Reducing Stock | Rouxbe Online Culinary School (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take to reduce stock by half? ›

Either pour into jars at this point, or if you want, what we like to do is to boil the stock on high heat for 1 hour, to reduce it by about half. This way you are storing concentrated stock, which takes less room in the freezer or refrigerator.

How do you reduce a sauce? To reduce a sauce or syrup, bring your broth, soup, or wine to a boil in a wide, uncovered pan or pot. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. Continue simmering until the liquid reaches your desired consistency.

Simple question, will I reduce liquid faster by stirring or should I just leave it to bubble away. Stirring redistributes the heat more effectively. If left alone, heat has to rise to the top and liquid on top that is less hot will have to find a way to migrate down the heat column.

When to Keep the Lid Off. Cooking a soup, stew, or sauce uncovered allows water to evaporate, so if your goal is to reduce a sauce or thicken a soup, skip the lid. The longer you cook your dish, the more water that will evaporate and the thicker the liquid becomes—that means the flavors become more concentrated, too.

Simmering is a slightly gentler version of boiling liquids that allows ingredients to reduce and thicken. This makes simmering a popular method for slow cooking, braising, and making reductions.

Reduce the liquid to about 1/2 cup: Let the liquid in the pan reduce to about 1/2 cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Again, you don't need to be precise here; it's ok to guesstimate. Tilt the pan every so often to gauge how much liquid has evaporated and when it's reduced by about half, you're good.

Reducing your broth to two-thirds of its original volume should result in two times the flavor," she says.

Tilt the pan

This is not the most precise method, but for many recipes it doesn't matter if you guesstimate your reduction. All you have to do is tilt the pan when you first begin reducing the liquid so that you have a starting point, then keep tilting it at regular intervals to see how far it has reduced.

You can simmer with the cookware lid on or off, simply follow your recipe instructions. Keep in mind that when using a cover, you'll want to set your stovetop to a low setting as it can reach a simmer faster than without a cap. When you're not using a lid, adjust your stovetop setting to medium.

What is the difference between a roux and a reduction? ›

Roux is a versatile thickening agent and used in three of the five mother sauces. An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that are usually unmixable, such as oil and vinegar. A reduction is the process of thickening a sauce by simmering or boiling to remove moisture.

Pour in the wine, cider or stock (or both) and keeping the heat high allow the whole thing to bubble. Turn the heat down to medium and let the gravy reduce until its half its original volume which will take about 10-12 minutes. Finally, taste and season.

To make demi-glace, simmer brown stock over medium low heat until reduced by half, 1 1/2 hours.

Cover your soup/stock pot with a lid, and place in a clean kitchen sink filled 1/2 full of cold water. Add more cold water, reusable ice packs, or ice to bring the water level up higher on the edges of the pot. Keep the water 1-2 inches below the top edge.

Simmer: Medium-low heat, gentle bubbling in the pot. Most often used for soups, sauces, and braises. Rapid Simmer: Medium- to medium-high heat, more aggressive bubbling in the pot, but the bubbles should still be fairly small. Most often used for reducing sauces.

After 9-10 hours of simmering, the beef stock will have reduced substantially and you can turn off the heat and strain the stock. Begin by using a pasta spider to gently remove the bones and spent vegetables and herbs (Photo #8).