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Soup Stock

A beef stock made by simmering shin, bones, and vegetables for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Soup Stock

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Soup Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat from the bones.

  2. Place the bones in the bottom of a kettle and lay the meat on top of the bones.

  3. Add water.

Simmer

  1. Place the kettle on the back part of the stove for 1 hour.

  2. Place the kettle over a good fire until scum forms on top.

  3. Skim off the scum.

  4. Cover the kettle closely.

  5. Let it simmer (not boil) for 4 hours.

  6. Add the vegetables.

  7. Simmer for 1 hour longer.

Finish and chill

  1. Strain the stock.

  2. Add salt.

  3. Place it in a cool place.

  4. When cold, remove all the grease from the surface.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef shin
Releases gelatin and savoury flavour into the water during long simmering.
Beef bones
Add gelatin and body, giving the finished stock a richer mouthfeel.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the stock's flavour.
Carrot
Contributes gentle sweetness and aromatic flavour to the stock.

The step that matters

Skim off the scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the liquid heats. Removing it keeps the stock clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, turnip, parsley, clove, pepper):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, turnip, parsley, clove, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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