Mushroom broth is a real lifesaver for people who, for whatever reason, want meat and fish soups prohibited.

All Christians know that during Lent you can cook any first course with it: cabbage soup, borscht, rassolnik, any mushroom soup.

For vegetarians, this is one of the first bases for soups; it is generally not clear what they would do without such a product. These people know exactly what mushrooms smell like. Fragrant mushroom broth, for example, oyster mushrooms won’t do much. It’s better with champignons, but the real forest aroma will be transferred to the broth, and eventually to the soup, by the forest mushrooms. In first place, of course, White mushroom- a king among his relatives.

But soups are also cooked based on broths from chanterelles, boletuses, boletus, honey mushrooms, and extreme dishes even from russula. In a word, as long as it’s not made from fresh fly agarics or toadstools. Both newfangled shiitake and meitake are used.

It would seem that nothing could be simpler - wash the mushrooms properly, add water in a saucepan, put it on the fire - and now the broth is ready. And this is actually true, but you need to adhere to some rules. We are, of course, talking about extraction from wildlife. "Store" mushrooms special effort No cooking required: washed, cut and cooked.

Rule No. 1. Clean and wash

Before cooking any mushrooms, they must be properly cleaned and washed. The volume that you brought from the forest in a basket already at this stage is reduced by about a third. Washing and processing take quite a lot of time, especially if it is rainy autumn, and along with mushrooms you have collected dirt, fallen leaves, blades of grass, and sand.

Rule No. 2. Soak

All this must be removed and the mushrooms should be left to soak. For what? The mushroom has a porous structure. A lot of things get clogged up in your pores, but you’re unlikely to want to eat them. Therefore, we cleaned, cut off all excess, washed - put the mushrooms in a sufficient amount of water, they should be completely covered with liquid. Leave them for 2 hours, no need to change the water. Some mushrooms have their own characteristics: milk mushrooms can be bitter, butter mushrooms themselves are slimy.

Rule No. 3. Boil first

So, if you are dealing with noble mushrooms - for example, porcini, boletus, boletus, then you can start cooking them immediately after soaking. If the mushrooms are capricious, then they should be boiled over a low simmer for at least an hour, or better yet, two. The liquid that forms during the cooking process is not broth yet, it must be poured out! And after that you can use the mushrooms further: you can cook broth from them, and then soup; You can fry it, you can freeze it, or you can dry it.

Rule No. 4. Cook the broth

Now let’s actually cook the mushroom broth. The mass of mushrooms depends on the purposes for which you then want to use them. On average, 200 g of dried mushrooms are taken per 2 liters of water, and 500-700 g of fresh or frozen mushrooms. But if you are planning to prepare a luxurious puree soup, where mushrooms will be the main ingredient, then there should naturally be more of them.

If you take dry mushrooms, you must first soak and rinse them. It is better to defrost frozen ones, although this is not necessary.

When you start cooking, immediately add spices. Pairs well with mushrooms:

• Onions (leeks or onions), 1 large one is enough for a two-liter saucepan;
• Bay leaf, but it may interfere with the mushroom flavor;
• Peppers of all types (black, white, red, sweet peas, paprika, chili);
• Parsley - both root and green;
• Celery;
• Thyme;
• Oregano;
• Tarragon;
• Caraway.

Choose a spice or combination of spices that you like. It is important that the spices are used in moderation - their aroma should emphasize the forest mushroom spirit, and not interrupt it.

Rule No. 5. How long to cook?

The preparation time for mushroom broth ranges from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours on average. It depends, again, on the mushrooms. You can easily prepare a broth from champignons in about 40 minutes. The rule is that wild mushrooms should be cooked longer. Determine readiness by consistency and smell. When the broth is ready, it is filtered, the mushrooms are chopped so that they can be used further.

How to use mushroom broth?

Its main purpose is to become the basis of the soup! If you don't want mushroom first dish immediately, you can cool the broth and freeze it.

For main courses, mushroom broth will be a good base for side dishes: buckwheat, cooked in it, is already magnificent. You can make excellent pasta if you boil the spaghetti in broth rather than water.

Mushroom broth is perfect as a base for julienne and all its varieties. You can stew meat, chicken, and vegetables in mushroom broth. As a result, they will all acquire a unique forest aroma!

In contact with

Mushroom broth is the basis for first courses and sauces. For its preparation, light types of mushrooms are recommended: porcini, boletus, champignons. Forest boletuses and boletuses will color the water unpleasantly. dark color. Fresh, dried or frozen mushrooms are used for the broth.

What are the benefits of mushroom broth?

