Every housewife has misfires in the kitchen from time to time - water boils away when cooking meat, soup boils down, or the broth simply turns out to be too concentrated. Can the broth be diluted with water? Yes, but you need to be prepared that this will affect the taste of the finished dish. A new portion of water will not have time to be saturated with aromas and beneficial substances, which means that the product will feel unrich and diluted. If you do decide to do this, do not forget to follow one important rule - boil the liquid for 1 minute to kill pathogens.
How to remove excess fat from soup?
Cool a ladle or iron bowl. Put ice there, dip it in the broth
(make sure no ice gets into
the broth
). The fat will freeze and stick to the cold surface of the ladle. Afterwards, discard the fat, wash the ladle and repeat again if necessary.
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Why is it not advisable to dilute the broth?
Many are sure that adding water to ready-made soup or broth is unacceptable. Such an action actually looks barbaric. It's like adding a little milk to ice cream. After all, in fact, when cooking meat, water is filled with useful substances, fat, spices and becomes a completely different product - broth.
Adding a portion of clean water will lead to the following consequences for the dish:
- Quick spoilage. If the broth is diluted with raw water, it will spoil very quickly. Liquids that have not undergone heat treatment contain billions of microorganisms. Once in a warm nutrient medium, they will begin to multiply intensively. If you do not boil the dish after adding water, it will turn sour within 24 hours and acquire an unpleasant smell and taste.
- Deterioration in taste. It is the change in the taste of the broth after dilution with water that is most often complained about. It becomes somehow insipid, unsaturated, weak. Although some do not notice any changes. Apparently, it all depends on the sensitivity of taste buds, and maybe on the feeling of hunger.
- Reduced concentration of nutrients. It is known that to preserve the taste and beneficial elements inside the meat, it is placed in boiling water. To obtain a tasty broth, on the contrary, the meat is slowly heated so that it gives all the benefits to the water and is thoroughly boiled. By diluting the finished dish with water, we get a low content of nutrients in a large volume of liquid.
Meat broths take a long time to cook, for at least an hour. Therefore, you should always pour in a large supply of water (2-3 times more) and keep the dish on low heat so that the liquid does not boil away too quickly.
Method six. Thicken the soup with coconut milk
If yogurt takes us back to the Slavs and the Balkans, coconut milk reminds us of Southeast Asia and India.
Pumpkin soup with ginger and coconut milk
Coconut milk is often used to give curries a smooth, smooth texture. Along with the thickening, it adds a sweet flavor and creamy texture to the dish - almost like you're eating a little coconut. It's also a great option for those who are lactose intolerant.
BOTTOM LINE: If you want a thicker, heartier soup, choose something starchy. If you need a creamy consistency and delicate flavors, try “milk” versions of natural thickeners. And if you want a thick soup without any additives, just pour a small amount of soup into a bowl (with all the pieces, slices and other riches) and blend the contents until pureed, and then return the resulting mixture to the pan. This method adds body to your soup while maintaining its original flavor.
Proportions
As for the percentage, one kilogram of meat is taken for 3 liters of meat. Of course, in the end there will be less broth, because during cooking the water evaporates. And I don’t recommend adding a new one, as this will make the broth cloudy and not so tasty. (Renzo de Sari, brand chef of the IL Patio restaurant chain)
If you want to cook three liters of broth at home, then you need to pour 4 liters of water per 1 kg of bones. 1 liter will definitely boil down and you will get three liters. (Elena Savchuk, chef of the LavkaLavka restaurants)
For chicken broth, 1 kg of chicken requires 2.5 liters of water. Then you will get good taste. (Eric Le Provos, chef and owner of Le Bistrot le Provos)
Author block
Not only novice housewives, but also experienced ones, often experience punctures in the kitchen. Something will burn, or it will boil away. And I want to have dishes that are tasty and attractive in appearance. Nobody wants to stand at the stove for days. Sometimes you have to cook 2-3 days ahead.
Opening a saucepan with your favorite soup, you may find that borscht or kharcho resembles porridge rather than a first course. We will have to correct the situation, but to do this you need to know whether it is possible to add water to the finished soup. There are other situations when this issue is relevant. Find out what professionals do in this case. Tips from chefs are collected below.
DOMOSTROYPlumbing and construction
- Thursday, December 12, 2022 1:07
- Author: Sereg985
- Comment
- Category: Construction
- Link to post
- https://firmmy.ru/
Every housewife has misfires in the kitchen from time to time - water boils away when cooking meat, soup boils down, or the broth simply turns out to be too concentrated. Can the broth be diluted with water? Yes, but you need to be prepared that this will affect the taste of the finished dish. A new portion of water will not have time to be saturated with aromas and beneficial substances, which means that the product will feel unrich and diluted. If you do decide to do this, do not forget to follow one important rule - boil the liquid for 1 minute to kill pathogens.
Meat
Most often we cook broths from beef or chicken. Veal, lamb, goose and so on are rare. So we're mostly talking about chicken and beef broths.
