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In a pinch I like Penzey's soup bases.

Thank you, thank you. This is one of the most useful food articles I've ever read.

I always have Better Than Boullion on hand (in the fridge). There is no waste, and I don't find it to be as salty as some stocks, and there is no tinny taste that comes from cans. Another added bonus is that it takes up far less space than any can or box.

Thanks for doing this. I can cook, but the few times I've attempted stock, it just tasted....strange. And I just don't like the autopsy aspect to it. I'm going to buy some of the products you've suggested and concentrate on the things I'm good at. Plus, being an Addisonian, I crave salt, so what could be bad?

My experience making stock is that it takes way more than 4 minutes. There's all that skimming of the icky stuff and the straining and the cooling and the bagging for the freezer etc.....

I'm not saying it's not worth it, but it's hardly effortless. There are times when I used boxed stock even when I have homemade in the freezer. There are some applications that I don't want to waste delicious stock on. Perhaps that means I suck, but I'm willing to live with it.

Seconding Better Than Boullion.

Homemade stock is great, but my freezer is too small to hold a large amount of homemade stock.

useful stuff,
really great,
thanks.
reading ruhlman on this subject always makes me feel guilty and I keep lots of different stock on hand, but so glad someone did the taste test.

Got to agree it takes more than 4 minutes for good stock. Also if you make gallons of it you got to have somewhere to store it. Most I can store is about 1 and 1/ 2 gallons at a time with all the other stuff in the freezer, and I want to have different kinds of stock frozen, so that limits things.

Thank you for this review! I'm also a Better Than Bullion girl, but this is still very helpful. Maybe Bittman can just live with me? Please?

Stock doesn't have to be perfect to blow away all this canned crap.

People are too caught up in culinary perfection and the RIGHT WAY to do things that they end up using pre-packaged junk instead of boiling some cheap chicken in tap water.

Even the cheapest frosted raw tyson chicken wings you froze last year, boiled in plain tap water is yummy compared to the stuff in a shelf stable pack.

You like the taste of salt and MSG? Good, go ahead and ADD THEM!!!! You don't have to use nasty canned stuff to get that sometimes desirable fake zing of MSG.

I love Kitchen Basics when I dont have my own homemade on hand, I have used their chicken on a regular basis, but I also love their clam stock and a few other "odd" ones I can find in little tiny boxes.
@Luna my ex left me with a wonderful collection of glass "starbucks" drink bottles, they work great for storing the leftovers of those small juice boxes of stock. ;-) I recently tried Fresh Markets own brand of stocks, I'm ok on the chicken and beef but thier veggie stock is amazing! wonderful strong vegetable tastes, not at all "muddy" like some vegetable stock can be.

You said: Nothing more, that is, unless you count the hidden, potentially most costly ingredient: four hours of my time and stove.

If you don't have time to make your own stock, you probably shouldn't be cooking. It is extremely simple.

1. Roast a chicken.
2. Eat the chicken (my favorite part).
3. Throw the parts you don't eat (including the juices from the pan you used to roast it) in a pot with some veggies/herbs and cover with water.
4. Put the pot in the oven, set it to 200 degrees and go to sleep.
5. Wake up the next day.
6. Filter out all the solid stuff (there should be enough edible stuff left to feed a dog for one day).

You now have 6-8 cups of high quality stock. And it's a great excuse to roast a chicken.

Barring that, stick with water.

I also thank you for this article. But after your review, I think I'm going to reinstitute the Sunday roast tradition. That way, I can have roast chicken on Sunday, have shredded chicken for at least two more meals (we're just a family of two), and use the carcass for broth or stock. If I mix it up with some sort of beef roast, I can make both stocks!

Perhaps I was being too harsh. The point I was trying to make, though, to use your example, is that if you're thinking about noodle soup, but don't have any home made stock, make something else.

Food shouldn't be about what's good enough. Life is filled with enough compromises.

wow--i'm not allowed to cook if you aren't using homemade stock? give me a break.

Great article - I'm always stuck dithering over my stock choices in the supermarket.