In a decoction of natural mushrooms contains almost all amino acids useful microelements, antioxidants, B vitamins, a little A and C and a lot of protein. What good does such a decoction do for the body?

• Cleans it, removes all toxins, harmful substances.
• Prevents the development of viral infections.
• Improves brain function.
• Prevents cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
• Strengthens the walls of blood vessels.
• Improves condition and appearance hair, nails, skin.

The broth contains only 3 calories per 100 g and is therefore used in many diets.

It is useful during illness, when the body is weakened. Usually a person in this state has no appetite, and drinking the healing liquid is not difficult.

To really cook healthy broth, it is recommended to cook the mushrooms for at least three minutes and drain this water. They tend to absorb harmful substances and also accumulate heavy metal salts. In the first water they will simply boil away.

Mushroom broth made from fresh mushrooms

Ingredients for preparation:

• 0.3 kg of porcini mushrooms;
• 1 onion;
• 5 potatoes;
• 2 tablespoons butter;
• salt and herbs to taste;
• 2 liters of water.

How to cook mushroom broth from fresh mushrooms:

1. Boil the mushrooms whole. Then chop coarsely and place in a frying pan. Leave the broth.
2. Fry forest gifts 10 minutes. At this time, chop the onion. Add it and butter into the frying pan. Simmer the food for a quarter of an hour.
3. Bring the broth to a boil. Chop the potatoes into cubes and place in a saucepan.
4. When the potatoes become soft, add the stir-fry with mushrooms. Reduce heat and leave for 10 minutes.
5. At the end, add salt to the soup, garnish with herbs and serve.

From fresh mushrooms The result is the most rich, tasty, rich broth.

From dried mushrooms

What you need for the dish:

• 40 g of any dried mushrooms;
• 1.5 liters of water;
• a teaspoon of salt.

Step-by-step instructions for preparation:

1. Place the mushrooms in a saucepan and add water. Leave for at least a couple of hours, but preferably overnight.
2. When the mushrooms swell, place the container with them on the stove. Boil the broth, constantly removing the foam with a spoon. At medium heat the process will take 40 minutes.
3. Pour salt into the aromatic liquid, stir it and leave for a minute. Strain the finished broth.

Mushrooms can be used separately for cooking other dishes. The broth made from them is good to eat on its own or use as a base for first courses.

Tip: without adding unnecessary ingredients, mushroom broth can be used as a sauce for main courses, cutlets, and meat. To do this, it is thickened with flour. For especially delicate taste add sour cream or cream.

Cooking with champignons

Required Products:

• 20 champignons;
• one carrot and one onion;
• two potatoes;
• black pepper and salt - half a teaspoon each.

Champignon broth recipe:

1. Rinse the mushrooms under water and cut into medium pieces. Peel and cut the potatoes.
2. Fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil. The amount of liquid depends on the desired consistency of the dish.
3. Heat a frying pan and add some vegetable oil. Add champignons, fry for 5 minutes over moderate heat. Stir all the time.
4. When the water in the pan boils, throw the potatoes into it. After 20 minutes, add the mushrooms.
5. Grind the carrots on a grater and finely chop the onion. Sauté the vegetables in the oil left over from the mushrooms for a couple of minutes.
6. Throw them into the broth and cook the products together until the potatoes are ready. Season the soup a minute before the end of cooking.
7. Infuse the broth for a quarter of an hour and serve. If desired, decorate with greenery.

Important: mushrooms are always cut into large or medium pieces. During processing they boil down and become smaller. In addition, with large pieces easier to work with.

Mushroom broth with potatoes and bulgur

Ingredients for the recipe:

• 100 g each of oyster mushrooms and porcini mushrooms;
• 100 g potatoes;
• 100 g leeks;
• 60 g bulgur cereal;
• 1.5 liters of vegetable broth;
• pepper and salt;
• 10 g parsley.

Vegetables for broth:

• 1.7 liters of water (some of it will be absorbed into the vegetables);
• 1 carrot and small onion each;
• 2 garlic cloves;
• 3 – 4 black peppercorns;
• 1 celery stalk;
• a little greenery (parsley or dill);
• Bay leaf;
• salt.

How to make mushroom broth with potatoes and bulgur:

1. First prepare vegetable broth. Cut vegetables in large pieces, just chop the onion in half. Leave the garlic whole.
2. Place the prepared ingredients in a saucepan and pour cold water. Place the pan on maximum heat and wait until it boils.
3. Reduce heat slightly, add pepper, bay leaf and a little salt. Cook until carrots are soft.
4. Strain and use as directed. If you do not want to strain the broth, you should carefully scoop it out with a ladle.
5. Peel and cut the mushrooms. Pour oil into a thick-walled pan and heat it. Fry mushrooms in it.
6. Pour pre-prepared vegetable broth over them and bring to a boil.
7. At this time, chop the potatoes and onions, throw them into the broth and boil again.
8. Add bulgur and cook until potatoes and cereal are cooked.
9. Add pepper and salt. Chop the parsley and add it to the soup at the end of cooking.

