that instant stock is a world apart from freshly made

[medona]

I'm not trying to be snobby about cubes, they certainty have a place. But the depth of flavour is just not there compaired to something freshly made with natural ingredients right?

live, even. Though I do love the food from that shop.

Confession: I don't even roast my own chickens, but buy them whole, hot at roasted from the shop downstairs. Do I win the sensible and thrifty lazy prize?

(The chicken they do is nicer, cheaper and infinitely more tasty than anything I could do at home. It makes sense all round, and I don't have to put the oven on.)

How much does it cost to run a hob on medium low for a couple of hours, anyone know, approximately?

Reading these posts, it seems like the flavour comes from the vegetables and salt

I still can't see how it is cheaper to make your own stock. And I do believe that most types of home cooking is cheaper than ready made when comparing equivalent quality, I just can't see if for stock.

A kallo organic chicken stock cube, which isn't the cheapest on the market costs about 25-30 pence. One cube makes half a litre of stock. It doesn't contain MSG or artificial anything and it tastes nice. To make some stock, you need:

carrots,
celery,
onion,
bay leaves,
salt and peppercorns

Fuel to cook it

Even if you say that the chicken carcass is free and only have ten pence worth of each type of vegetable, you haven't accounted for the bay leaves, salt pepper or gas and OK you might have 2/3 portions, but it's never going to be cheaper is it?

And even if it is, you are talking about pennies a time, which doesn't make it worth the effort of making it, storing it, defrosting it, washing up after making it?

Those of you saying that it is cheaper to make it yourself, what are your costings?

... and there's something Dennis Nilson-ish about boiling bones on a stove top. I'm afraid it's Oxo cubes for me all the way. I might try Knorr stockpot once that annoying chef stops advertising them, he puts me right off.

I boiled chicken bones with the requisite herbs and veg to make stock once and once only. I honestly cba with it all and I am a fairly good cook and quite a foody person. I believe I started a thread about it on here at the time.

AND I think stock cubes taste better. Yes I do.

If you enjoy making stock then great, if you like using cubes, also great.

Both choices are OK.

My personal choice does not negate anyone else's personal choice.

Oh yes, Marco Pierre. He's SO annoying, trying to scowl all sexily. When taking about stock pots.

Who knew that a recipe adjusted to an individual's personal taste would be preferable to a version made using a middle of the road, palatable to most recipe?

With this and the Barry Manilow is gay thread, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed with information.

Ha ha yes, scowl sexily. He really doesn't pull that look off

I much prefer stock cubes to boiling up a load of greasy bones along with lovely fresh veg on my hob just for it to go in the bin, it's wasteful and tastes quite shit actually.

I don't think there's anything "fresh" about stock made from old bones and past-it veg.

Oh dear god, there's a stock making forum?

I think I'll stick my stock pots, but thanks.

The elecricty to make stock in a pressure cooker is about 300w for 2 litres.

That's 3.6p for me, not exactly much.

I make stock in the slow cooker if I've cooked a chicken, it doesn't take long to throw a curled up bit of veg in and some water then just leave it. I'll then freeze it.

I'll also use a stock cube if I don't have any stock in the freezer. I do feel a bit bad throwing away a chicken carcass rather than making stock out of it.

Am also worried that I'm actually discussing this on a forum...

Knoor stock pots here too.

Much nicer than homemade.

I tend to use stock powder for flavouring, so having a load of homemade liquid in the freezer would be pretty useless most of the time.

Also, don't really ever do a whole chicken so never have leftover bones or carcass. And I don't have leftover or past-it's-best veg either, as I only buy what we need on a week-to-week basis.

So all in all, yes, it's a world apart, but I don't agree that homemade in this case would be better.

I think I'll give these stock pots a miss. If you really like them that much just add salt and sugar to your stock.

2.40 for eight is way more expensive than home made stock

Ingredients:
Concentrated Chicken Stock (Water, Chicken) (36%), Glucose Syrup, Salt, Sugar, Flavourings, Yeast Extract, Chicken Fat (2%), Carrots, Palm Fat, Potassium Chloride, Leek, Gelling Agent (Xanthan Gum, Locust Bean Gum), Parsley, Garlic, Caramel Syrup, Maltodextrin, Carrot Juice Concentrate, Colour (Mixed Carotenes)

Four types of sugar and god knows what in flavourings tbh

£2.40 for 8?. They're a quid for 8 around these parts.

Marco pisses me right off, rubbing stock cubes on his chickens and looking naggy all the time. His stock should be better than bought because cooking is his job FFS.

If you really like them that much just add salt and sugar to your stock.

I do really like them that much that's why I use them. My own stock even with salt and sugar isn't as nice unless I spend loads of money on meat to use in the stock. Which makes it more expensive than the cubes.
My really good stock for Christmas cost me £4-£5 in chicken legs and wings, without adding in for carrots, celery, onions, leeks, herbs, wine, turkey giblets and cooking time. It made enough gravy for one meal.

The 2.40 for 8 might have been related from my 25-30 pence per cube example upthread for Kallo Organic cubes, which I've now looked up and found they are actually 1.20 for 6 so 20 pence each.

It was a bit cheeky though to post the price for expensive organic stock cubes and then the ingredients for the cheapest ones instead of:

Sea salt, maize starch, glucose syrup, palm oil raw cane sugar, yeast extract, chicken meat powder (2.5%), chicken fat (2.5%), natural flavouring, roasted onions, turmeric, pepper, parsley, rosemary. Certified organic

So 1.20 for 3 litres of stock from cubes. How much home made stock do you make at a time? A litre or two?

I will admit to being surprised to see sugar in there, but it can't be more than a pinch so won't worry about it too much.