However, was it really essential to include this:
"But there's a flaw in the Bittman-Ruhlman chicken-broth agenda, and it's one that's shared by abstinence-only sex education: We're inevitably going to slip up, so we need to be informed of the alternatives."

I find it a bit troubling when a website about cooking becomes about politics.

I rarely make stock, though I can certainly see the difference. An alternative to the low-oven-overnight method is use your crockpot! I made turkey stock this way and it was not taking up stove or oven space, had very little skimming to do, and was terrific.
I have storage issues as well, and this is an easy way to make small amounts.

I use a pressure cooker to make my chicken soup. Start to finish in less than an hour and you can even use a frozen chicken if you need to. It's great at getting every bit of gelatin-y goodness out of the chicken bones.

Gladly tell me never? So, even if you had the time and the freezer space, you would still not make your own stock?

Thanks, Michele! This is a very helpful article. I like making and freezing my own stock, but I can't always plan far enough in advance to defrost it when I need it.

And that line about pringles - hilarious!

I disagree with Junie and think that it was a near-perfect analogy, with similar passions and arguments well represented in the comments.

I think this was a very good idea for an article, but I *beg* you to do another round with free range/organic stocks. We quit cheap meat in our house, so I couldn't buy any of the stocks reviewed here.

This post was great and very informative. I've used canned stock until recently. Then last year or so I was making a quick chicken pot pie ( with Bisquik topping). I need some cooked chicken so I covered two frozen chicken breasts with water, added a carrot , a stalk of celery, a small onion and some pepper. Simmered for 15 minutes or so until the chicken was cooked through. The chicken was moist and flavorful right out of the pot and the resulting quart or so of stock was tasty, fresh and delicious. While it didnt have the depth of flavor of the roasted bones and long simmering; it was far superior to anything I've ever tasted out of a can, box or cube.

I'm actually a recent boxed stock convert (as in, i just bought my first box of Kitchen Basics last week) and i was surprised by how good it was and how expensive it was.

That said, making your own stock IS a pain, for several reasons:
1) whenever i make stock out of a whole leftover chicken carcass and a boatload of veggies, i get 2-3 cups of stock, max. How are you all getting yields of 1.5 gallons????
2) i'm trying to reduce my consumption of meat overall for environmental reasons (nothing caged, pumped with hormones, raised in a factory, etc), which means that i don't have many carcasses to make my own stock any more, and buying meat JUST to make stock is such a waste!

In the meantime, i think i've been converted to the Kitchen Basics camp.

Another vote for Swanson's Natural Goodness, here. The reduced sodium counts for a lot, and it won Cook's Illustrated store bought broth test a few years ago. I'm eager to try the new stock offering, but what I really need is a better option that is available at Whole Foods--it's my most convenient grocery store but I hate their various options and have to make special trips to Stop n Shop just to buy Swanson's!

Progresso makes a pretty tasty chicken stock. It's the one I reach for when I'm not buying chicken backs and necks.

Thanks for taking the time to review these broths and stocks. I often use boxed stuff to stretch the homemade.

And my favorite part of the article was the stock making/ abstinence only comparison. I never would have come up with that turn of phrase on my own. Thanks for giving me a smile!

@reason143 - I've only ever seen Manischewitz consumme? Do they make a broth as well?

Thanks Michele for presenting this case study...others agree as well it was so useful.

I was going to ask how these compared to Campbell's reduced sodium ready-to-use chicken broth cartons, but a quick visit to their US website only let me see the condensed can version....

This is a great "consumer report." I make homemade stock whenever I can, but sometimes it just ain't gonna happen.

Very useful! I always find them too salty, so it's good to know where to find less sodium.

Given that we no longer have to go out and wring the chickens neck to make dinner, we also no longer have to make stock every time we need a little. The conveniences of "prepared" ingredients are just that: conveniences. I use whatever chicken stock is cheapest and tweak it. Put it in a pot with a handful of smashed garlic cloves, some parsley,(or cilantro if this is for tortilla soup) a bunch of peppercorns, and a splash of sherry or white wine. Simmer while you prepare whatever you are going to put in your soup, drain out the solid stuff and use your "enhanced" broth.