Bulgur is a cereal made from processed and crushed wheat, popular in the Caucasus, the Middle East, Pakistan and southern Russia. This product perfectly complements dishes with mushrooms.

From frozen mushrooms

What to prepare the dish from:

• 0.3 kg of mushrooms;
• 3 potatoes;
• one onion and one carrot each;
• 3 bay leaves;
• 30 g flour;
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil;
• optional - sour cream, dill;
• salt and pepper.

Prepare mushroom broth with frozen ingredients as follows:

1. Do not defrost mushrooms. Heat a frying pan with oil and place them there. Cook until golden.
2. Add flour and simmer over medium heat for a couple of minutes.
3. Peel the potatoes and chop into small cubes. Place in a saucepan, add water and place on the stove.
4. Boil and add salt. Then add bay leaf and mushrooms to the broth.
5. Peel the carrots and onions, finely chop or pass through a grater. Fry the vegetables in a frying pan in the mushroom oil.
6. Season the roast with salt and pepper and add to the broth. Cook for a quarter of an hour.
7. Before serving, each plate with ready-made soup garnish with dill. Serve with sour cream.

• If you prepare a soup based on dried mushrooms, after soaking them, you can drain the water and cook the dish in another. This will lighten the broth a little.
• Adding cream or sour cream will also lighten the soup slightly.
• You can cook the mushroom broth twice. The first water is drained and used for other dishes, and the mushrooms are fried with vegetables and thrown into clean cold water.
• Another way is to fry the carrots and onions well. The carrots will make the broth bright and golden, while the onions will lighten it.
• If you need broth for cheese soup, That processed cheese will lighten it even better than sour cream and cream.

Cooking mushroom broth is not difficult. If you follow all the recommendations, it will turn out tasty and rich.

Ready-made broth is a real lifesaver for every housewife. You can quickly prepare dinner based on it, be it soup or gravy for main courses. Therefore, having tried this method of preparing a semi-finished product, most housewives keep it as a note: it really saves time. It remains to find out how to freeze the broth so that this method can be adopted.

Perishable product

Real, tasty and aromatic - this is what broth should be like for your dishes to turn out perfect. It is very difficult to prepare soup, borscht, homemade noodles if you have hastily boiled meat and the water in which it was cooked. Real broth needs to be rich, and that takes time. Therefore, it is best to prepare it a week in advance. This is why the question arises of how to freeze the broth. Otherwise it will spoil very quickly.

Rules for storing broth

In reality, you don't have many options. This rich product is loved by all kinds of bacteria. In fact, it spoils no less quickly than fresh meat. Therefore, choose one of the methods listed below:

• If you need to keep vegetable or meat broth warm, you can use a thermos. You need to pour the broth into a clean thermos and keep it boiling. Then it will stay warm and not spoil for up to 6 hours.
• The finished product is stored well in the refrigerator. Therefore, if you want to cook something from it in the coming days, you can safely put the saucepan on a free shelf. He can easily withstand three days. After this, you can boil it and use it again without fear for another three days.
• But what if you need to save it for longer than a week? For this fresh broth you just need to cool, pour into molds and put in the freezer.

Technological subtleties

Every housewife becomes a culinary specialist. But there is always something to learn. So let's look at some tricks that will help you make great entree bases and gravies.

• Before we talk about how to freeze broth, you need to learn how to cook it properly. To maximize shelf life, cookware is very important. The one that tends to oxidize is not suitable. The best option- this is glass. You can also use ceramics with a tight lid.
• Sometimes housewives complain that not even a few days have passed since preparation, but the broth has already turned sour. To prevent this from happening, you need to cool it as quickly as possible. To do this, you can use a larger diameter pan with cold water.
• If you know how to freeze broth correctly, you can safely count on its preservation for 6 months. It is most convenient to freeze it in portioned containers with a flat lid.

The right broth

It is very important that you are confident in the quality of what is in your refrigerator. Despite the fact that the cooking procedure is not too complicated, there are a number of subtleties that need to be taken into account. Before wondering how to properly freeze broth, you need to prepare a good, high-quality base for first courses.

Basic moments

The best broth comes from beef. To save money, many people prefer chicken, but this product is most often used for noodles. Can you freeze broth made from bones? Yes, they are best used this way. The base for the soup turns out rich, and the pulp can be added directly during the preparation of the dish. But it’s best to take the bone with the meat and freeze the broth along with the pulp. Then it turns out ready-made semi-finished product, which is very convenient to use.

