Veal Stock Recipe (Brown Stock)

🦴 Where to find the bones

Veal soup bones are sold at the grocery store, at the butcher counter. I took two big soup bones with a little meat on them, and that meat gives the stock even more flavor. If you can find shanks or knuckles, grab some: those are the pieces with the most collagen, and that’s what gives the stock its body. If they’re too big for your roasting pan, ask the butcher to cut them into pieces, it takes them two minutes.

🔥 Brown everything well

This is the step that makes all the difference between a brown stock and a pale broth. Well-browned bones, caramelized vegetables, tomato paste that turns dark brown: that’s what gives your stock its color and flavor. Don’t pull the roasting pan out too soon, and turn the bones halfway through so they brown on every side. If it’s pale in the oven, your stock will be pale in the pot too.

🍷 The wine isn’t optional

Everything stuck to the bottom of the roasting pan after the oven is concentrated flavor, and the wine is what lifts it. Set the roasting pan over medium heat, pour in the wine and scrape well with a wooden spoon while it heats. Let it reduce by half before pouring it into the stockpot: the alcohol taste cooks off and only the good stuff stays. A dry red wine does the job, no need for an expensive bottle.

🌡️ Never let it boil

This is THE rule of stock. Stock that boils too hard churns the fat and tiny particles into the liquid, and it turns cloudy and bitter. It should barely simmer, with a few small bubbles rising now and then, from start to finish. If it gets going too hard, turn the heat down right away. And during the first hour, skim off the foam with a ladle: that’s what keeps it clear.

🧂 Don’t salt it

Veal stock is a base, not a broth you drink. You’ll reduce it or add it to a sauce, and as it reduces, the salt concentrates: a pinch at the start becomes way too much at the end. If you salt right away, your pepper sauce or your demi-glace can end up too salty, and there’s no going back. Salt at the end, in your dish, when you taste.

💧 It makes more than you think

Since it barely simmers, the liquid doesn’t reduce that much, even after hours on the stove. I got way more than I expected. Get your containers ready and make room in the freezer before you start! And if you want a more concentrated stock for a particular sauce, you can always reduce part of it over medium-low heat.

🧊 Mine didn’t gel

Normally, veal stock sets into a full gel in the fridge: that’s the collagen from the bones setting as it cools. Mine didn’t gel at all, even with the bones and everything. It was still really, really good, with tons of flavor in my sauces. So if yours stays liquid the next day, don’t throw it out!

🥄 Remove the fat the next day

Let your stock spend the night in the fridge, without touching it. The fat rises, sets on top and forms a pale, hard layer. You lift it off in one go with a spoon, and all that’s left is the clean stock. That’s way easier than trying to skim it hot with a ladle.

🥶 Freeze it in portions

I freeze it in portions in containers. Once frozen, I pop the blocks out, put them in freezer bags and write on them what it is. That way, my containers are free for next time, and the bags take up less room. The day you make a sauce, you only take out what you need, and the rest waits quietly.

🍗 Make your stocks the same day

Since you’re home all day anyway, make your veal stock, your homemade chicken stock and your beef stock all at once. The oven is already hot for the bones, the vegetables are out, the cutting board is on the counter. One day of work, and your freezer is full for the winter. Your dishes are going to jump up a serious notch.

❄️ Storage

Veal stock keeps 3 to 5 days in the fridge, in a closed container, and 6 months in the freezer. Write the date on the bag: in three months, you won’t remember. To thaw it, move it to the fridge the night before, or melt the block straight in your saucepan over low heat.

📅 Make-ahead prep

The night before, cut your onions, carrots and celery, crush your garlic and store it all in a labelled container with the thyme, bay leaves and parsley. Measure your tomato paste and wine. On the day, all you have to do is roast the bones when you get up, and the rest of the day it simmers on its own. Make room in the fridge for the bowl too: it spends the night there.

✅ How to use my veal stock recipe

In all your brown sauces: a pepper sauce on a steak, a demi-glace, a poutine gravy, a braise that simmers all afternoon. Try it in my homemade demi-glace or in my poutine with wild mushrooms and beer brown sauce.