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Your favorite packaged chicken base, bouillon, stock ?

18 years ago

Looking for recommendations for a good packaged chicken base. I've had Better Than Bouillon, Tone's Chicken base and a number of cube and granule styles of bouillon. I have not tried Redi-Base. Better Than Bouillon is the best I've had so far.

I do make chicken stock occasionally but would love to find a great chicken base. Any help or recommendations appreciated.

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Comments (8)

grainlady_ks
18 years ago
Better Than Bouillon is the best I've used, as well - both beef and chicken. One of the reasons is because it's not a chemical concoction, but is made from chicken meat and natural juices. -Grainlady
lindac
18 years ago
I like something called Custom beef or Chicken base...make in Illinois and I think only available from commercial establishments....also made from meat!
But I also like Wylers granules...which are all chemicals...but taste pretty good to me. The first ingredient on the label is salt! LOL!! And it has MSG...
But...it tastes good.
Linda C
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I make a lot of beef stock/brown sauce/demi glace but when I don't have any in the freezer I use Campbell's low sodium beef broth in the box and find it to be acceptable. Here is my recipe for each stage, can be seriously time consuming but only in elapsed time not in effort. You can just stop at the beef stock but I prefer to at least go as far as the brown sauce....great way to spend a cold , rainy weekend. Beef Stock/Brown Sauce/Demi Glace For the Beef Stock: 5 Or 6 Pounds Of Beef Bones, Veal Bones , maybe more ( I watch for shanks and short ribs to go on sale or be marked down and keep in the freezer until I have enough, steak and roast bones are perfect as well) 2 Celery Stalks, Chopped 1 Onion, Chopped 2 Carrots, Chopped For Brown Sauce : 3 carrots, chopped 4 celery ribs, chopped 1 Large Onion Or 2 Small, chopped 1cup Butter 1 Cup Flour 3 TBSP tomato paste 12 Cups hot beef stock herbs such as Thyme, Bay Leaf, Parsley For Demi Glace: 2 Tbl Maderia additional beef stock , equal To The Brown Sauce For the Beef Stock Drizzel the bones and veggie with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the veggies and beef bones in the oven at 400 degres for 30 minutes, turn and cook 30 minutes more or until lovely and carmelized. Place in a large stock pot and cover with 18 cups of cold water. Simmer for 4-6 hours. Strain, place in fridge. In the morning skim off fat. For the Brown Sauce (Sauce Espagnole) Saute mirepoix ( chopped onons, carots and celery) in butter until the onions are light golden brown. Add tomato paste and continue cooking gently. Make a brown roux over low heat in a heavy pan with 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of flour. When the roux is a hazelnut color, add two thirds of HOT beef broth. (Reserve one third for demi glace), and whisk together. Add the vegetables, as well as a bay leaf, a little thyme and some parsley stems. Simmer the mixture for 2 to 3 hours, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface. Strain it through a fine strainer, and press the mirepoix gently to extract their juices. Chill over night.Skim off fat. Then, for the demi-glace: Add an equal amount of beef or veal stock, bring it to a boil, and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, again skimming the surface as necessary. Off the heat, add 2 tablespoons Madeira. Freeze in ice cube trays.
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Gina_W
18 years ago
Penzey's soup bases are good. I have the chicken, beef, seafood and vegetable bases. (Actually the veggie base is my least favorite.) They are great for soups, sauces and flavoring.
weed30 St. Louis
18 years ago
I use Knorr cubes or Kitchen Basics. However, I was looking for Knorr chicken and my store was out, so I hesitantly tried Glory Foods. I say hesitantly because the jar said "Seasoned Cooking Base with Natural Smoke Flavor Added". Why would you add smoke flavor to chicken base?? But the ingredient list was the best of what was on the shelf, chicken being the first ingredient. (followed by hydrolyzed corn gluten and salt...heh.)

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised. It's a paste, and I used it to pep up some turkey stock I'd made. It was pretty darned good! There are some spices in there - just onion and garlic, but my turkey rice soup ended up having a slight kick to it, which was an interesting twist.

I used to get Minor's from a place where I worked. It was good, although it has MSG, which a lot of people can't tolerate. I'll have to try Better Than Bouillon again - I don't know why, but I didn't like it so much when I tried it some years ago.
wizardnm
18 years ago
I use Minor's or Better that Bouillion, they are both good.

Nancy
pkramer60
18 years ago
My vote is for Minors. It is very salty, so I only need to use a little bit. For a second palce, I like the Knorrs.
hawk307
18 years ago
Mickey: I've been using Chicken Flavor Soup Base ,
since the 60's ,
for Chicken Wedding Soup and Gravy.
When I moved to the Pocono's ,I've used Tallarico's.
It comes in a 14 oz. can and is only $2.50
It is soft and yellow. You can spoon it out of the can.
I don't know if it is available where you live but
there are similar brands in the large markets.
Here is the Address,
Tallarico's Food Products
Bethlehem, Pa. 18020-2847

WWW,TALLARICOFOODS.com

LOU
beanthere_dunthat
18 years ago
I use Minors. They do make a no-MSG and low sodium.
The vegetable base is pretty good, too.

Some specialty food stores have them, but there is an on-line source at Soupbase.com I've dealt with the company in the past, both as a retailer and as a consumer. Very nice people. Great customer service, very responsive to questions about the products. They'll also send you recipe pamphlets for the bases if you ask.

It's also one of the few places I can find Bell's Seasoning or Bakewell Cream.

Here is a link that might be useful: Source for Minor's bases and products

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