You will need:

• Meat on the bone.
• Water.
• Salt, black pepper, bay leaf.
• A slow cooker or a convenient saucepan.

The proportions can be chosen at your discretion, depending on how much you want to get the final product. Professional chefs recommend boiling. At the right time, you can dilute it with water and get the desired concentration. Don't go overboard with adding spices. You doing universal basis for first courses, which can then be easily varied and used for huge amount recipes

Cooking steps

The first step is to wash the meat under running water. There is no need to cut it, so your preparation will come out tastier and more aromatic.

• Place the piece in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
• Place over medium heat and wait until it boils.
• After this, reduce the heat and do not forget to skim off the foam.
• After about an hour and a half you need to add salt.
• The cooking time depends on the type of meat and the selected piece. Try to cook until the meat begins to fall off the bone.
• After cooking is complete, you need to remove the meat and place the pan with the broth in a bowl of cold water.

That's basically it. Now you have a finished product, you can move directly to the question of how to freeze the broth in the refrigerator.

Freezing containers

Here you have several options. You can use disposable or reusable tableware. The first option is more convenient, since freezing bags are cheap and sold in any store.

• Containers with high sides are most often used for freezing. This will come in handy if you plan to put the broth in the pan without defrosting it. On the other hand, if the container is wide, the frozen block of broth can be placed sideways in the pan. It will gradually melt.
• If there is no time to defrost, you can pour boiling water over the container, then the frozen broth will fall out on its own.
• It is very convenient to use empty plastic mayonnaise buckets.
• To save space, you can use plastic bags. This saves space in the freezer.

Is it possible to freeze broth in the freezer if its volume leaves much to be desired? Yes, but for this you need to slightly change the cooking technology. Pour enough water into the pan to just cover the meat. During the cooking process it will boil away and remain concentrated broth. It can be poured into plastic cups. Then simply dilute the concentrate to the desired volume.

Chicken bouillon

It sours much faster than all other types of meat broths, so it requires more attention. How's the broth? First of all, it needs to be boiled, cooled quickly and be sure to strain through sterile gauze folded in half. Before storing, it should be poured into a glass container and covered. glass lid. This will avoid the oxidation process.

Can be frozen chicken bouillon V large quantities. It is great for making soups or homemade noodles. Moreover, on its basis we obtain delicious sauces. The big plus is quick cooking. If beef needs to be cooked for 2-3 hours, then the chicken will be ready in 40 minutes.

How to store meat broth

The difference is not too big. The beef takes longer to cook, and the broth itself is richer. Unfrozen storage temperature is the same as chicken broth, that is, from 4 to 8 degrees. This is easily achieved on the middle shelf of the refrigerator. But the time period is a little longer - it will “live” for up to 7 days without freezing. But if you are planning long-term storage in the freezer, it is best to freeze it fresh, immediately after cooking.

How to determine freshness

We have already talked about how long frozen broth can be stored. Culinary experts and technologists call the period 6 months, but if there have been no temperature changes, then it will stay in the freezer much longer. But even broth stored according to all the rules can spoil. Therefore, after defrosting, you must smell it. If the broth is spoiled, you will easily notice a smell that is reminiscent of a spoiled egg.

If there is even the slightest suspicion that the soup base is spoiled, it should be thrown out without any regret. It is especially easy to observe such changes if you have defrosted the broth and temporarily placed it in the refrigerator. Besides unpleasant odor, the appearance of the product can warn of spoilage. If the broth becomes cloudy, flakes and sediment appear in it, this should also alert you. If the smell has not changed, you can try boiling the broth.

Instead of a conclusion

Once you learn how to freeze broth in the freezer, you definitely won’t want to give up this method. It is very convenient and practical. Moreover, the broth does not have to be stored in containers. After freezing, immerse the container in warm water, shake out the contents and carefully stack them in the freezer. Some housewives prefer to crush ice bars into cubes.

If the refrigerator has been defrosted, then it is advisable to boil the broth and freeze it again. Quality finished product and the content of nutrients in this case decreases, but the broth is still suitable for consumption. Judging by the reviews of experienced housewives, optimal quantity broth - 2-3 liters. In this case, the product fits easily in the freezer and is consumed quite quickly. You can safely eat it within a month, even if you rarely cook soups.

