I like my homemade chicken and vegetable broth to be very clear and free of floaty particles, so I usually take the extra step of pouring it through a coffee filter. The only problem is that the filter seems to clog almost immediately. Does this happen to you? If so, here's a great trick I recently learned for keeping those filters free of clogs.
The trick is to wet the filter with a little plain water before starting to filter the broth. Somehow, the fact that the filter is already saturated allows the broth to flow through much more easily.
I tried this with my last batch of vegetable stock and was surprised that I didn't have to change the filters once. Only with the last few scoops did I notice the dripping start to slow down.
I'm very curious to try this with chicken stock. Since chicken stock is so much more oily and cloudy than vegetable stock, filtering it has always been a pain. It would save a big headache if dampening the filter helped make this step go more quickly!
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you should do this when making coffee also. same principle.
Fine mesh strain it first?
That's a great tip. I've heard that wetting your filter also makes better coffee too.
Great tip!
I've also heard that people wet their coffee filter before brewing coffee. It blooms the coffee beans before the hot water flows over them and makes for a richer coffee. Who knew coffee filters perform better when wet?
Yes, I actually first heard of this trick in a thread on coffee-making! ;)
QueenOfTheFall - Yes, strain out the solids first. I usually just lift them out with a big slotted spoon. That gets most of the big pieces out.
Anyone who's taken basic chemistry lab knows this trick :)
But don't do this with chicken stock without first refrigerating it to solidify the fat for easier removal & storage (for use in making gravy, biscuits, etc).
Jocie-o - It's been a LOOONG time since basic chem. Ha! And thanks for the tip on chicken stock!
GENIUS
I am going to try this trick tomorrow morning when I make coffee.
does anyone know WHY? I can't get my head around why you wouldn't get the same effect after the first bits of stock went through the filter and it got wet...
it probably has something to do with surface tension.
Have you ever done a classic clarification of your chicken stock with egg whites? That might improve the cloudiness and particles. There are good explanations out there on the internet, google "clarifying stock"
use a small piece of clear hose. Fill it with water in the sink by gently bending it letting the water fill the hose. once its full, put your thumb over one end and slip that into the stock pot, gently pushing it to the bottom. the suction will bring the stock up without disturbing the contents of the pot.
For coffee steeping isn't just for the filter, it is for the beans. You want to let the basket fill up to soak the coffee but not overflow (of course), then let it steep for 4 minutes; then turn the maker on to complete the brewing. Makes a world of difference in taste.
Ok, this might totally label me as a crappy cook. But when I make stock, yes, I strain it through a mesh strainer. But I'm not particularly worried about the little tiny floaties...I figure I usually put other stuff in the soup, so you'll never tell. Is this bad??
It's been a while since my culinary school days, but I remember having to make consumme; which is known for it's clarity. I know there were egg whites in it, but you pour the egg whites in and it formed a 'raft'. The Raft pull the impurities to the top, you would then cut a hole in the raft and ladle the broth out.
I actually prefer the cloudy bits, because to me, it's the mark of homemade soup!
Same thing for apple cider. No clarification for me, please!
My guess for the "why", at least in part:
Water molecules are polar (there's a slight positive charge on one end of the molecule - the hydrogens - and a slight negative charge on the other - the oxygen), fat molecules are not. The negative end of one water molecule will attract the positive end of another molecule, and since the non-polar fat molecules are electrically neutral and therefore hydrophobic (why oil forms those nice droplets in vinegar/water/anthing aqueous instead of blending right in), they won't exactly be attracted to the wet filter.
I'd imagine that by pre-wetting the filter, you encourage the polar water molecules to flow through (other stuff will too, eventually, but it's a matter of electrical attraction as well as gravity), but if you don't wet it first, the whole thing gets hit with a barrage of water, fat, and chunks, and will clog/slow because it's not being selective.
Wow. It's been a while since I've thought about any of that... if I'm mistaken, please correct me!