The Daily Grind, Chop and Fry

It’s time for an update here. In the first informal taste test, there were only four of us tasting, we were not blindfold, and we only tasted three brands. I’m adding two different brands that I tried tonight, and this time it was even less structured than the last – I was the only taster.  I’ll add the new products after the original review I wrote. Why would I bother, you wonder. First, I’m hoping to find something great. Second, I haven’t used my new camera much and wanted some easy shots. I’ve done a few recipes since I got it and none have been quite right, so I can’t post them until the food is good enough. And third, people search for this information every day.

It is worth saying that many chefs would rather use water than packaged stock, and it’s easy to see why. If you were making your own stock, you would not try to emulate the flavors of any of the things I tasted, and most of them are made with concentrated or dried vegetables. But I know many people use them, and want to get the best they can. And in spite of my reservations, they have their use. I haven’t tried Swanson’s, which according to Epicurious isn’t so horrible, but there wasn’t one thing I tasted that made me say “Oh, yes! This is it!” If you have a pressure cooker, you can whip up a batch of stock in under 30 minutes.

Pacific Organic Broth Of the three, this didn’t impress anyone much. It was weak and bland, and did not seem like it was worth paying money for the little boost in flavor you’d get over water. The only exception I would make would be if I were making a quick side dish risotto and didn’t have any stock in the freezer, because at least it would add some extra flavor and wouldn’t discolor the grain.

Imagine Organic Broth A larger sample of tasters would have been good, because this got 50% of the votes (or, 2). This was carroty, with a somewhat sweet taste and orange color. Very orange color; in my opinion this would be good to use in soups with a more red or orange color. After seeing it in a glass, I’m sure this is the stock I used when I made barley risotto one time and was so unhappy with the end color. To me, this tasted the cleanest and was the most versatile. Plus it has this inexplicable graphic on the box:

Imagine Vegetable Cooking Stock This had a very strong flavor that wasn’t dominated by any one vegetable. It was a dark green, muddy color and would be OK in soups like lentil or split pea – better than water by far. And, as I mentioned, two out of four tasters preferred it. But they aren’t writing posts and editing and uploading images.

What is Imagine’s distinction between Stock and Broth? I wish I knew.

Update:

Kitchen Basics Original Vegetable Stock Don’t bother. The predominant favor in this was sugar. I’m sure they added it (listed as “natural flavors from corn”) to make it taste like something. You’d be better off with soy sauce , water or dry vermouth, depending on what you were cooking.

Full Circle Vegetable Broth This was pretty good. I liked the light color, and was surprised by how much flavor there was. It wasn’t dominated by anything in particular, it was just a nice roundup of celery, onions and carrots.

One thing this made clear to me was the drawbacks of store-bought stock. I wish I’d had some home made stock defrosted to compare; I have both concentrated, dark stock and lighter stock on hand. My memory for tastes isn’t bad, though, and I know for sure that this boxed stuff can’t compare to what comes off your own stove.