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev, chef of the Ruski restaurant :

“All the main products for cooking broth must be added immediately and always in cold water. This is an axiom. If you put meat, fish or vegetables in hot water, they will all immediately experience heat shock, the surface of the product will be sealed - and all the juices will remain inside. And to cook the broth, we just need the opposite action: so that all the juices from the product come out and nourish the broth. If we want the soup to contain tasty meat, fish or poultry, then we cook them separately and cook them immediately in hot water so that all the juices remain inside the product. In addition, when cooking meat broth, remember this: bones and meat take much longer to cook than the vegetables that accompany them in the broth. Therefore, put the vegetables in the pan an hour before the end of cooking, not earlier, just turn on the countdown. Otherwise, the vegetables will boil into dust, and it will be difficult to strain the broth.”

What should I use to cook the broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“The pan in which you cook the broth must have a thick bottom. The thicker the bottom, the more evenly the temperature will be distributed in the pan and the less likely it is that its contents will burn. In general, for any cooking, it is better to use dishes with a thick bottom, but aluminum pans better to forget; unless the aluminum is a centimeter thick.”

Vitaly Tikhonov, chef of the Cacciatore restaurant :

“Personally, I don’t see the difference. For me, broth can be cooked in any pan, the main thing is to do it correctly.”

At what temperature should you cook the broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“The obligatory rule when cooking broth is the absence of vigorous boiling. The broth should barely gurgle so that, roughly speaking, one bubble per minute appears on the surface. This is achieved by cooking at a temperature of 95 degrees, not higher. Moreover, it is better that the broth does not boil at all: that is, you put food in the pan, poured water, brought it to 95 degrees - and left it like that. This temperature is quite enough for everything necessary processes happened, and it doesn’t matter at all what volume of liquid you have in the pan.”

Vitaly Tikhonov :

“When you cook broth, you need to bring the contents of the pan to a boil, let it all simmer for a few minutes, so that the flavors and useful material, and then finish cooking over low heat.”

How and when to salt the broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“You need to salt the broth at the beginning. The salt draws out the flavor and helps it transfer into the broth. The broth is cooked as a base, and you never know where it will go later and how it will be used in the future, so I add just enough salt to draw out the flavor from the product, but do not completely salt the broth. For five liters I usually take about a teaspoon.”

Alexey Zimin, founding father " Food" :

“There is no need to salt the broths. You need to salt the dish you are preparing with this broth - sauce or soup. And the composition of the broth itself does not include salt. Well, if you decide to drink pure broth, then you can add salt to it already in the plate.”

How to strain the broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“If the broth is cooked well, then there is no need to strain it. Just carefully pour it into a clean saucepan. If you still decide to strain, then it is best to do this with a towel. I filter it in a restaurant, and at home too, through an ordinary clean kitchen towel, which I then calmly wash. If it is a thick towel, then once will be enough. If it is gauze folded in one layer, then it is better to strain the broth several times. But again, it all depends on how to cook the broth. If you cook it the way I do, without boiling and constantly skimming off the foam, then you don’t have to strain it.”

Vitaly Tikhonov :

“Before you start straining the broth, you must first cool it so that all the suspension remains quietly lying at the bottom. If you strain the hot broth, the task will become more complicated - the proteins will float chaotically in the liquid, and you will probably have to strain either several times or through a very dense filter.”

Anton Ivnitsky, brand chief of the Matrëshki Group holding (Ulyanovsk) :

“To make the broth clear, pass it through a cold filter. Cool the broth and freeze, then take a saucepan, place a sieve in it, the bottom of which is lined with either paper filter, or gauze in five layers. Place the frozen broth in a sieve and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. This kind of defrosting gives insane results clear broth».

How to cook vegetable broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“Vegetable broth only needs to cook for an hour after boiling. During this time, all the aromas and taste will come out of the vegetables, but they themselves will not yet begin to split, and the husks will not begin to go into the broth. No matter what strong and hard root vegetable you take, everything will be cooked in an hour. But at the same time, you need to monitor the size of the vegetables: they or their pieces should be no larger than a small woman’s fist.

If we need to cook a rich broth, then we need to take a kilogram of vegetables for five liters of water. I do this: I take 200 g onions, 200 g carrots, 200 g celery root, 200 g leeks and 200 g mushrooms, which give vegetable broths a cool flavor. If you want, you can take a few more stems of parsley or dill. I put all this in a saucepan, fill it with cold water, add a teaspoon of salt and start cooking. As soon as the water temperature rises to 95 degrees and the broth begins to gurgle slightly, I fix this temperature and cook in this mode for an hour. Then you’ll probably have to season it and lightly salt it again.”

