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Since the article 5 Reasons Why Your Stock Won’t Gel was published a few weeks ago, I’ve received numerous questions about how gelled stock should look.
Getting your homemade bone broth, or stock as it is commonly known, to gel is extremely important as it is a clear indicator that you have produced a quality product that will impart all the many health benefits bone broth is known for including pain-free joints, smooth digestion, and beautiful, firm skin.
Should stock jiggle a little or a lot? Is gelled stock a thick liquid or more solidified?
Instead of trying to answer these questions with words, I thought it might be most effective to just show you some perfectly gelled stock I made recently after chilling in the refrigerator.
I hope this will give you a clear picture in your mind of how gelled stock should look.
If you find your stock consistently won’t gel, consider adding some high quality powdered gelatin to ensure that you are getting enough per serving when you use your stock to soak rice, make soups and sauces.
Perfectly Gelled Stock
More Information
Gelatin and Collagen Hydrolysate: What’s The Difference?
The Benefits of Gelatin and How to Get More in Your Stock
5 Reasons Your Stock Won’t Gel
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
I enjoy your page and blog so much. I am a huge advocate for bone broths, can you (or anyone) tell me, does pressure cooking change or kill the nutritional value? I am most concerned about the mineral content. Also, how long should beef broth be cooked in a pressure cooker? Thanks!
I’m looking through posts for reasons why stock won’t be clear. I’ve had it come out clear once 1-2 years ago but not since then. I’m wondering why it’s not clear. I did figure out a few “stocks” ago that I was using too high a temperature and have since remedied that however, the stock is still not clear. Thanks so much!
Sarah,
I’ve noticed that some people swear by making stock in a pressure cooker with great results.
Even get gel. What do you think? Do pressure cookers effect stock negatively?
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Thanks so much for all the great stock videos. I was just wondering, could stock be made successfully in the crock pot? (I mainly mean chicken stock as I frequently do whole chickens in the crock pot for dinners). Maybe after our dinner is done, I could remove the meat, and put the bones back and keep it on low until sometime the next day? What do you think?
Thanks so much for your time, and for what you’re doing, I’m learning so much here!
Tanya, that’s exactly what another commenter above stated that she does: throw the bones back in the Crockpot after she’s cooked her chicken, and then make the stock. I cooked a whole pastured chicken today in my stock pot, but after it had been cooking about 12 hours, I removed the chunks of chicken I could easily fish out of there (left the bones) and continued cooking the bones and scraps another 8 hours or so. I was so glad I removed the large pieces of cooked meat early because the scraps that were still in the pot at the end of the cooking time were very dry. I made a chicken salad out of them, but that’s about all I would have used them for, as they were so dry and shredded easily. The bones could easily be broken or crushed with my fingertips, and the stock gelled beautifully.
To those who wonder about the dark color of their stock, somewhere I read that if you include the onion skins in the stock or broth, it will cause it to have a darker color.
At another cooking website, a person commeted the following:
“To make a clearer stock: start with cold water; keep it at a bare simmer (never let it boil); do not stir it up.”
I’m not sure if either of these theories hold true, but there’s a couple possibilities.
I have tried making chicken broth many times and I can not get it to gel, I have let it simmer for 24 hours, 36 hours, and 48 hours. I have used more water, less water, barely any water. I have watched your video as well as other videos, several times. I have had it where it’s light yellow, I have had it turn out very dark where it was brown in color, I have had a layer of fat on the top, no matter how it turns out my daughter loves it and drinks it up, she’ll grab a glass of warm broth before water most days, I just can’t get it to gel no matter what I do to it, right now I’m using the crock pot for the first time!
Hey Betty…here are my suggestions since I had issues myself for awhile…once I started using the crockpot my stock gels everytime now. The reasons it wasnt gelling before is because in the stockpot I think I was adding too much water and not getting the temperature right. In the crockpot, just cover all the bones, set on low and simmer about 17 hrs. If it still doesnt gel I would then look into the quality of the bones. And make sure you use the heads and feet of the chicken…even in beef stock I still use 2 heads and 4 claws…the gel is beautiful!!
The only time my beef bones gel is when I use my pressure cooker. The only time my chicken bone broth gels is when I use chicken feet, no matter how I cook it, stock pot, slow cooker, pressure cooker.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you so much for your site. There is so much helpful info on here….it’s fantastic!
If we’re in a pinch for making broth/stock what are your thoughts on the brand “More Than Gourmet”? If you go out to their website (I won’t post it here because I’m not sure if that is allowed, etc) it shows you how they make it. They are very traditional and it appears that they make it just how I would at home…..just in enormous batches.
Thoughts on using that in a pinch?
Thanks Again!
Eric
Do you have any comments on using a pressure cooker for making stocks? Thank you.
Do you have any comments on using a pressure cooker for making stocks? Thank you.
Hello Sarah….I was wondering, can bone broth be pressure canned?….If so, would the high temperature effect the nutritional value?…Thanks.