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Mike Nolan.True or false: One way to clarify chicken stock is by heating it with some egg white.
[See the full post at: Daily Quiz for March 6, 2020]
I guessed correctly, but I appreciate the explanation.
Next time I make a big batch of chicken stock I'll have to try both methods and see how they compare.
I don't usually try for clear broth, but I often add some lemon juice when I'm boiling up the meaty chicken or turkey bones. I had read that it leaches the calcium out of the bones, thus making it more available nutritionally. However, it seems to me that it does make the broth more cloudy.
The usual explanation books give for cloudy stock is that you let it get to a full boil rather than a very mild simmer--just an occasional bubble or two. This emulsifies some fat into the stock, causing cloudiness. I generally run it through my chinois, which is not as fine a screen as cheesecloth would be.
Freezing it and thawing it also seems to help reduce cloudiness, though probably not as much as the other two methods.
If I"m making potato soup, it doesn't matter whether its cloudy or not, the soup isn't clear. For chicken soup, it depends on whether or not I add noodles or dumplings, both tend to cloud up the stock. It seemed to me that the onion soup I made a week ago got a little clearer after I added in the onions and the sherry, not sure why.
I guessed it but like reading the why.
I don't think I ever particularly wanted clear broth. I tried skimming the broth while it was cooking once to remove the solids and decided this was too boring to try again. I still have the skimmer thing.
I've heard about the egg thing but I've never tried it. I've tried skimming but then decided it was more work than it was worth.
I usually make 5-6 quart of chicken stock at a time, next time I might try all 3 methods of clarifying it (egg white, methylcellulose F50 and freezing it) and see how they compare. Just what I need---another project. 🙂