Anton Ivnitsky:

“I love rich vegetable broth, so I put a lot of it in it. different vegetables. Take half a kilo of onion, 200 g of carrots, 200 g of leeks, an unpeeled head of garlic cut into two parts, 50 g of celery - stem or root, 50 g of sweet pepper, 50 g of parsnips, 20 g of parsley stems and a couple of bay leaves. You can add 50 g of eggplant, this will give the broth an interesting bitterness. Can you throw it raw tomato, if you want to achieve sourness in the taste, but just keep in mind: the tomato will give a dregs.

If I need a clear broth, then I use all the vegetables raw. If the color of the broth is not important to me, then I bake the vegetables. Next I cut all the vegetables small cube. This is necessary so that all the juices come out of them as much as possible. I fill this set with five liters cold water, I put half of the salt that should be, for example, in the end in a pot of soup, and bring the broth to a boil. When it boils, I throw black peppercorns into it, allspice and simmer slowly over medium heat for about an hour. Five minutes before cooking, it’s good to add a few sprigs of thyme. But not earlier, otherwise it will be overcooked and become tasteless.”

How to cook fish broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“To cook three liters of fish broth, we need 2–2.5 kg fish bones. I don’t use the fish itself when cooking the broth, because there’s still a lot of meat left on the bones. Fill everything with three liters of cold water, add a teaspoon of salt, 200 g of onions, 200 g of celery root and 200 g of fennel, which very well complements the taste of fish. In this case, the vegetables should not be fried under any circumstances, because the fish broth should be clear and light. Place the pan on the stove, heat the broth to a temperature of 95 degrees and leave in this mode for 40 minutes to an hour.”

Alexey Zimin:

“If you want to make a classic fish broth, it is better to cook it from the skeletons of a flat fish like turbot. Let's say you have one and a half kilograms of bones: take two leeks, two onions, three or four celery stalks, two tomatoes, a couple of bay leaves, two liters of water and a liter of dry white wine. White wine in classic fish broths - required component, it gives the broth taste, aroma, body and noble aftertaste; consider it such a complex spice. Fry on small quantity vegetable oil bones along with vegetables. Place them in cold water and start cooking. Ten minutes after the broth boils, add wine to it. The fish broth is cooked for about an hour, no more.”

Vitaly Tikhonov :

“I like to cook broth from cod, pike, pike perch or sturgeon. It is better not to take bottom fish, otherwise the broth will turn out stinky. A kilogram of bones must be cleared of meat, put in a saucepan, add 150 g of onions, 200 g of fennel, bay leaf and peppercorns. Fill everything with three liters of cold water. Once the water boils, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. This is quite enough. Then the bones need to be removed, and the broth should be slightly simmered over low heat so that it becomes more concentrated. It is also good to add white wine to fish broth. Moreover, you can simply boil it in a separate ladle and then add it to the broth shortly before the end of cooking, but so that the wine has time to steam. For three liters it’s good to take 500 grams of wine.”

How to cook beef broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“If the broth is cooked only from meat bones, especially if these are thick tubular bones, then the entire cooking process can take up to two days - that’s exactly how long it will take to get everything healthy and tasty out of the bones. We cook the broth exactly until we have something to get out of the product.

For beef broth you can use back and bones. Any bones are suitable - tubular or completely filled. The best option is beef brisket on the bone.

The proportions of water and bones may vary. In the Soviet collection of recipes, which forms the basis of Russian-Soviet cooking, there is a clear recipe - for 10 liters of water, 2.5 kg of meat and bone raw materials. But you can, for example, fill a pan with meat and bones, fill the remaining space with water and, as it all evaporates, add cold water: you will get a super-concentrated broth, which will then have to be diluted. But these proportions from the collection are the most optimal. Take the bones and meat, put them in cold water and put them on the stove. Don't bring to a vigorous boil, wait until the temperature rises to 95 degrees and try to maintain that low simmer.

If the broth begins to boil, then it is better to remove the fat that appears on the surface as quickly as possible and do this every 5-10 minutes. When boiling, fats release alkali, which gives the broth a soapy taste.

Whatever tasks you set for yourself, it would be good for the meat broth to cook for at least six hours. About an hour before the end of cooking, vegetables should be added to it - 200 g of carrots and 200 g of onions, fried in a dry frying pan. Fried vegetables they will give good taste, and they will also darken the broth a little and turn it light brown, which is beautiful. The sugar contained in vegetables caramelizes and gives off this fried taste broth."

