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Do you use stock ice cubes?

2 years ago

With the help of the best of the minions, the freezer was defrosted and cleaned, and chicken stock got made and frozen. I had gotten sick just after buying chickens just for stock (my collection of frozen spines and giblets having been decimated), and I was determined to get it done. Too tired, however, to think of making stock cubes. I did use smaller containers than I used to however. My father used to use very tall, very large containers, and then just cut off a chunk with a (food) hacksaw as needed. I got a set of space saving containers before making the last batch just for stock in quarts, pint & a halfs, and pints. I really like them!

I could have opened up a container and made the cubes when I thought of it, but considered it further. Even with covers on the ice trays, they evaporated, so have to be removed to a bag anyway, and then they get lost in the freezer. I don't do the sauté in stock that my mother did on a regular basis, so I generally need 2-3 cubes anyway. And rather than bigger containers, I did 6 pints, 4 pint&ahalfs and 2 quarts (it always turns out to be 8 quarts of stock no matter what though I had a pint over (dregs not including above) this time).

Liberation! Freedom from the tyranny of the ice cube trays, which take up way too much space while freezing. I decided that I could just deal with the pints if I only wanted a little, and Ican also take a saw to it if I don't want to use the overs. :)

Featured Answer

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)

2 years ago

No longer. Did the trays years ago but really doesn't make sense the way i cook.

I do have two silicone trays with a stiff wire and tops for stability. Both are 1/2 the size of standard ice trays. Easy to find space in the kitchen freezer. I make ginger, turmeric, lemon/pepper cubes for seltzer and my iced tea. And a blanched greens cube tray...carrot tops, beet greens, celery tops, kale stems, etc. in the food processor when i have a load of produce. Not a pesto but just something to add to soups and chowders, sauces. Into zip-locks and into the kitchen freezer 'tid-bit' drawer. A small drawer the size of a shoebox. Nothing gets lost. Holds parm rinds, etc, tiny things.

I tried glass ball jars, pints and half pints, when we purchased our freezer 10-ish years ago. Too much breakage. Slipery.

Sampled two different silicone bags and a set of two flat silicone lids for the fridge from a ChefSupply. Silicone is mostly junk, ten years ago and still. They stain, hard to clean, and split at the seams. So many imposters and real silicone is expensive. Into the garbage they went.

So i'm still using restaurant supply deli cups. Mostly 1/2 pints. Pints for soups and grains. And quart freezer zip-locks i wash and re-use. (veg, not meats). FoodSaver a little bit.

Never heat, ...just freezer with plastics.

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Comments (9)

CA Kate z9
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I've given up with the litttle cubes for the same reasons. I tend to put the stock in wide-mouth pint jars and thaw what I need. I ususally have a couple of wide-mouth quarts to use as a ready-made base for a soup.
plllog thanked CA Kate z9
Fun2BHere
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I have those silicone 1/2-cup and 1-cup size freezer cubes. Because I'm only cooking for one, those are good sizes for me.
plllog thanked Fun2BHere
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John Liu
2 years ago
I freeze stock in gallon ziplocks, which store nice and flat and are easy to defrost. I freeze demiglace in ice cubes. Or, froze, as I haven’t made demiglace in years. Getting lazy. In fact, increasingly my stock comes from a jar labeled “Better Than Boullion”. Getting really lazy.
plllog
Original Author
2 years ago
LOL on the getting lazy. I have that. But not for stock. I don't have a philosophical problem with commercial stock or BTB, except for the massive amount of salt, but I just don't like it. It's one of those things I have my own specific method for, and just do. Sleevendog makes a lot of stuff I can only dream to aspire to, but gotta have my own stock.
John Liu
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
The pressure cooker really reduced my inclination to freeze stock, because it will produce a basic stock in an hour, so it’s more practical to simply make stock as part of making the soup or whatever. If I need a smaller quantity of stock for something else, then it’s the Blessed Jar.
plllog
Original Author
2 years ago
I get that. One of my favorite soup recipes calls for soup bones for making its own stock. Or it was a favorite when soup bones were cheap and easy to find. I also get really good soup base when I make Awesome Chicken, but it's way too seasoned to be stock.
John Liu
2 years ago
I used to get stock bones cheap from the Asian grocer. Not just bones but also feet, knuckles, backs, tendons. I need to go see if that is still inexpensive.
bragu_DSM 5
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I just freeze my stock in ice cube trays, and plop them in zip bags whe frozen. I use 5 or 6 cubes at a time along with some extra BTB.
plllog thanked bragu_DSM 5

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