Any of the cooks / chefs use stock cubes ?
We tend to use Knorr s/c of various flavours and always found them OK.
Recently I have found that when I open them, the cubes are begining to exude beads of moisture (sweating).
I store them in the same place as always, the only difference is– the more recent ones are paper wrapped rather than foil wrapped.
Anyone else come across this problem ?
I have been in touch with Knorr and await further information.

    Elcarajillo Any of the cooks / chefs use stock cubes ?

    Why should we use industrial flavours?

    I don’t have any artificial stock cubes in my kitchen. Should I become short of homemade stock, I refrain from using any artificial flavouring, otherwise the prepared food would taste all the same – like prepared with Knorr etc.

    I think the sweating of your cubes indeed comes from pulling moisture out of the air. Foil wrapping might be better. Perhaps this is a hint from heaven to stop using those ugly cubes…

      I’m going to be annoying and advise making your own as well. A good chicken stock turns even the most basic soup or sauce into something miraculous. I save the frames of roast chicken in the freezer (or use a fresh frame after jointing a bird for breast/thigh/legs). Once I have a couple of them, I make stock along the lines of this recipe:

      2 chicken frames
      1 onion, roughly chopped
      1 carrot, roughly chopped
      1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
      1 sprig of thyme
      2 cloves of garlic

      Put everything into a deep stockpot, cover with water (about 2 litres), and bring to the boil.
      Simmer for 2 hours, remove the bones and vegetables. This is now ready to use, or can be frozen in an ice cube tray until needed.

      Decent DE1 • Mazzer Philos

      Is there a reliable veg stock recipe for those of us who don’t eat meat? I’ve never made my own but would like to give it a try.

      I’m not the biggest fan of the little stock cubes either.

      La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

        HarveyMushman I’ve had a few attempts at a good veg stock. I think their success often depends on what you’re planning to use it for. I tend to use chicken stock when I need to add body to a broth as opposed to using an alternative liquid like water or something with more flavour like wine. If you wanted body in your stock, perhaps adding something starchy like pearl barley would work?

        For a good multipurpose stock where I don’t want to use chicken as the base or can’t be bothered with the effort of making a meat stock from scratch, I have to say I actually make a kombu dashi. It’s significantly easier to make than a meat stock or European vegetable stock, is vegan, and the kombu adds a wonderful umami note that can be hard to achieve with a French-style stock unless you roast the vegetables beforehand. The caveat here is it needs an overnight soak in the fridge for best results, and obviously uses some potentially tricky to find Japanese ingredients, so worth planning ahead!
        This is the recipe I use:

        10g kombu
        10g dried shiitake mushrooms
        1 litre water

        Put everything in a pot, leave it overnight in the fridge to soak. If you’re making it to use later that day, leave it for at least a couple of hours at room temperature.
        Being everything to the boil. Just before boiling, remove the kombu and shiitake mushrooms (remember to eat the mushrooms later!) and leave the stock to cool.

        Decent DE1 • Mazzer Philos

          Normally I we use leaves peeling a.d other bits from the week . Then off you go I’m a pan.

          5 days later

          Like many things, making your own stock relies on two things…having the time and being bothered. But like most things needing both, the end results are usually much better.

          I make my own stock, in fact only last week made a batch of chicken stock. BUT…. I will also admit to having some stock pots in the cupboard for emergency. I use the Knorr intense Rich Beef jelly like ones which are very dark and looking at the ingredients say they are made up of beef fat, barley malt extract, onion juice, rosemary, lemon juice, lovage root, thyme and yes the usual suspects which probably only a chemist would understand. Same with the Succulent Chicken stock pots ones, they do. Oh, and OXO do a vegetable one with white wine which again is a jelly in a pot and claims to have half a glass in each and is gluten-free.


          Storing lots of stock for me is an issue, as my freezer is already chock-a-block.