Brown Veal Stock

Stock is an essential ingredient in cooking. It’s not only the foundation for many sauces, but also for soups, stews, and braises, providing depth of flavour and richness that can elevate even the most basic dish. Brown veal stock, in particular, is prized for its delicate taste, deep colour, and luxurious texture. In this recipe, we’ll explore the world of veal stock and learn how to make it at home.

What is brown veal stock?

Brown veal stock is a flavourful liquid made by simmering roasted veal bones, meat and aromatic vegetables, in water. The simmering process extracts flavour and nutrients from the bones and vegetables, creating a flavourful base that can be used in cooking. Veal stock is a versatile ingredient that can be used in place of water or chicken stock in many recipes, and is often used to make soups, sauces, and stews. Veal stock can also be seasoned and enjoyed alone as a broth.

What is the difference between veal stock and beef stock?

Veal stock and beef stock are similar in many ways, but there are some differences that set them apart. The primary obvious difference is the type of bones and meat used. Veal is made from the bones of young cattle, while beef stock is made from the bones of mature cattle. The bones from young cattle are softer, which means they release more collagen and gelatin into the stock, resulting in a silky texture and rich flavour. Veal bones and meat also have a lighter and less intense flavour. This results in a stock that is lighter and more delicate than beef stock, making it a good choice for recipes that require a milder and less ‘beefy’ taste.

Selecting the cuts for brown veal stock

When making brown veal stock, it’s important to choose the right cuts of veal bones. Firstly, you’ll want to use some bones that contain joints, such as veal feet. These bones contain more collagen and gelatin which add body to the stock (and eventually sauce). The second important point is to try and use bones that can be cut to roughly the same size. This ensures that when roasting the bones, the all brown at the same time and avoids any of them burning (as that will result in a bitter stock). Also, it is important that the bones are as clean as possible, i.e. with no meat attached. The meat can burn while the bones are roasting which will also make the stock bitter.

If desired, you can add veal meat to the stock. This is not strictly necessary, but I find that browned meat enhances the flavour of the stock even more. If using meat, it’s best to roast the meats separately from the bones, unless they are cut to roughly the same size and you are confident they’ll brown in the same amount of time. It’s probably good to point out that you don’t need to use an expensive cut of meat for this. Go for cheap cuts such as a breast cut or the flank. After the stock is done, you can use the meat in other dishes such as ravioli filling, salads or a pasta sauce.

Choosing the aromatics

The aromatics used in brown veal stock can vary, and it’s fun to experiment with different combinations to find what works best for you. The most classic aromatics used in brown veal stock are onions, carrots, celery and garlic but there are plenty of other vegetables that can be used such as leeks, celeriac, ginger etc. The most important thing to consider when adding vegetables to the stock is to not use too much; especially vegetables that are sweet by nature. If using too much, the stock can become too sweet, especially since the vegetables will be roasted and caramelised, which enhances the sweetness.

Apart from vegetables, herbs are also used as aromatics in stocks. These are usually added in the form of a ‘bouqet garni’. The most common herbs are thyme and bay leaves. Other herbs can be used such as rosemary, parsley or chervil. If you know exactly how you will be using the stock, you might want to enforce a particular herb flavour. But if you are making stock just for general use, it’s best to keep the herbs mild and then reinforce the flavour later when using the stock.

Other important tips to get excellent brown veal stock

Simmering time

Stocks need to simmer for a long time. This is to maximise extraction of flavour and gelatin from the meat, bones and aromatics. It is normal for stock recipes to call for simmering times of 8 – 12 hours.

There are some downsides to long simmering times; the finesse and delicacy of the stock is reduced because some of the delicate flavours from the meat and aromatics evaporate. In most cases this is fine, because the stock will be used in later applications where additional delicate flavours will be added. However, this is still an important point to keep in mind, especially when reducing the stock to a demi-glace or a glace. The further reduction in this case will concentrate the bold flavours of the stock, but it will significantly reduce any delicate flavours.

Use cold water

When making stock, it is important to use cold water. In many commercial fine-dining kitchens, equal parts of cold water and ice are added to the bones and are left to get to temperature naturally before the stock pot is placed on heat.

The first reason for using cold water is related to flavour extraction. Various compounds in meat and bones dissolve at different temperatures. Starting at a cold temperature and heating up gradually allows for maximum extraction of flavours from molecules that dissolve at low temperature and also from those that dissolve at high temperatures. I recently heard a chef say something along the lines of “If you want to extract flavour from a piece of meat into a liquid, start with cold liquid. If you want to infuse a piece of meat with the flavour of a liquid, start with hot liquid and cold meat.”

The second reason for using cold water is to get a clear and clean stock. When cooking the meat and bones, some of the proteins will coagulate and float around in the stock. When using cold water, the proteins coagulate slowly, forming large particles that float to the top of the pot slowly and can easily be skimmed off. If hot water is used and the stock is brought up to temperature quickly, the proteins will coagulate quickly, forming smaller particles that will float around the liquid and will be difficult to skim.

Finally, some chefs avoid using hot water because sometimes water that is heated up in a boiler contains metallic tastes that can affect the taste of the stock.

Do not stir if you want clear stock

When using stocks in sauces, it is usually desirable to have a clear stock so that the sauce is clean and shiny. When the stock is used in soups or braises, the clarity of the stock is not important. The best way to ensure that the stock is as clear as possible is to not stir it unnecessarily to avoid the coagulated proteins floating around in the stock. Also, when passing the stock through a sieve or a chinois, it is best to use a ladle rather than dumping all the pot contents in the sieve.

There are ways to ‘clean’ up a cloudy stock if for some reason or another it ends up cloudy. One way to do it is to pass the stock through a paper-towel-lined sieve. This will filter out many of the small particles that make the stock cloudy. Another technique involves stirring egg whites in the hot stock, letting the egg whites cook and float to the top and then ladling out the stock from the bottom of the pot.

How to store brown veal stock

Stocks need to be kept at a low temperature when stored for a long periods of time. Avoid keeping the stocks in temperatures between 4^oC and 60^oC because they can be the perfect growth bed for bacteria. When preparing large batches, which take a long time to cool down naturally, it is best to cool down the stock by placing the pot in ice. When preparing small batches at home, this might not be necessary because a small pot of stock can cool down quickly if placed in the fridge.

Stocks usually hold well in the fridge for a few days. If you need to store for longer periods, it’s best to freeze them. Stocks can be safely stored in the freezer for a number of weeks.