(slightly cheating) Shrimp Stock Recipe

[Saviolo]

A bit back to basics this week. We save our shrimp shells when we cook shrimp because if you ever want to make shrimp stock, you'll need'em! They freeze very well, and last a long time in the freezer. Now, I say this is a slightly cheating shrimp stock, because we're actually using chicken stock as the base here. We wanted just a little extra richness in the stock because we wanted to use this in our gumbo (which will be the video in a couple weeks!). You can also use just plain water for this, and it will work just fine.

The trick here is that you want to let the temperature rise in your stock as slowly as you can manage. A very low heat and an uncovered stock pot for the best results. It should never boil, and a gentle simmer (with just a few bubbles breaking the surface) is ideal for extracting the most flavour without getting a bunch of dissolved proteins that may make the stock taste off. Also, unlike chicken or beef stock, it takes a pretty short time to make, and should be used right away. You're not going to get much more flavour extraction after about 45 minutes to an hour of cooking time, so take that into account when timing your cooking.

[dawg day]

1. Good point about slow simmer-

I'm going to try that in a shrimp chowder tomorrow.

[Delmette2.0]

2. Can I use a lobster stock for a shrimp chowder?

I made my first lobster stock for a New Year's dinner and ended up with some leftover. I carefully froze it but i think I need to use it up. Is most seafood stock interchangeable?

[Saviolo]

3. I think so.

Shrimp and lobster stock can be used interchangeably, I believe. Many of the flavour compounds that make the stock flavourful are similar between those two critters, so I'd say you're fine to use it. Give it a taste to make sure some of the more volatile flavour compounds haven't evaporated or anything.

[Delmette2.0]

4. Thank you.

It's going to be a snowy weekend and shrimp chowder sounds wonderful.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. Cool, thanks! I'm amazed at how much flavor just

Simmering shrimp shells gives you. Not too long ago I saw America's test kitchen on PBS talk about it they did all kinds of experiments. They found that you get all you're going to get out of the shells and I want to say 25 minutes.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. Most box chicken stocks taste nothing like chicken

And some smell really weird too.

The best was manashevitz. (Spelling?) Kosher...but think they stopped making. The other is the chicken broth powder in liptons box with noodles strained out which is work.

The one I use now is kitchen basics no salt. Has a hint of chicken. Lol

[Saviolo]

7. Yeah, we use whatever low-salt or sodium-free one is on sale.

If we're not making our own ('cause it's a pain to store), we usually just get the store brand low-sodium stuff, which is just fine. It gives you that bit of richness and works just fine. We used to make our own all the time, but the poultry store a block away closed down, so we don't have a really great place to shop for backs and wing tips.