StockWhat separates stock from broth, and how to make one worth using.KitchenThe single biggest upgrade available to home soups and sauces.1Roast the bones (optional)For a brown stock. Skip for a light chicken or vegetable stock.2Cover with cold waterCold, not hot. It extracts more cleanly.3Bring to a bare simmerBarely trembling. Never a rolling boil.4Skim the surfaceEspecially in the first twenty minutes.5Add aromatics lateVegetables in the last hour; herbs in the last twenty minutes.6Strain and cool fastChill quickly, then lift the set fat off the top.TIMESVegetable: 45 minutesChicken: 3–4 hoursBeef: 6–8 hoursFish: 30 minutes, no longerStock is made from bones and is unseasoned; broth is made from meatand is seasoned to drink. Salt stock at the point of use.Stocklearnposters.com
Stock — printable food wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Stock, step by step

The single biggest upgrade available to home soups and sauces.

  1. Roast the bones (optional)For a brown stock. Skip for a light chicken or vegetable stock.
  2. Cover with cold waterCold, not hot. It extracts more cleanly.
  3. Bring to a bare simmerBarely trembling. Never a rolling boil.
  4. Skim the surfaceEspecially in the first twenty minutes.
  5. Add aromatics lateVegetables in the last hour; herbs in the last twenty minutes.
  6. Strain and cool fastChill quickly, then lift the set fat off the top.

Times

  • Vegetable: 45 minutes
  • Chicken: 3–4 hours
  • Beef: 6–8 hours
  • Fish: 30 minutes, no longer

Stock is made from bones and is unseasoned; broth is made from meat and is seasoned to drink. Salt stock at the point of use.

Questions about the Stock poster

What’s on the Stock poster?
6 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. The single biggest upgrade available to home soups and sauces. Roast the bones (optional) — For a brown stock. Skip for a light chicken or vegetable…; Cover with cold water — Cold, not hot. It extracts more cleanly.; Bring to a bare simmer — Barely trembling. Never a rolling boil.; Skim the surface — Especially in the first twenty minutes.; Add aromatics late — Vegetables in the last hour; herbs in the last twenty minutes.; Strain and cool fast — Chill quickly, then lift the set fat off the top.. Stock is made from bones and is unseasoned; broth is made from meat and is seasoned to drink. Salt stock at the point of use.
Who is the Stock poster for?
Stock belongs to the Kitchen section rather than to a school year, because food is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning ingredients can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Stock poster?
Never boil a stock. A hard boil emulsifies the fat and turns it cloudy and greasy. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Stock belongs on the wall where that food work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Stock?
Storing Bread, Cheese and Chillies sit alongside Stock in the Kitchen section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Storing BreadCheeseChillies
Is the Stock poster free to download and print?
Yes. Stock downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Kitchen section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Stock poster print at?
Stock is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Stock loses nothing.Printing guide

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