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The easiest method for skimming a pot of stock or bone broth which significantly improves the flavor for the best-tasting base to use with your traditional soup recipes.
I’ve written many posts about bone broth and meat stock on this blog since 2009.
As I recall, I’ve never written an article specifically about the best way to skim foam from a stockpot as it’s first coming to a boil.
Sometimes, removing the foam can be a bit tedious, as many of you have no doubt noticed!
Removing as much of these off-flavors as you can is important to achieve the best-tasting result!
This is a critical step that is often skipped.
Whether you are making stock as a base for other recipes or just want some homemade sippin’ broth, smart cooks will take the time to skim.
Best Skimming Tools
When it comes to skimming stock and broth, a large slotted stainless steel utensil works best as suggested by the cookbook Nourishing Traditions.
For years, I used a large slotted spoon (like this one), but a few years ago, I came across an even better tool.
It’s literally called a skimmer! This is the model I use.
Using this tool, I am able to skim the foam off meat stock much more quickly.
It works great for my large Vitaclay as well when I’m making a long-cooked bone broth.
Cleaner Meat = Less Foam
By the way, using commercial chicken from the supermarket to make broth produces such a large amount of foam and impurities that you will likely be convinced that buying local (or at least organic) is a far better use of your food dollars going forward!
The cleaner and better quality meat you use, the less foam and other impurities you will have to skim off!
Since I make two pots of stock and/or broth almost every week, any time savings in the kitchen is a welcome one, I can assure you.
Whatever skimming tool you choose, be sure it is stainless steel.
Never ever use plastic or silicone utensils with boiling hot broth! These types of tools could add a dose of toxins with your otherwise healthy traditional dish.
Thawing Tip: Vitaclay is a great tool for quick thawing meat when you need to make broth in a hurry (the picture below is my stoneware Vitaclay set to “warm”).
Put the frozen meat in the pot covered with filtered water and set the timer to “warm” for 30 minutes to an hour! This is a much healthier method than the microwave which denatures food particles. The radiation-induced thaw occurs inside-out (instead of a natural outside-in progression).
How to Skim Broth or Stock Quickly
My niece is learning how to make meat stock right now. Since we live at a distance, I filmed this short clip to text her as a visual demonstration of how to remove the foam.
Her response? “I NEED THAT TOOL!”
🤩
I hope you find this traditional tip helpful and that it makes your efforts in ancestral food preparation just a bit easier as it has mine 🙂
Thank you, Sarah, for this tip. I make 3 gallons of broth at a time and freeze in 1/2 gallon ball jars. I just ordered the skimming tool. I’m looking forward to using it the next time I make broth.
I am new to broth-making. I am wondering if beef bone broth needs to be skimmed, or is it just chicken?
All broth needs to be skimmed no matter what type of bones are used.
Lately I have been parboiling instead of skimming. Bring meat and bones to a boil for 5 mins, then dump out all the water, rinse, then fill the pot with clean water and proceed with recipe. The result is the same as if you had skimmed it! I notice a lot of Asian soup recipes call for parboiling, while skimming is more of a French technique
Thanks for sharing this interesting technique! Sounds similar to how you prepare beans by refreshing the water after soaking and before cooking (which brings a lot of foam to the surface)
I often use cheesecloth to remove all the “junk” from my broth. Just strain it into another pot.
The foam with all the impurities dissolves back into the water shortly after the boil occurs though and needs to be skimmed. Removing the food bits at the end won’t do the same thing (although what you are doing is certainly fine).
I would suggest skimming it too … your broth will taste much better and be healthier!
Sarah – We have used this skimming tool from Lee Valley for many years. We use it to skim broth, beans, etc.
https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/kitchen/cooking-utensils/ladles/113757-fine-mesh-skimming-ladle?item=EV262
Lee Valley is in Canada and I think they have a US site, too.
Thanks for your post! We love tips on how to make traditional cooking as efficient as possible since it can take so much time.
Katie
They are great for skimming foam off beans and other legumes too! Forgot to mention that. Thanks for adding and sharing your tool!