I did not know that: Here’s why you shouldn’t boil your homemade broth

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I always knew the culinary warning was out there, but never understood why I wasn’t supposed to boil the broth. Watching the delightful TAMPOPO traveling down the Zen path to ramen enlightenment as her guru warns her to NEVER let her broth come to a boil, I paid even more attention to this step—still without knowing why.

Now I know. Just checked out THE CHICKEN SOUP MANIFESTO by Jenn Louis which travels the world and provides soup recipes from every corner of the globe...all using chicken in some form or other.

Right at the beginning is this simple troubleshooting statement:

Don’t boil stock or broth: the fat will emulsify into the broth, giving the soup a greasy mouthful.
Well...that was simple. Now I know. Thank you, Jenn Louis.

 
Hmm. Never had a "greasy mouthfeel" from my stock cooked in an open pot on my stove, but then I have never boiled it for the whole time. Usually it is just brought to a boil then I turn it down and let it simmer for a good long while.

The only time I have had a greasy mouthfeelin' stock is when I pressure cooked a batch to speed up the process. THEN it was for sure full of emulsified fat and it was not very nice.

 
I think your method is sound. The initial gentle boil brings up the impurities to be skimmed off—and then its slow simmer time.

 
Thanks for sharing Marilyn. In our house the chicken soup was usually made way in advance (we typically only had it for Jewish Holidays - with matzo balls:)). It was made in a pressure cooker and refrigerated overnight. The next day the congeal fat would be removed and typically we froze the soup until needed.

 
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