1.2: Brown Stocks and Demi-Glace

Brown Stock

Brown chicken stock is especially useful in kitchens where it is not practical to prepare meat glaces and beef stocks regularly. If the kitchen does not generate enough chicken carcasses for the stock, most wholesale butchers will deliver chicken carcasses at a nominal cost. Stewing hens can also be added to the stock for a fuller flavor, but this of course increases the stock's cost.

Brown chicken stock can be used for deglazing sauté pans and roasting pans and as a base for more concentrated, specialized stocks, such as game or pigeon. It is good to have brown chicken stock on hand to use as a thinner for sauces that may have become too reduced.

Brown Veal Stock. Roast all the ingredients for white veal stock, except the bouquet garni and water, in a 400°F (200°C) oven. Turn the meat, bones, and vegetables from time to time until they are evenly browned. Avoid burning any of the ingredients or letting the juices burn on the bottom of the roasting pan. Transfer the ingredients to a stockpot and add the bouquet garni. Deglaze the roasting pan with water. When all the juices have dissolved, add the deglazing liquid to the ingredients in the stockpot. Moisten, cook, and strain the stock as for white veal stock.

Mise en Place for a Brown Stock

• Cut up and wash bones.
• Peel and chop onions, carrots and celery for mirepoix.
• Prepare herb sachet.

A brown stock is made from chicken, veal, beef or game bones. The finished stock should have a good flavor, rich dark brown color, good body and high gelatin content. The primary differences between a brown stock and a white stock are that for a brown stock, the bones and mirepoix are caramelized before being simmered and a tomato product is added. These extra steps provide the finished stock with a rich dark color and a more intense flavor.

Caramelizing

Caramelization is the process of browning the sugars found on the surface of most foods. This gives the stock its characteristic flavor and color.

Procedure for Caramelizing Bones

For caramelizing, do not wash or blanch the bones as this retards browning. To caramelize:

1. Place the cut-up bones in a roasting pan one layer deep. It is better to roast several pans of bones than to overfill one pan.
2. Roast the bones for approximately 1 hour in a hot oven (375°F/190°C). Stirring occasionally, brown the bones thoroughly, but do not allow them to burn.
3. Transfer the roasted bones from the pan to the stockpot.

Deglazing the Pan

After the bones are caramelized, the excess fat should be removed and reserved for future use. The caramelized and coagulated proteins remaining in the roasting pan are very flavorful. To utilize them, deglaze the pan.

Procedure for Deglazing the Pan

• Place the pan on the stove over medium heat, and add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan approximately '12 inch (1.2 centimeters) deep.
• Stir and scrape the pan bottom to dissolve and remove all the caramelized materials while the water heats.
• Pour the deglazing liquid (also known as the deglazing liquor) over the bones in the stockpot.

Procedure for Caramelizing Mirepoix

1. Add a little of the reserved fat from the roasted bones to the roasting pan after it has been deglazed. (Alternatively, use a pan large enough to contain all the mirepoix comfortably.)
2. Sauté the mirepoix, browning all the vegetables well and evenly without burning them.
3. Add the caramelized mirepoix to the stockpot.
4. Almost any tomato product can be used in a brown stock: fresh tomatoes, canned whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato puree or paste. If using a concentrated tomato product such as paste or puree, use approximately half the amount by weight of fresh or canned tomatoes. The tomato product should be added to the stockpot when the mirepoix is added.