For beef broth, a shoulder blade with a bone works best. For chicken - whole chicken. (Eric Le Provos, chef and owner of Le Bistrot le Provos)
For meat broth, I recommend taking the back part along with the shank, it has the highest collagen content. (Maxim Volkov, chef of The Mad Cook restaurant)
If we cook broth for soup, then we need to consider what it will be like. For borscht, this is brisket on the bone or ribs. For noodles - a good chicken, better domestic racing (laying hens), at least one year old. For shurpa - lamb, ribs are best. (Dmitry Zotov, brand chef of Haggis Pub&Kitchen, Madame Wong, Pate&Co, Zotman Pizza Pie restaurants)
It’s good when the cut contains connective tissue: this means that it is rich in gelling substances that make the broth thicker, more aromatic and rich. And it’s best if the meat is fresh or chilled, not frozen. (Renzo de Sari, brand chef of the IL Patio restaurant chain).
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What to do with concentrated broth?
There are several ways to get out of the situation with dignity. To prevent dilution of the broth from affecting its taste, choose one of the options:
- Preparing the second broth. The ideal way out of the situation is to take out the meat (mushrooms, fish), add the required portion of water and boil again. You will get a broth called the second one. It is less fatty and is often prescribed for digestive problems.
- Mixing the second and first broth. To make the broth richer, you can mix it with the first one and simmer for 1 minute. The result will be a product that is practically no different in taste from broth cooked according to all the rules.
- Dilute with water and boil for 7–15 minutes. If the cooking time allows you to keep the pan on the fire a little longer, you can safely add water. In 7-15 minutes, the liquids will be completely mixed and saturated with meat aroma and taste.
Please note that when diluting the broth with water, you need to recalculate the added salt and spices. Most likely, you will have to salt the liquid a little so that it does not turn out bland.
Diluting the broth with water is not a good idea. However, when there is no other choice, you can do this. To prevent this from affecting the taste of the dish, you should boil the liquid and add a little salt and spices. And for the future: when cooking meat, you should always take into account that water boils away during the process, and significantly. Therefore, it is better to initially add more of it. Then you won’t have to dilute the valuable product.
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Spices
After boiling and removing the foam, I add a little cloves to the broth. At the end of cooking, you can add bay leaf, parsley and thyme. (Eric Le Provos, chef and owner of Le Bistrot le Provos)
Broths love basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, clove buds, garlic and black pepper, and roots. You can simply stick cloves, black pepper, and garlic into an onion and add it to the broth. (Renzo de Sari, brand chef of the IL Patio restaurant chain)
I add only bay leaf and black pepper half an hour before the end of cooking. (Maxim Volkov, chef of The Mad Cook restaurant)
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Vegetables
Carrots give the broth color, but do not give taste and aroma; for this you will need other vegetables. (Elena Savchuk, chef of the LavkaLavka restaurants)
The carrots must be cut in half or into four pieces lengthwise. Whole carrots give off color and flavor poorly. It happens that carrots are fried for broth, but I think that this should not be done. (Eric Le Provos, chef and owner of Le Bistrot le Provos)
I use two types of carrots (regular and Uzbek), leeks and onions, and a stalk of celery. I fry the vegetables lightly before adding them to the broth. (Maxim Volkov, chef of The Mad Cook restaurant)
For beef broth, you need to take an onion, cut it in half and fry one side directly on the burner, not in a frying pan. In this case, you don’t have to peel the onion. (Eric Le Provos, chef and owner of Le Bistrot le Provos)
Peeled onions? No, it’s better to clean it and bake it in a dry frying pan. This way it will release its aroma into the broth. (Elena Savchuk, chef of the LavkaLavka restaurants)
I add the green part of the leek and parsley stems to the broth. Those things that you would throw away will not be useful anywhere else. You can also add parsley, parsnip or celery root: they give the broth a spicy taste and aroma. (Elena Savchuk, chef of the LavkaLavka restaurants)
When the broth is cooked, the vegetables need to be thrown out of it; they have already fulfilled their function, giving up all the juices. (Renzo de Sari, brand chef of the IL Patio restaurant chain)
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How long to cook
A good beef broth should simmer for three hours. (Elena Savchuk, chef of the LavkaLavka restaurants)
After boiling and removing the foam, chicken broth should be cooked for 50 minutes over very low heat. (Eric Le Provos, chef and owner of Le Bistrot le Provos)
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Water
Place the meat in ice water. It is necessary. This is necessary so that the protein does not begin to coagulate prematurely and the meat releases beneficial substances to the water. (Maxim Volkov, chef of The Mad Cook restaurant)
If you immerse meat in hot water, a thin film forms on its surface, which blocks this process. The meat itself, of course, will be tasty, but we are talking about the broth. (Renzo de Sari, brand chef of the IL Patio restaurant chain)
The water should be of good quality, filtered and cold. It also affects the taste of the soup. (Dmitry Zotov, brand chef of Haggis Pub&Kitchen, Madame Wong, Pate&Co, Zotman Pizza Pie restaurants)
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