Stock Pots / Stock Cubes for cooking

samina.patel

Hi Everyone,
I'm trying to get a little creative with my cooking and decided to use Stock Pots / Stock Cubes! What brand do you recommend? And any ideas on how I can use them in my cooking to make things a little creative!? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks a million! xx

Faith

Mod note: Moved to main Food forum.

The Hill Billy

I'm not sure if I fully understand what you mean by being 'adventurous' with stock cubes. They enhance the flavour of a dish like salt or pepper - nothing more.

I suppose if you wanted to try something different you could crush a beef stock cube & use it as a rub on a steak before frying it - similarly for chicken with a chicken stock cube.

As for favourites - mine would be OXO mainly (it was the brand my Mum & Nan always used & I still love the flavour) & occasionally Kallo. I don't particularly like them as some can give dishes a greasy feel to the liquid.

samina.patel

Thank you so much! I have actually never used stock cubes or pots before as it is not very common to use it back home in India. But I see a lot of different brands selling different flavors of stocks, which made me quite curious.

What kind of recipes would you usually use it in?

Thanks again for getting back to me!

Day Lewin

Knorr chicken cubes, very reliable, good flavour as a base for soup, gravy etc.
Be aware.... Stock cubes can be very salty so taste the dish before adding any other salt.

For beef flavour, OXO as mentioned above.

For vegetarian flavour, the Kallo ones are very good.

NB it's worth mentioning that, while stock cubes are very convenient, if you use them regularly they can taste a bit "samey"
Making fresh light stock from vegetable water etc may give a "fresher", more natural flavour.

The Hill Billy

samina.patel wrote: »

...What kind of recipes would you usually use it in?

I don't mean to sound funny - but any recipe that uses stock. It is as simple as that. The indian-style recipes that I cook would not usually need stock as they are highly-flavoured with ginger/garlic/tamarind/other spices & herbs, & liquid comes from tomatoes, coconut milk, vinegar or just plain water.

StripedBoxers

I would use stock pots regularly, but never in Indian cooking. I don't cook Indian food (anytime I've tried it's never turned out right) but I use the Knorr stock pots, particularly the rich beef flavour.

I use them in stews and pasta dishes normally.

Ddad

The best way to use them is as a flavour base. I use them as a seasoning element in dishes but not the main flavouring. They are strongly salty so if using to make a stock use them at half the strength recommended and use other seasonings, wines or herbs to give you a full flavour.

I use Marigold brand stock powder to bolster weaker stocks and as a base itself for risottos, stews etc.

It is very easy to over season (make too salty) a dish if you use them as a direct replacement for a stock in a recipe.

They are very commonly used in professional kitchens to give dishes a backbone of flavour but they are used sparingly and if used judiciously it is difficult to tell they'd been used at all.

At home I also use Knorr stock pots beef and chicken and cubes. I tend to use them differently depending on the dish.

As you experiment and gain experience you'll get used to using them and you'll most likely recognise where they aren't necessary. Best of luck with you cooking.

wordofwarning

IMO there is little taste difference between the cheap ones from Lidl and Oxo ones.

The gel Knorr stock pots are excellent, if you want a decent chicken taste

CaoimheSquee

I use the beef, veg and chicken stock pots.
For soups I use the veg ones, beef ones for stews / stroganoff / bolognese and chicken, lamb or pork dishes the chicken ones. However curries and slow cooked kind of dishes don't really require them so much.

As someone said before less is more with these guys. The flavour is much more intense than a cube (but much better imo and less powdery or artificial than some) so add small amounts and add as needed.

For a yummy sauce when roasting chicken / lamb / pork put a tub of creme fraiche in a pot and heat. Add a chicken stock pot (add half first and then more to taste) along with your cooking juices and stir till all dissolved. This is a great creamy kind of gravy recommended by the late great Paulo Tulio and an absolute TREAT.

Also if I make a rue based sauce I will sometimes add a tiny bit of the veg or chicken pot.