables are first fried in a pan without oil or baked in the oven, the taste and aroma of the broth will be more original and bright. Vegetables are laid half an hour before the dish is ready. Interestingly, if you add onion peel to the water, the broth will turn golden, and a piece of dry cheese will give it an unusual piquancy.

A few subtleties of cooking broth

Before boiling, the pan is tightly closed with a lid, and then it is cooked without a lid so that drops of evaporating moisture do not spoil the taste of the dish. The fat that appears on the surface is usually removed, and not only for dietary purposes. The fact is that a large amount of fat gives the broth an unpleasant oily-soapy taste. But do not rush to part with this valuable product - you can fry vegetables on it for seasoning soups.

It is good if the pan has thick walls and a bottom. So the broth will cook evenly and slowly, which will improve its taste and aroma. It is better to add salt at the very end, because you don’t know how much liquid will boil away during the cooking process, and it will be very annoying if the broth turns out to be too salty.

How long does the broth take to cook? Appetizing smells are already spreading around the apartment, and the stomach begins to growl treacherously, and the household looks impatiently at the clock - when is it time for dinner? Veal and rabbit broth is cooked for up to 1.5 hours, until beef or smoked meat is ready, you will have to wait longer - 2.5-3 hours, pork - up to 2.5 hours, chicken - 1-2 hours, and lamb - up to 2 hours . The main thing is not to overdo it, because the overcooked broth acquires an unpleasant taste.

There is another way to check the readiness of the broth - to pierce the meat with a knife. If the knife enters the flesh easily, then the meat is cooked, and you can separate it from the bones. The bones are usually boiled for some more time, and the meat is either cut into pieces and returned to the pot, or left to prepare the second course. After straining the broth, the bones, vegetables and spices are thrown away - they have done their job and gave the dish vitamins, nutrients, taste and aroma.

If you don't have time and want to make a quick meat broth, you can make it with minced chicken, beef, lamb, or pork. The cooking technology remains the same, and the time is reduced to half an hour. True, it is advisable to let the broth brew for 20 minutes, and then serve it on the table. In a slow cooker, meat broth is cooked for the same amount of time, but the cooking process is greatly simplified. You still have to remove the foam, since scientific and technological progress has not yet gone so far as to entrust this responsible task to technology, even the smartest.

Fragrant appetizing and transparent broth is ready. In old recipes, it is advised to pour 1 tbsp. of meat broth into each bowl of meat broth. l. Madeira. And you can do it in a simple way - with fresh herbs, homemade pies, ruddy croutons and toasts. You can store the broth in the refrigerator for several days, but it usually disappears from there faster - too tasty!

Boil chicken broth from store-bought chicken for 1 hour.
Boil chicken broth from homemade chicken for 2-3 hours.
Boil the chicken broth from the soup set for 1 hour.
Boil chicken broth from offal for 1 hour.

How to cook chicken broth

How to cook chicken broth
1. Put the chicken in the pan - it must be thawed and washed. If the chicken is large (from 1.5 kg) - you should cut it into pieces weighing 300-400 grams. It is easier to do this by cutting the chicken at the joints. In our case, half a chicken weighing 750 grams does not need to be cut.

2. Pour water - the future broth, and put the pan on a strong fire.
3. Close the pan with a lid, wait for the water to boil (about 15 minutes), follow the resulting foam for 10 minutes, removing it with a slotted spoon or a tablespoon.

4. Peel the carrots, cut off the rhizome from the onion (leave the husk if you want to get a golden broth), put the onion and carrots in a saucepan.
5. After removing the foam, 10 minutes after boiling the broth, add salt and pepper.
6. Add lavrushka and herbs.
7. Close the broth simmering over low heat with a lid and cook for 1 hour.

8. Take out the chicken, remove carrots and onions.
9. Strain the broth through a sieve or colander.
10. Your chicken broth is cooked!

Add greens to boiled chicken broth and use in recipes, or serve as is with crackers or croutons. Serve the meat alone or use it in soups and salads.

