That ice water trick for stocks actually works

Been making stocks for 15 years. Always cloudy. Last week I tried dropping an ice cube right into the simmering pot. Drew out all the impurities. Crystal clear in 20 minutes. Anyone else try this or am I late to the party?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren9761mo ago

Oh huh, I actually just read about this in a cooking group last week! Someone said the ice cube trick works because it shocks the impurities together and pushes them to the surface where you can skim them off. I still haven't tried it myself (mostly because I always forget to keep ice cubes around for stock), but maybe I should just for the clarity factor alone.

karenw231mo ago

Oh man, I actually tried this last time I made chicken stock and it worked way better than I expected! I mean, I was skeptical at first because it sounds kind of gimmicky, right? But I dropped in a couple of cubes and waited, and sure enough, this foamy layer floated right up to the top. It made skimming so much easier than trying to chase little bits around with a spoon. I used a ladle to get it off and my stock came out super clear, not cloudy at all. Idk if it's like a magic fix for everything, but for my batch it was honestly a game changer.