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Soup

To Clear Soup Stock

A method to clarify soup stock by removing fat and suspended solids using egg white.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Clear Soup Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the fat from the stock.

  2. Mix the beaten egg white with the cold stock.

Clarify

  1. Heat the mixture, stirring constantly until it boils.

  2. Let it boil without stirring for ten minutes.

  3. Remove from heat and add ½ cup cold water.

  4. Let it stand for ten minutes.

  5. Strain through cheesecloth and a colander.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Egg white
Its proteins coagulate as they heat, trapping cloudy particles so they can be strained out.
Stock
The main liquid, which is clarified into a clear broth.
Cold water
Added off the heat to cool the mixture and help the coagulated solids settle.

The step that matters

Let it boil without stirring for ten minutes. Stirring breaks up the forming egg white raft, so cloudy particles stay suspended. A gentle, undisturbed boil lets the raft capture them so the stock clears.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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