Discovered why my beef stock kept coming out cloudy after 11 years

So last Tuesday I was prepping for a special and skimmed the foam off a pot of bones like I always do. But this time I watched the liquid underneath and it was still murky. I read a thread on some food science blog about how the scum isn't the only culprit, it's the boiling hard that emulsifies the fat into the liquid. I always kept it at a rolling boil because I thought faster extraction meant more flavor. Turns out I was literally shaking up the stock like a salad dressing. I dropped the heat to a lazy simmer and let it go for 4 hours. The difference was night and day, crystal clear and the taste was cleaner too. Has anyone else gone years doing something the hard way until one random forum post knocked the sense into you? What was your moment?

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cole_mitchell811d ago

Wait til you realize the foam actually pulls impurities out, so skimming it completely might be working against you. I did the same thing for years with my pho broth, thought I was being clean and careful, but a chef buddy told me to let the first boil do its thing and only skim the big chunks. Left a thin layer of scum on top and let it ride at low heat, and the broth had way more depth without any cloudiness. The murk was never my enemy, I was just fighting the wrong part of the process. Now I only skim if the foam looks excessive, and honestly the taste is fuller.