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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!

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.

I used one packet and 16oz of sour cream, it seemed a little more diluted then when I usually make it...(I stupidly threw the box away and left the packet in my cupboard so I didn't have the recipe) I don't know if I did something wrong...

I use Kitchen Basics for most recipes but none of the commercial stuff seems to work for Asian soups, the herbs and celery flavors are just wrong. When I make my own I don't season it until I'm ready to use it and then I can add garlic, ginger, lemon grass or whatever is required.

Terrific article, Michelle. Well-written and very informative. We can only hope that it's the first of a series on stock.

I make homemade broth (for soups, usually not for reducing) in the winter, when the heat produced by 4 hours of stove work is nice to have in the house. In the summer I use Swanson's low-sodium (no accounting for tastes; it's my favorite). Part of the reason is that when I make a cold soup I don't want it to "gel" in the fridge! Also I make cold soups kind of like you'd mix a cocktail: two parts broth, one part puree, mix and serve. Can't do that with the gelled stuff, and anyway, with a cold soup, I want a lighter mouth-feel.

I realize that one-half of the SE readership think this makes me the next best thing to an axe-murderess, while the other half wish I had been elected President instead of that Obama lad. Oh, and I forgot the people who need to sneer because I'm "not all that". I suppose these are the risks which we all run when we post.

People, do grow up and stop hating.

This was a really informative article! Thank you. I've always wanted to do a side-by-side & had my hunches... glad to know I was pretty close. Your control stock looks scrumptious.

I'm not the stock-maker in this house... husband makes a delicious stock from a turkey & a chicken & makes the most wonderful soups... ahhhh I picked a winner. :)

I LOVE the lipton and sour cream, I actually had an urge for it last night and made a double batch, YUM!!!
I've never been big on guac... sorry, but it's too baby diaperish for ish (me)...

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

oh geez-- back in my much younger years when i was apprenticing for Chef Paul Prudhomme-(what an awesome chef/mentor/boss) i spent the first 3 months of my employment doing nothing but learning how to make and then making stocks. Every last one of our sauces were done with at least two of the stocks that were made every other day-- we had a chicken, beef, veal, and vegetable stock going most every day. Now that i am older and more tired and more arthritic, i still try to make my own stocks--complete with roasting the bones and vegetables and then simmering the mixture and then clarifying everything-- BUT in a pinch, Better Than Bouillion helps this old kitchen fanatic out wa-a-a-y better than any of the aforementioned canned or boxed stock or broth concoctions--eeech to Swanson's and Emeril; kinda sorta a pass for the Kitchen Basics, ALWAYS a Grade A for the Better Than Brand. And they have organics, too!

A dear friend of mine turned me on to an article about homemade broths that really opened my eyes to the benefits of homemade stock / broth. It's worth the 5 minutes to read and you may learn something new. The link is

www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/broth.html

As for my 2 cents I freeze the tips of chicken wings backs until I have enough to make a batch. I use carrot, celery and onion with about 3 whole peppercorn thrown in. No salt. Put on the stove covered and left pretty much alone for 3-4 hours. I start by removing the veggies and all by putting the biggest bowl I own in the sink and strain the majority with a regular colander . Then I let mine cool so that any solids that may have occured from the meat can simply sink to the bottom. No straining through cheese cloth or any of that mess.
I use really good ziptop baggies, quart size, and freeze it. An easy way to fill the baggie is just finding a bowl that you can set the baggie down in, it has to be small enough in circumference so the baggie can be brought over the top and down the sides slightly. This holds the baggie in place while you fill it and then seal it. I lay mine in a metal baking sheet flat until they are solid and then stack them up where room permits. Thaws easily enough in a saucepan over low heat while I prep other stuff. If I recall, microwaving is not recommended for thawing.

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!

Hands down, the best french onion dip available is made by lawson's. It comes in a pre-made tub and it's like heaven. I used to be available (in ohio at least) at a convenience store called Lawson's, which was then bought by Dairy Mart, Which was then bought by Circle K. As far as I know Lawson's no longer exists as a convenience store, but Circle K still sells their wonderful dip.