Brown Stock Recipe

• Bones, veal, chicken or beef 16 lb (7 kg)
• Cold water 3 gal (11 lt)
• Mirepoix 2 lb (1 kg)

Sachet

• Bay leaves 2 (2)
• Dried thyme ½ tsp (2 ml)
• Peppercorns, crushed ½ tsp (2 ml)
• Garlic cloves, crushed 3 (3)
• Parsley stems 8 (8)

1. Place the bones in a roasting pan, in one layer and brown in a 375°F (190°) oven. Turn the bones occasionally to brown them evenly.
2. Remove the bones and place them in a stockpot. Pour off the fat from the roasting pan and reserve it.
3. Deglaze the roasting pan with part of the cold water.
4. Add the deglazing liquor and the rest of the cold water to the bones, covering them completely. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
5. Add a portion of the reserved fat to the roasting pan and sauté the mirepoix until evenly browned. Then add it to the simmering stock.
6. Add the tomato paste and sachet to the stock and continue to simmer for 6 to 8 hours, skimming as necessary.
7. Strain, cool and refrigerate.

Glace

Classic demi-glace is a stock that has been reduced and bound with starch until it has the consistency of a very light syrup or glace. Classic demi-glace is the basis for classic brown sauces. Natural demi-glace, also called coulis, is thickened by reduction or continual remoistening with additional meat; no starch is used in its preparation.

Glaces are stocks that have been slowly cooked down (reduced) to a thick syrup. These are convenient to have on hand in professional kitchens because they keep well and can be added to sauces at the last minute to give a richer flavor, a deeper color, and a smoother texture, Some chefs rely almost entirely on meat glace (glace de viande) for preparing brown sauces.

A glaze is the dramatic reduction and concentration of a stock. One gallon (4 liters) of stock produces only 1 to 2 cups (2.5 to 5 deciliters) of glaze. Glace de viande is made from brown stock, reduced until it becomes dark and syrupy. Glace de volaille is made from chicken stock, and, glace de poisson from fish stock. Glazes are added to soups or sauces to increase and intensify flavors. They are also used as a source of intense flavoring for several of the small sauces to be discussed.

Meat Glace (Glace de Viande)

Meat glace takes from 8 to 12 hours to prepare from already made stock. If it is difficult to work in a single stretch, the glace can be reduced for a couple of hours, allowed to cool, and then continued the next day. It is best to begin reduction of the bone stock in a wide-mouthed pot to encourage evaporation and rapid reduction. As the stock reduces, it should be transferred into clean pots of decreasing size. Usually three pots are required to reduce 10 quarts of stock.

Meat glaces can be prepared from any kind of stock, but the technique works best for stocks that already contain a fair amount of gelatin. For this reason, meat glace is most often prepared with a stock made from beef knuckle -bones, which release a large amount of gelatin into the surrounding liquid. Stocks containing little gelatin require too much reduction to become glaces, and by the time the reduction is complete, much of their savor has been compromised.

Fish Glace (Glace de Poisson)

Fish glace is prepared in the same way as meat glace except that fish stock is used instead of meat stock. Fish glace has a strong, fishy taste, which it can impart to sauces if used in more than tiny amount s. It is better to substitute reduced mussel or clam cooking liquid or reduced court -bouillon. If concentrated fish stock is required, prepare a double fish stock by moistening fish or fish bones with a previously made fish stock.

Procedure for Reducing a Stock to a Glace

Simmer the stock over very low heat. Be careful not to let it burn, and skim it often.

1. As it reduces and the volume decreases, transfer the liquid in to progressively smaller saucepans. Strain the liquid each time it is transferred into a smaller saucepan.
2. Strain it a final time, cool and refrigerate. A properly made glaze will keep for several months under refrigeration.

Glace De Viande (Modern) Recipe

Yield: 20 quarts

• 120 lbs. or 3 cases veal neck bones - roasted in roasting pans
• 10 lbs. roasted poultry bones, weigh after roasting
• 8 pigs feet (16 pieces split)
• 48 oz. tomato paste
• 3 liters red wine
• 10 lbs. onions, onions trimmings and leek greens-rough chopped and washed
• 4lbs carrots, peeled and rough chopped
• 4lbs celery, washed and rough chopped
• 8 bulbs of garlic, split across the middle
• 2oz. fresh thyme
• 1-Tbsp. black peppercorns
• 1-bay leaves
• ½ bunch parsley (utilize the stems, possible 3 bunches to equal the weight of 1 ½ bunches)

