Clarifying Stock With a Raft

I am making some chicken stock. When I get done, I want to make some bouillon. I'm planning on using a raft of eggshells and egg whites to clarify the stock. Can anyone give me some specific instructions on how to do this? Right now, my plan is to cool the stock overnight, defat it and then mix in a mixture of whipped egg whites, a bit of water and crushed eggshell. Once mixed in, bring to almost a simmer. Once the raft forms, discard it and run the stock through some cheesecloth. Does this sound about right?

Stevez, I've done it a little differently. Basically you want a mass of protein to form the basis of the raft. Hence, whipped egg whites work great. (I haven't heard of using crushed egg shells, but that's just me.) But you can also use this opportunity to add any other flavors to the consume. For example, you can fold some herbs and diced vegetables into the whipped egg whites. You could add ground chicken or beef, depending on the type of stock. You get the idea.

For those unfamiliar with this technique, the raft attracts solids out of the stock and into the raft. Hence, the stock becomes more clear. As you simmer it, it also reduces and the flavor intensifies.

So, bring the de-fatted stock to a simmer. Add the raft. (I'm not sure if it matter if you add the raft to the cold stock or add it after it has come to a simmer.) Let it simmer a while until it is clarified to the degree you'd like, perhaps 20 minutes. It is important to keep it at a simmer, since any more agitation will cloud the stock. As the raft heats, it will come together (and look like a raft...). It is good idea to poke a few holes in the middle of the raft.

When clarified, remove the raft, strain the stock, and move on.

Darren72 wrote:You could add ground chicken or beef, depending on the type of stock. You get the idea.

I assume that's raw ground chicken.?.?

stevez wrote:

Darren72 wrote:You could add ground chicken or beef, depending on the type of stock. You get the idea.

I assume that's raw ground chicken.?.?

Correct.

Some soup/raft info courtesy Evil Ronnie

stevez wrote:I am making some chicken stock. When I get done, I want to make some bouillon. I'm planning on using a raft of eggshells and egg whites to clarify the stock. Can anyone give me some specific instructions on how to do this? Right now, my plan is to cool the stock overnight, defat it and then mix in a mixture of whipped egg whites, a bit of water and crushed eggshell. Once mixed in, bring to almost a simmer. Once the raft forms, discard it and run the stock through some cheesecloth. Does this sound about right?

Steve,

I think you're on the right path here. A couple of notes:
- for the raft to form properly, you need to mix something acidic into the egg whites. I usually use a can of diced tomatoes, but depending on what you want to do with the consomme you may prefer to use something like lemon juice.

- as the raft forms, a natural hole often forms in it. If it doesn't, however, you will need to make one or two holes to allow steam to escape. A chopstick comes in very handy for this.

- your plan to discard the raft before straining may not be as easy as it sounds. I think a better plan would be to make a big enough hole in the raft that you can get a ladel in the pot, and then ladle out your consomme a bit at a time, and take it to the strainer.

- I wouldn't plan to call it a wrap when the raft forms. Let the broth barely simmer for at least an hour with the raft on it. The formation of the raft does not mean the clarification process is done.

- The perfectionist in me had a really hard time in culinary school, because I was never satisfied with less than perfection. This was a especially true when learning to make consomme. The truth is that a well made but imperfect consomme is awesome. Don't fret if things don't go exactly as planned. It's still gonna be damn good.

Enjoy!

sazerac wrote:Some soup/raft info courtesy Evil Ronnie

Das,

Thanks for that. I thought I remembered that post, but I couldn't find it via search.

Steve,

Incorporating an acidic ingredient might speed up the clarification process some, but it isn't necessary.

Back in the old days at the Mansion, we used a garden hose to siphon off the hot consomme. I was always afraid of a mouthful of boiling hot consomme. A ladle works just fine for small quantities. At the club, we don't have to ladle since we have spigots on our steam kettles.

Back in the old days, frugal chefs would take the remains from making consomme (the cooked raft) and mix it with bechamel to make croquettes in order to feed the staff.