I basically ignore Mark Bittman after a bad experience (or three) with one of his cookbooks but I do have an opinion about prepared stocks.

Funny that Kitchen Basics got such a good review. I buy it all the time - and have been flamed on cooking boards for doing so. I like it...So sue me.

Pacific didn't even get a mention? It's just as good as Kitchen Basics.

Not everyone has a Trader Joe's but their store brand stock is amazing and very low in price. And it's organic.

kitchen basics now has a no salt added as well.

Having tried most of the above; they all loose in flavor to Progresso.

@mh330: your stock is probably reducing too much to get such a low yield. Keep it just below a simmer, around 180 degrees, and it won't reduce as much.

I would agree with the plea to do a round of organic/free range stocks. To my mind, they actually taste better than the other products in addition to the health benefits.

I'm a great fan of Imagine Organic Free-Range chicken broth, as well as Organic Chicken Better Than Bouillon, which I always keep in the fridge. I use both of them along with water to make tricked-up chicken stock -- boiling up the frame, skin, juices of a leftover bird with vegetables, herbs and aromatics like so many others who have already commented.

I know it seems like double duty -- using box stock to make your own. But I guarantee, once strained, this stock is incredibly rich in flavor, and then it's a snap to make the world's most delicious comfort soup -- a handful of rice cooked in this broth along with leeks, carrots and celery, and then whatever diced cooked chicken you have left from the bird, added at the end.

Regarding Bittman's stock tasting of vegetable tea: did you salt the stock before you tasted it? Most of my stocks are pretty bland until they get seasoned, but that's only once they've arrived in their final destination.

In my opinion, this review is not broad enough. College Inn is way down on my list as are most that have been reviewed here. Swanson is horrible and I actually returned Pacific (mentioned by someone on this blog). Maybe I'm a stock snob. But, chicken flavor is what I'm looking for. I almost never use boxes but I have run into times where I needed to because I hadn't realized I'd run out of my reserves. Most recently I bought Whole Foods 360 stock. I was surprised. It had some body to it and it had actual chicken flavor without all the salt.

I also disagree that it takes four hours to make a half way decent stock.
Grab a three to five pound free range organic chicken, break it down, cover with water and add aromatics and spices. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Go longer if you want, but you don't have to. You will have a decent chicken stock. I think that part of the problem is that people really miss the huge amounts of salt added both in by restaurants and in most of these can/box stocks. Yes, you can get low salt stock, but then note how the little bit of chicken flavor you might find is put off by a little less salt. You will never get an authentic chicken stock (as everyone knows), or even close to it, out of any box or can. In fact, I think cans are the worst because you get a "tinny" essence with the supposed chicken flavor. And hey, if you've worked at a restaurant as I do, even some of the five stars believe it or not, use concentrated paste for stocks and broths, way loaded with salt!
I also think that in order to be happy with a true stock, one needs to retrain their palette without all the salt and artificial stuff.

It's the equivalent of eating fast food burgers, which don't taste like beef, and then having a taste bud tantrum with an honest to goodness, homemade burger. It doesn't have to be sirloin to be a good burger...but if you want to taste beef, make it yourself!

Better than Bullion...yep....that's the way to go. I hardly ever make homemade stock..and I'm not afraid to say it..."I'm Lazy"....there I said it! Mostly at Christmas/Thanksgiving cause the turkey carcas and all the vegetable snippets I just can't waste! I always freeze it in ice cube trays and then transfer them to Freezer bags. They take up less room that way, and I can throw them in the saute pan to 'deglaze' it and it makes a great sauce base. My problem is, I usually end up throwing some out, just because I can't use it all up before it passes it's 'freshness' date? (How long can you keep frozen stock anyway?) I live in a VERY warm climate, and we don't do homemade soup very often. I wish I had a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods around here. *sigh* I feel like I'm missing out on some great food experience. We used to have a Wild Oats, but they got bought out by some other 'natural foods' place and they ended up just shutting them down *wah*....I always 'doctor' up my stock anyway..but the great thing about BTB is that I can use the smallest bit on the tip of a spoon to add to sauces, etc. to give them a boost of flavor and no waste of a half can or pack of stock in the fridge! Keeps forever, and tastes fabulous! The Better than Bullion Beef Stock is great too...as well as the Ham Bullion and Lobster Bullion too! Whenever I cook a beef roast in the Crock pot I sprinkle with a pack of onion soup mix and a cut up a stick of butter and place on top - the resulting juices (that aren't used that night for Au Jus) are strained, chilled, fat skimmed, thinned with some water and frozen in cubes - mmmm good!

Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen did a taste test of chicken broths that mentioned some of the same brands here. Better Than Bouillon was recommended along with Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken Broth, and Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth. Conversely, they did not recommend Kitchen Basics. It was unclear whether they also tasted some of the brands mentioned in your test; part of the field was narrowed by eliminating those with high sodium content. Either way, it's an interesting comparison.

I live in Texas where we have a "gourmet" grocery chain called Central Market; they produce their own chicken stock and the prices are comparable to Swanson varieties. I've used it for countless soups and stews and they always taste great!

College Inn and Swanson's Organic rely on wheat gluten for their mouthfeel, a problem for many.

Maybe this will help. I 'm no purist but every chance I get I will make stock of some sort. Having clams/ mussels?( simmer the water that they were steamed in. This takes none of your time, we are talking reduction here), freeze.
Left over veggies? look like some of your herbs are going to need to be garbaged? Chop, add water simmer, strain, freeze. Is that a lot of work? And of course, the minute I have a chicken/ turkey carcass, add water, simmer, strain. Youe will always be ready to make a healthy soup/ gravy/ sauce. Save all your tasty cheese rinds too to pop into soup. There is no end to this.
Nana H

I took Bittman's advice on the "quick veggie stock" thing because I have a vegetarian around I needed to modify a risotto recipe for - basically, add a handful of dried mushrooms (rinsed) and double-to-triple the simmer time. It has great flavor.

i would also recommend trying cento's chicken broth. it tastes fairly similar to homemade broth and doesn't cake your tongue in sodium. it is my packaged broth of choice when making a quick orzo or egg noodle soup.

Has anyone tried the Penzey's brand soup bases? I like them in a pinch, especially the seafood, pork and chicken. They are lower in salt than some others, and out here in rural areas where we don't have the variety that you do in the city, they come in handy. If you don't get a Penzey's spices catalog, get one. They are out of Wisconsin. I do like to make my own stocks but can't always do that. If I have to use the boxed kind, I use Swanson's lower salt.

Yay Michelle! Thank you for taking on this rather overwhelming task for the rest of us. The only other review of store-bought chicken stocks I've seen was done by America's Test Kitchen and they are ALL ABOUT the Swanson's. It's nice to have a second - and different - opinion.

As for the store-bought-stock haters, I'm so sorry I don't make my own. I'll be hanging up my apron and making nothing but frozen dinners from now on. Sheesh.

Hope I'm not repeating someone, but re: space in freezer. I put some stock in bowls, but freeze a lot of it in my ice cube trays, then once frozen, put the cubes in freezer bags. You can shove them into smaller spaces in your freezer, in the door shelf, and control how much you unfreeze, especially if you just need a small amount. Just thaw a few cubes.

Thanks Michelle, you answered the question I had, quickly and efficiently, without going into a lot of information I did not need to know.

And while I can and do make my own stock, doing so for a simple last minute recipe for dinner, that calls for a small amount, to me, is a waste of time. While I am no Barefoot Contessa cook, I am quite good at it, but I have quite a full and busy life, a job and a family that don't always allow for hours in the kitchen babysitting my stock pot.....so try to remember before you tell someone they shouldn't be cooking that maybe you don't have all the information before you just give them advise on it.

Thanks again Michelle, you saved me from picking up the wrong stock at the store! Have a great day!