1. Add red wine and tomato sauce to a non-reactive pot and reduce by 2/3.
2. Roast all bones on full sheet pans until golden brown in color. Be careful not to burn.
3. Remove bones into stock kettle and reserve the pans.
4. Add a bit of water to the sheet pans and place over the stove to loosen the fonds. Add fonds the stockpot.
5. Caramelize the vegetables in batches and be sure to get a good color of caramelization. Have water nearby if you need to deglaze the pan often to ensure caramelization.
6. Add all ingredients to the kettle and set at setting 5.5 or 180 degrees for 48 hours. Strain through a china cap with a filter. Reduce stock down by 2/3 or to your liking.

Stock - Problems and Solutions

Problem	Reason	Solution
Cloudy	Impurities Stock boiled during cooking	Start stock in cold water; Strain through layers of cheesecloth
Lack of Flavor	Not cooked long enough Inadequate seasoning Improper ratio of bones to water	Increase cooking time; Add more flavoring ingredients; Add more bones
Lack of Color	Improperly caramelized bones and mirepoix not cooked long enough	Caramelize bones and mirepoix until darker. Cook longer.
Lack of Body	Wrong bones used Insufficient reduction Improper ratio of bones to water	Use bones with a higher content of connective tissue; Cook longer; Add more bones
Too salty	Commercial base used Salt added during cooking	Change base or make own stock; do not salt stock

Essences

Contemporary chefs use essences, sometimes tightly bound with butter or oil, as light-bodied sauces.

Mushroom Essence

Mushroom essence is made by reducing mushroom cooking liquid to one-fourth its original volume. Mushroom cooking liquid is prepared by cooking mushrooms for 15 minutes in a covered pot with an equal weight of water (for example, I pound of mushrooms to 2 cups water). Although most recipes calling for mushroom essence assume that ordinary cultivated mushrooms are used, it is far better when prepared from wild types such as morels, cepes, or chanterelles.

Truffle Essence

Older recipes for classic sauces often call for truffle essence. Truffle essence is prepared by infusing sliced truffles in a small proportion of brown stock in a covered saucepan. Today, truffles are so scarce that it is unlikely that a restaurant would make truffle essence to have on hand to use in sauces. It is more likely that sliced truffles would be infused in the sauce itself or that the sauce would be finished with truffle butter or commercially available truffle juice.

Vegetable Essences

Almost any vegetable can be chopped and cooked in a small amount of stock, water, or wine. The method is almost the same as preparing a court bouillon except that the flavor of one vegetable is accentuated, rather than a combination. These flavorful essences can then be served as accompaniments to delicately flavored foods such as fish or can be combined with other ingredients for more complex sauces.

Classic Demi Recipe

• 1 qt. of brown stock
• 1 qt. of brown sauce (aka Espagnole sauce)

Combine the stock and sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half. Strain and cool in a water bath.

Espagnole Recipe

• 1/4 c. of Clarified butter or neutral oil
• 1/4 c. of AP flour
• 1/2lbs of mirepoix, medium dice
• 1.25 qts. Brown Stock
• 1/2 tbsp. Tomato paste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sachet

• 1/2 bay leaf
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme (or ½ tsp of dried)
• ¼ tsp of black peppercorns, crushed parsley stems

1. Make brown roux with butter and flour and set aside to cool completely
2. Sauté the mirepoix until caramelized
3. Add tomato paste to mirepoix and sauté for 30 seconds
4. Add stock and bring to a boil
5. Carefully whisk in roux breaking up any lumps
6. Once thickened reduce heat to a simmer and add sachet
7. Allow to simmer for approximately 45 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce.
8. Skim the surface as needed to remove any impurities.
9. Strain through a chinois, hold for service or cool completely

This is a picture of our class glace de viande production storage. Photo Credit: Amelie Zeringue