And when you get ready to serve your consomme, strain it again through wet cheesecloth and a chinoise. It will throw off more sediment each time it is heated to a simmer.

Just a side not...along with picking up food particles the raft picks up the flavor. Be careful on how many egg whites you actually use. For my final exam in Culinary school I practiced 5 times. The first 4 times I was truly stumped on how beautiful my consomme was without a drop of flavor. The fifth and final run was the key, LESS EGG WHITES! Me being me didn't even think about it. I was reading through pages and pages of consomme discussions online when that jumped out at me. I went on to have one of the best scores on my final.

Good luck bud.

ps: my typical mix included mirepoix, ground meat of choice, egg whites, peppercorns, bay leaf, and tomato paste. I put the mixture into COLD stock and raised the heat to FULL as I whisked like a mad man for the first minute. Once the raft formed I'd roll the sides of the raft and poke a hole in the middle....after that I sat back and enjoyed it.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Incorporating an acidic ingredient might speed up the clarification process some, but it isn't necessary.

One man's need is another man's want.. While not absolutely required, the acid will speed the formation of the raft, and it will render it less breakable. Then again, truth be told, I've never made a consomme without an acid, so I'm speaking only of what I learned in culinary school and restaurants. Maybe it's an old wive's tale. On a related note, if your raft does break, all is not lost. Pour the stock into another pot and stir in a new egg white/ acid mixture. To fix a broken consomme, I would suggest that the acid is, in fact, a necessity. One more tip: stir like a madman when you are bringing your consomme - with the egg whites added - to temperature. Otherwise, it is very common that without you even knowing it, some egg will sink, stick to the bottom of the pot, burn, and turn your consomme into a dark brown, cloudy stock. The flavor of this "error", however, can be quite good - so just sell it as something else.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I used a bit of advice from everyone. The consommé turned out perfectly.

Raft Forming


Ladling the Finished Consommé


Voilà!

Stunning, Steve - simply stunning.

Very kool. I've never used a raft, tho' have long been intrigued by the process. I recall M. Ruhlman mentioning in his first cookery journal that the CIA describes a properly-clarified consomme' as allowing one to see the face of a penny(a dime?) at the bottom of the stockpot. Your pics will be my guide next I make stock.

Christopher Gordon wrote:Very kool. I've never used a raft, tho' have long been intrigued by the process. I recall M. Ruhlman mentioning in his first cookery journal that the CIA describes a properly-clarified consomme' as allowing one to see the face of a penny(a dime?) at the bottom of the stockpot. Your pics will be my guide next I make stock.

Does he glue the penny to the stockpot before making the stock or something? Maybe I need to check with Letterman on this, but wouldn't a penny (or a dime) float in a pot of stock?

Christopher Gordon wrote:I recall M. Ruhlman mentioning in his first cookery journal that the CIA describes a properly-clarified consomme' as allowing one to see the face of a penny(a dime?) at the bottom of the stockpot. Your pics will be my guide next I make stock.

That's interesting because my first thought for the final photo was to drop a coin in the pot of filtered stock. I opted for sanitation and usied the wine glass instead, but there would have been no problem passing M. Ruhlman's test. The raft was very cool and possessed magical clarifying properties.

Christopher Gordon wrote:Very kool. I've never used a raft, tho' have long been intrigued by the process. I recall M. Ruhlman mentioning in his first cookery journal that the CIA describes a properly-clarified consomme' as allowing one to see the face of a penny(a dime?) at the bottom of the stockpot. Your pics will be my guide next I make stock.

I think it was "read the date on a dime".

One thing that was also stressed at the CIA, according to Ruhlman, was that the initial stock needed to be chilled rapidly (bowl set in ice) for de-fatting, rather than in the fridge (like I normally do it). I'm not sure if that really makes a huge difference.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:Very kool. I've never used a raft, tho' have long been intrigued by the process. I recall M. Ruhlman mentioning in his first cookery journal that the CIA describes a properly-clarified consomme' as allowing one to see the face of a penny(a dime?) at the bottom of the stockpot. Your pics will be my guide next I make stock.

I think it was "read the date on a dime".