Alexey Zimin:

“You need to fry 3 kg of bones, half a kilo of onions, half a kilo of carrots and 5-6 stalks of celery in the oven. Let it all bake for 40 minutes at the maximum temperature the oven is capable of - 230–250 degrees. After forty minutes, the vegetables and bones will have a beautiful caramel color. Drain the fat from the pan, place the bones and vegetables in a saucepan, fill them with five liters of cold water and turn on the heat. When it comes to a boil, skim off the first foam, reduce the heat and add spices and anything else, such as allspice, peppercorns, tomatoes, mushrooms or a little wine. Wine is an optional thing; it is added for nobility and in any quantity. For example, for five liters of broth you can drink a liter of dry red wine.

Cooking beef broth ideally 6–8 hours. In principle, all meat broths are cooked the same way, but there are nuances. During cooking meat broths According to the French classical scheme, fat must be carefully eliminated. But if you cook pork broth tonkotsu for ramen, then you will have to add this fat, on the contrary.”

How to cook chicken broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“Take the chicken, put it in a saucepan, fill it with three liters of cold water, bring it to a temperature of 95 degrees and leave it on this fire for two hours. According to the Soviet collection of recipes, 45 minutes is enough to cook chicken broth, but I came to the conclusion that these 45 minutes are given so that the chicken can then be used in the same soup so that it does not have time to boil. And if we only need broth, then let the chicken cook for one and a half to two hours: during this time, everything that is needed will be released into the broth. About an hour before the end of cooking, add onion, celery root and mushrooms to the broth. There is no need to put carrots in light chicken broth - they will tint it.”

Vitaly Tikhonov :

“You need to take market chicken, thin, not fatty - the kind that people call soup - weighing about 1 kg. Put it in a saucepan, fill it with three liters of cold water, wait until the water boils, and let it boil again so that the protein that remains in the form of foam on the surface comes out. After seven minutes of boiling, reduce the heat, skim off the foam, and after that add the baked vegetables to the pan. For this quantity, I recommend the following set: 150 g of onions, 100 g of carrots, 70 g of celery - root or stem, 20 g of parsley, 5 g of thyme, several black peppercorns, two bay leaves. It will also be very tasty if you add it to the broth small piece ginger, twenty grams; You don’t even have to clean it, just wash it. Then cook for about an hour and a half. There is no need to add salt to the broth; chicken and vegetables have enough of their own salt. If this doesn’t seem enough to you, just add salt to the soup in your bowl.”

How to cook mushroom broth?

Anton Ivnitsky:

"I brew it from dried mushrooms. And if I cook broth from fresh mushrooms, then I will definitely add dried mushrooms. Let me first tell you how to cook from dried ones, and then from fresh ones.

For 5 liters of broth, I recommend taking 200 g of dried porcini mushrooms and 100 g of assorted dried forest mushrooms. Before cooking the soup, the mushrooms should be soaked. At home you can just soak it in cold water for a few hours. And if I’m preparing broth in a restaurant, then I put the mushrooms in a vacuum bag, fill them with a liter of water and put the bag in the oven for two hours at 80 degrees. During this time, the mushrooms swell, and the water absorbs this mushroom concentrate. After two hours, the mushrooms and the water in which they were soaked go into the pan. I also pour four liters of cold water there - in total I get five liters of liquid.

The broth will be dark because of the mushrooms, so feel free to add fried vegetables to the pan - 200 g onions, 100 g carrots, 50 g parsnips, 30 g parsley stems, 40 g garlic and 100 g green leeks. You can also add a hundred grams of fresh mushrooms, just for the flesh. Bring the broth to a boil, add just a little salt so that it draws out the taste from the food, and switch to medium heat so that it all doesn’t bomb, but simmers for about an hour.

For fresh mushroom broth, I take half a kilo of champignons, 300 g of oyster mushrooms and 200 g of white mushrooms. I cut all this into large pieces, put it in the oven, preheated to 140–160 degrees, and dry it there for two hours so that excess moisture comes out of the mushrooms and their taste becomes concentrated. The further story is the same as with the dried mushroom broth.”

How to cook consommé?

Vitaly Tikhonov :

“Consomme is a strong broth from which the turbidity has been removed, which, after a long cooking, is clarified in a special way and becomes transparent. To do this, take 2.5 kg of beef bones, bake them in the oven for about an hour at 200 degrees until the bones turn brown. Then transfer the bones to large saucepan, add 12 liters of water and cook. After boiling, reduce the heat and place in a saucepan 300 g of baked onions, 200–250 g of baked carrots, 40 g of celery, 5 g of thyme, 20 g of parsley, three or four bay leaves and 10 g of black peppercorns. And don't forget to skim off the foam; This must be done constantly, because in the first hours the foam will be actively released. Let it all cook for 24 hours. After 24 hours, about four liters of strong broth should remain from 12 liters of liquid. Now it needs to be highlighted.