Second chicken broth

How to cook broth for future use

How to cook chicken broth
1. Put the chicken in a saucepan, pour cold water over it.
2. Bring the water to a boil, monitor the foam for the next 10 minutes, removing it with a slotted spoon.
3. Add salt and spices, peeled onion.
4. Cover and cook for 1 hour.
5. Strain the broth, remove the chicken parts (use in other dishes). 6. Return the broth to the pan and boil over low heat for another 1.5-2 hours over low heat until 400 milliliters of broth is obtained.
7. Pour the broth into storage containers (containers, bags or ice cubes), refrigerate and freeze. In each container should be approximately equal in fat and broth. If the fat is not needed, then remove it.
When defrosting the broth, use the following proportions: 1-1.5 liters of finished broth will be obtained from 100 milliliters of the workpiece.
The broth prepared for the future will be stored for up to six months.

Fkusnofakty

- Is chicken broth good for you?
Chicken broth is very useful for flu, SARS and colds. Light chicken broth promotes the removal of viruses from the body, minimally loading it and easily absorbed by it.

- Shelf life chicken broth at room temperature - 1.5 days. Store chicken broth in the refrigerator for 5 days.

- condiments for chicken broth - rosemary, dill, parsley, black peppercorns, bay leaf, celery.

Define chicken broth ready you can pierce the chicken with a knife - if the knife enters the chicken meat easily - the broth is ready.

- How to use chicken broth?
Chicken broth is used to make soups ( chicken, onion, minestrone, buckwheat, avocado soup and others), salads, sauces ( chicken sauce).

To make the chicken broth transparent, it is necessary to drain the first water after boiling, and when cooking, remove the resulting foam. If you want a light color of the broth - when cooking, you should put the onion peeled from the husk.

- Salt chicken broth follows at the beginning of cooking - then the broth will be rich. If the chicken is cooked for salad, then the broth should be salted 20 minutes before the end of cooking, in which case the chicken meat will be salty.

- What kind of chicken to take for broth
If you want a rich fatty broth, the whole chicken (or half), or individual fatty parts of the chicken (legs, wings, thighs) will do. For a medium-rich broth, a soup set is great. For dietary chicken broth, offal and chicken bones from legs, thighs, breasts and fillets are suitable.

See how easy to cook chicken jelly, boiled chicken salads and boiled chicken snacks!

The price of products for cooking a 5 liter pot of chicken broth from half a chicken is 150 rubles. (on average in Moscow as of June 2017). Chicken broth can also be cooked from chicken bones, from a soup set with the addition of chicken offal.

Before adding to the broth, carrots and onions can be cut into several pieces and fried in a dry frying pan - then the broth will be more fragrant. You can fry without oil and chicken parts - then the broth will be more saturated.

How to cook chicken breast broth?

How to cook chicken breast broth
1. Wash the breast, inspect the skin for feather residue, remove feathers if present. Or, to cook diet broth, remove the skin of the chicken.
2. Put the breast in a saucepan, pour water - the water should be cold to make the broth rich.
3. Put the pan on a strong fire, after boiling, reduce the fire and remove the foam with a slotted spoon.
4. Put peeled onions and carrots, salt and pepper into the broth.
5. Cook diet broth for 20 minutes, and for high richness of broth - 40 minutes.

How to cook breast broth in the microwave
1. Put the breast in a large microwave-safe dish, put salt and pepper, onions and carrots.
2. Fill the breast with water.
3. Cover the dishes with a lid and put in the microwave.
4. Cook the broth at 800 W for 25 minutes.

How to cook chicken wing broth?

How to cook wing broth
1. Wash the wings, put in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
2. Add salt, pepper, peeled onion and carrots.
3. Put the pan on a strong fire, after boiling, reduce the fire and cook for 40 minutes. The broth from the wings turns out to be very fatty, there is practically no meat in such chicken parts.

How to cook fillet broth?

How to cook fillet broth
1. Defrost the chicken fillet, remove the bones if necessary, put the meat in a saucepan.
2. Peel onions and put in a saucepan.
3. Fill the pan with water and put on heat.
4. Pour in vegetable oil to give the broth flavor and nutrition.
5. Add salt and spices to taste.
6. Boil the broth for half an hour over low heat, covered with a lid.
7. Infuse the broth for 1 hour.

How to make broth from a chicken soup set

How to cook broth from a soup set
1. Put the soup set into a saucepan, pour in water.
2. Put the pan on the fire, after boiling, drain the first water, pour in fresh water.
3. In the second water, boil the broth after boiling over medium heat for 10 minutes, removing the foam.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer the broth for 40 minutes.