One thing that was also stressed at the CIA, according to Ruhlman, was that the initial stock needed to be chilled rapidly (bowl set in ice) for de-fatting, rather than in the fridge (like I normally do it). I'm not sure if that really makes a huge difference.

Best,
Michael

I think the rapid chilling's main purpose is one of food-safety.

I like to freeze refilled water bottles (used and run thru the dishwasher) and dump a couple into whatever needs to have the heat removed.
works really quickly

Kennyz wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:Very kool. I've never used a raft, tho' have long been intrigued by the process. I recall M. Ruhlman mentioning in his first cookery journal that the CIA describes a properly-clarified consomme' as allowing one to see the face of a penny(a dime?) at the bottom of the stockpot. Your pics will be my guide next I make stock.

I think it was "read the date on a dime".

One thing that was also stressed at the CIA, according to Ruhlman, was that the initial stock needed to be chilled rapidly (bowl set in ice) for de-fatting, rather than in the fridge (like I normally do it). I'm not sure if that really makes a huge difference.

Best,
Michael

I think the rapid chilling's main purpose is one of food-safety.

Oddly, just returned from Sparky's science fair, where his project was to grow germs from various surfaces in a medium of gelatin made with a bouillon cube (hey, I wasn't planning to eat it, best use I ever heard of for dehydrated bouillon) One of the surfaces tested was a dime, which yielded many pretty little germ colonies in the space of a few days. According to our research, gelatinized animal stock is the preferred homemade media for growing crud.

I also use the frozen gel inserts you can find in some water bottles for rapid chilling.

Kennyz wrote:- for the raft to form properly, you need to mix something acidic into the egg whites. I usually use a can of diced tomatoes, but depending on what you want to do with the consomme you may prefer to use something like lemon juice.

Kennyz wrote:

Evil Ronnie wrote:Incorporating an acidic ingredient might speed up the clarification process some, but it isn't necessary.

One man's need is another man's want.. While not absolutely required, the acid will speed the formation of the raft, and it will render it less breakable.

If I understand correctly, the acid is to enable the egg whites to gain greater volume or body if you will (by crosslinking less), and thus be able to adsorb more particulates as it coagulates. I don't think it would necessarily speed formation. So possibly a pinch of cream of tartar or a bit of lemon juice will do - or simply beat the egg whites in a copper bowl. I suppose this step would relate to Jayz's comment and help by reducing the amount of egg white used.

Jayz wrote:Just a side not...along with picking up food particles the raft picks up the flavor. Be careful on how many egg whites you actually use. For my final exam in Culinary school I practiced 5 times. The first 4 times I was truly stumped on how beautiful my consomme was without a drop of flavor. The fifth and final run was the key, LESS EGG WHITES!

Just an observation; apologies for the quoting redundancy if this was obvious.

Thanks for the follow up stevez, looks great! What did you use for your raft?

sazerac wrote:Thanks for the follow up stevez, looks great! What did you use for your raft?

I used 3 egg whites with crushed shells, 1/2 lb of ground chicken and a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes in juice (not puree). I was a bit apprehensive about using the tomatoes because I didn't want to turn the stock red, but the tomatoes surprisingly added no color at all once the raft did its thing.

stevez wrote:he consommé turned out perfectly.

Beautiful, simply beautiful.

For chilling stock I've taken to putting the entire pot into one side of my sink, plugging the drain and simply filling the sink full of water and adding ice with the lid removed.

If I really want to be quick, I'll even do a couple of water changes.

I suppose if you really wanted to be fancy you could salt the water to further chill it, but then you'd need to rinse the stockpot instead of just wiping it down.

Food science is cool. . I've been making stock my whole life like some sort of unrefined caveman, both letting it boil for a time (a no no, apparently) and relying on cheese cloth to strain it instead of using the power of science! My wife is in culinary school and just told me about this raft thing. It doesn't exactly look attactive (more <a href="http://www.nibblinggypsy.com/2011/08/culinary-school-confidential-week-2.html">pictures and description on her blog</a>, but it sure seems cool to me!