Mar 26, 2013
Scrappy Vegetable Stock
Wait! Stop! Don’t throw away those veggie scraps. You can make your own delicious vegetable stock so easily and for NO money! I can’t believe I never thought of this before. I came across a post on another vegan blog site where someone featured this simple idea.
So here is my one-week bag o’ scrap:
To make the stock simply save your scraps in a one-gallon ziplock bag in the freezer. When it’s full, put the scraps into a large pot.
Cover with water and simmer for 2-3 hours. Strain and you’re done! I actually strained mine twice. Once with a medium sized strainer into a large bowl and the second time using a finer mesh strainer directly into one-quart canning jars.
I find when I put anything that’s really hot into a canning jar, it will seal itself. The lid sucks in like when you’re actually canning. Of course, it won’t last as long and I put my jars in the fridge, too. It’s a great technique for storing soup also if you make a large batch.
One other thing—don’t use old, wilted or otherwise yucky vegetables just because you’re making stock. The veggies should still be fresh! You can season your stock if you like. I prefer to leave mine plain so I can choose my seasoning depending on how I’m using the stock.
am going to use this tip wonderful idea
thanks Pamela
We do this too, and have for years. We also have a 5 gallon bucket with a lid for compost in the kitchen, and I put in scraps of non-organic veggies in that. I don't want pesticides in my broth from things like onion skins! We try to only use organic veggies from our CSA, our own garden and stores, but there are times with 5 kids and a tight budget that we just have conventional produce. In those cases, I would rather compost those scraps. I've found that some of the best veggies for broth are carrot ends, garlic and onion peels, red pepper scraps and herbs. Don't bother with things in the cabbage family (broccoli, cabbage, etc.) as it's too powerful and does not give a good flavor. I use those extras for other uses (here's my list of how to make use of all of the parts of produce, even corn cobs! http://www.examiner.com/article/root-to-stem-cooking-how-to-use-every-part-of-your-produce Love your blog, BTW!
~Alicia
Fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge, Alicia!!