No flavour from stock cubes

Melisandre121

I made risotto tonight and added 2 knorr stock cubes to 1ltr of water, but the risotto tasted completely flavourless while I was cooking. I added another stock cube and still no flavour to my risotto. Eating it now, it's flavourless and very bland!

Where did I go wrong?

Sofiztikated

Melisandre121 wrote: »

I made risotto tonight and added 2 knorr stock cubes to 1ltr of water, but the risotto tasted completely flavourless while I was cooking. I added another stock cube and still no flavour to my risotto. Eating it now, it's flavourless and very bland!

Where did I go wrong?

1 cube is only good for 190ml of fluid, so 3 is good for 570ml.

Going to need another 2.

Melisandre121

Sofiztikated wrote: »

1 cube is only good for 190ml of fluid, so 3 is good for 570ml.

Going to need another 2.

But the back says one cube makes 500ml?

Dial Hard

Melisandre121 wrote:

Where did I go wrong?

Did you start with a good sofritto of garlic and onions? Did you season it at all? Although when using stock cubes you shouldn't need to add salt, only pepper. Did you finish it properly with parmesan and butter once it was off the heat? That last step is called "mantecore" and it's really important, it marries all the flavours of the risotto together.

Personally, I prefer to use a 50-50 mix of stock and white wine when making risotto, it gives a much better depth of flavour.

spaceylou

+ 1 to using wine and other flavours such as garlic, onion and celery (not sure what kind of risotto you were making). I find stock cubes pretty salty so would only add one when making risotto but have never found it tasteless.

Brian?

You're missing salt or salty cheese, i.e Parmesan.

Seasoning food is fine if you eat very little processed food.

_Brian

Surely with that many stock cubes you've loaded in a lot of salt. ??

Brian?

_Brian wrote: »

Surely with that many stock cubes you've loaded in a lot of salt. ??

Depends on the stock cube and the amount of rice used. If it's well seasoned it's not bland.

_Brian

Poster above recommended using five stock cubes in a litre of cooking. Something would be seriously wrong with that.

I'm no expert, but OH is a nutritionist and recommends low salt Boullion rather than stock cubes. But we only use them in homemade soups and nothing near the rates being suggested above.

ford2600

Brian? wrote: »

Depends on the stock cube and the amount of rice used. If it's well seasoned it's not bland.

I use stock cubes when stuck but making your own adds something to stews/soups that's hard to get elsewhere.

It's free to, just ask butchers for shin beef bones/lamb bones whatever. Roast bones after salting them and then simmer them on low heat for 12 hrs or so with some veg. Strain off veg and pour into ice cube trays.

Your now have own stock for months

anothernight

OP, I've always found Knorr stock cubes to be mostly salt and not much else. Homemade stock would be better for a risotto, although Marigold bouillon is pretty good too if you want the convenience.

Definitely start with a sofrito of onion (at the very least) and garlic, carrots, paprika or whatever goes with the final flavour of the risotto. And don't forget to add butter and parmesan at the end!

ford2600 wrote: »

I use stock cubes when stuck but making your own adds something to stews/soups that's hard to get elsewhere.

It's free to, just ask butchers for shin beef bones/lamb bones whatever. Roast bones after salting them and then simmer them on low heat for 12 hrs or so with some veg. Strain off veg and pour into ice cube trays.

Your now have own stock for months

You can also make very flavourful stock in the pressure cooker in less than an hour.

ford2600

anothernight wrote: »

OP, I've always found Knorr stock cubes to be mostly salt and not much else. Homemade stock would be better for a risotto, although Marigold bouillon is pretty good too if you want the convenience.

Definitely start with a sofrito of onion (at the very least) and garlic, carrots, paprika or whatever goes with the final flavour of the risotto. And don't forget to add butter and parmesan at the end!



You can also make very flavourful stock in the pressure cooker in less than an hour.

Will you get the gelatin to break down in an hour? Genuine question.

You'll get the fat and protein for sure but not sure about gelatin.

anothernight

ford2600 wrote: »

Will you get the gelatin to break down in an hour? Genuine question.

You'll get the fat and protein for sure but not sure about gelatin.

I don't know, I'm vegetarian. :P
I do remember that when I was little, my mum used to make meaty stews in the pressure cooker and they freaked me out when they got cold because the gelatine would have been rendered and to me it looked disgusting. A quick google gave me this method comparison, and this blog shows quite a lot of gelatine in the stock they made.

Sorry for not being more helpful!


For veggie stock, I put a bunch of vegetables into my pressure cooker, cover with water and cook at high pressure for about 20min. I let the pressure release naturally but I don't think it would make that much of a difference.

Mellor

ford2600 wrote: »

Will you get the gelatin to break down in an hour? Genuine question.

You'll get the fat and protein for sure but not sure about gelatin.

Colleges, not gelatin.
Collegen breaks down at a certain temperature. If imagine the time to fully break down depends as much on the size of the pieces as anything. ie a roast chicken carcass would fully break down a lot quicker than a beef femur head.

CaoimheSquee

garlic and leeks (not a big fan of onions so thats personal taste on the leeks!) first, add rice and then some white wine. I use the knorr stock pots which seem to have the lowest salt amount of those kind of products on the market. If using cubes its the boiullon ones so another recommendation from me on those too. You most certainly wont need more than two of the stock post to a litre, if even - they are VERY flavoursome! Keep adding stock and a little more wine to taste and towards the end add parmesan and i guarantee you, you will not need any added salt - only some pepper to taste.
Also add in more veg if you want. I made a risotto on Friday and added some red pepper, mushroom and asparagus i had baking in the oven while i stirred the rice. Gorgeous!