Hacker News Reader

Comment by polyfractal | Hacker News Reader

Besides, I'd rather "cook" in a crockpot than a rice cooker. More versatile, same style of "dump everything in" recipe. You can also make a mean bbq pulled pork with just a crockpot and a hunk of meat.

I think everyone should save chicken bones for stock. They keep in the freezer forever, so even if you don't roast chicken often there's really no excuse not to save it. Homemade stock is so much better than the stuff in cans.

View on HN

> Homemade stock is so much better than the stuff in cans.

I think it took about three books (Kitchen Confidential and two cookbooks) telling me how much stock from scratch can effect your recipes before it sunk in enough for me to actually do it.

Even if I'm in a pinch and have to used canned or boxed stock, I still try to keep some frozen bones and fresh mirepoix veggies around to infuse some extra flavor.

Out of curiosity, which cookbooks?

I used to make a soup every time my parents came over because they loved it that used a lot of chicken stock. Eventually I gave them the recipe and they'd make it at home with bouillon cubes and then call me and ask me why it wasn't as good. To this day they still haven't tried just making their own stock, but I did eventually get them to try the liquid stuff that comes from the store, which is a tad too salty usually but still much better than cubes.

Fresh stock is a necessity when it's the main part of the dish; cubes are fine when they're used for adding just a little bit of flavor. Convenience matters.

Also, you can make excellent stock from (raw) chicken wings, that cost next to nothing (you don't have to save bones from roast chicken -- although roast chicken is one of the most delicious foods there is).

It's also good practice to always buy unsalted or low salt stock (same with butter!) so you can control the salt intake yourself. And you'll look healthier at the check out!

The scientific consensus on salt seems to be changing. I think that current thinking is that salt is unlikely to be a major influence on health, all other factors being equal.

It's not changing.

There's a lot of evidence that ordinary healthy humans need a particular amount of salt each day (adjusted for activity, age, etc), with not much variation. There's some epidemiological studies that show that most humans do end up consuming that amount of salt - i.e. the physiological->psychological feedback loop that triggers the impulse to eat salty things is well-controlled.

Eating both too little and too much salt can lead to very major health problems.

Popular fads on salt in diet changes all the time though; luckily that can't stop our bodies (unlike problems with anorexics; junk food; sugars; etc)

Regardless of health effects, cooking with unsalted varieties (stock, butter, etc) allows you to control the amount of salt in your dish. You may end up with an over-salted meal if you use salted butter, etc.

Boxed stock is different - read the ingredients/constituents and use it appropriately (it is very different from actual stock, if you understand what stock consists of). Boxed stock is generally not a substitute for stock, like how sugar is not a substitute for salt.

Possible to use together though.

rice cooker: versatile

crockpot/slow cooker: more versatile

combination rice cooker and slow cooker: most versatile

http://us.sanyo.com/Microcomputerized-Rice-Cookers/10-Cup-Mi...

Cheaper too.

I'm not sure if that's true, the vegetables and meat do cost something. If you do plan on making stock regularly, I've recently found that a pressure cooker is a great investment. The result actually tastes better after far less time.

But I would say if you're just cooking something quick and cheap for yourself, there's nothing wrong with bouillon cubes. In a sauce it's better than just salt which is probably going to be the alternative.

It's true. I spend less on vegetables to make a gallon of stock than I do to buy one quart at a grocery store, and mine is better. Even when I'm doing a beef stock and have to buy the bones it's still a little cheaper, though in that case not much. But the difference in quality between homemade beef stock and store bought is far larger than the same difference in chicken stock.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com