Cool the broth first. Then pour 200 ml of cold dry white wine into it and add ten raw egg whites- either five whites and 100 g of boiled chicken breast, ground in a blender. Bring the broth back to a boil and let it bubble for five minutes. Then remove the pan from the stove, cover with a lid and wait for complete natural cooling. This will take about 12 hours. When the broth has cooled, you will find that the whites and ground chicken breast float on top, and along with them - all the protein debris that formed in the broth during 24 hours of cooking. Remove all this dirt with a slotted spoon, and strain the broth through a sieve, the bottom of which is lined with gauze or a good thick kitchen paper napkin. Then the broth must be put back on the stove, boiled, seasoned with salt and pepper, add fresh herbs if desired, and at the end pour in 200 ml of cognac.”

How to clarify broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“The easiest way to do this is with egg whites. For one liter of broth you will need one protein. Beat the whites with a whisk, but not too much, not until foamy; you can even just strain them through a sieve. Bring the broth to a boil and pour the whites into it in a thin stream, constantly stirring the broth with a whisk. Let it all simmer for a few minutes. Soon the protein will coagulate and float to the surface. After this, remove the broth from the heat and wait until the protein settles to the bottom. And along with it comes protein debris that prevents the broth from being transparent. Then you just need to very carefully pour the broth into a dry pan (if the pan is wet, then the microorganisms in the water will get into the broth, and it will quickly deteriorate).

You can clarify the broth in exactly the same way. boiled rice(200 g per liter of broth) or onions and carrots punched in a blender (one carrot and one onion are needed per liter of broth).”

Why and how to burn bones?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“There are always leftover meats on the bones from which we make broth. Meat is proteins. As a result of the Maillard reaction, the amino acids that make up proteins are exposed to high temperatures interact with sugars to give the meat a delicious caramelized flavor. And if you cook not raw bones, but already baked ones, then the broth will get exactly this taste fried meat. The broth will also get an interesting color. It is best to fry bones at 200 degrees with upper and lower oven heat.”

Alexey Zimin:

“Bones are also burned in order to get rid of excess fat. When they're in the oven, the fat comes out and stays on the baking sheet, which means we don't have to constantly skim it off the surface of the broth while cooking."

How to cook broth using second water?

Anton Ivnitsky:

"All meat and fish broths I cook in second water. This is done very simply. As soon as the broth boils, I immediately drain the water, fill the contents of the pan with cold water again and cook the broth again. With the first water, all unnecessary dirt disappears.”

Is it necessary to collect protein foam?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

“Foam is formed this way - when, under the influence of high temperatures, protein fibers compress and squeeze out excess intercellular fluid. This liquid, once in boiling water, coagulates and rises to the top in the form of foam. If this foam is not removed in time, it partially settles and gives the broth a cloudiness.

Foam forms in different ways. If you cook a large piece of beef weighing 5–6 kg, then the process of its appearance will take about two to three hours. The meat will warm up gradually, and the intercellular liquid will come out until the piece is completely heated. If you have smaller pieces of meat, the foam will come out much faster. The process of protein folding occurs at temperatures from 76 to 82 degrees; a temperature of 82 degrees inside the product ensures that all proteins have coagulated completely.

If the broth is cooked over low heat, then foam quietly accumulates on the surface, and if it boils strongly, then the proteins that come out of the products break down and go from the surface back into the broth in the form of small fractions, clouding the liquid. Therefore, to reduce foam, try to avoid violent boiling and just leave it on high heat: protein foam will float to the surface, stay there, and can be easily removed. If you are not too lazy, then while cooking the broth you can stand near the stove and skim off the foam little by little - for example, every 10 minutes. If you suddenly need to speed up the cooking process, then you can bring the broth to a light boil, at a level just above 100 degrees, but then you will have to remove the foam every 5 minutes.”

How to freeze broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

"I am for ready broth evaporate and freeze it in concentrated form. The broth should be evaporated over low heat. The most optimal thing is to evaporate it 10 times: there were 5 liters, half a liter remains. You can control the volumes visually, or you can use scales, weighing the pan before evaporation and regularly weighing it during evaporation. After the broth has evaporated, pour it into ice cube trays and put it in the freezer. You don’t have to wait for the pan to cool down; today’s freezers can handle hot broth too. When our grandmothers did not allow us to put hot food in refrigerators, we were talking about other refrigerators, now the world has changed.”

How to defrost broth?

Alexander Volkov-Medvedev :

"Let's say frozen bouillon cube weighs 30 g. We take 2.7 liters of water, add 10 frozen broth cubes to this volume, and we get three liters of cool broth. Then you can make anything from this - be it soups or sauces.”