Meat stock

Carries gelatine · 4–6 kcal per 100 ml

Per 100 g

6 kcal Energy

0.6 g Protein

0.5 g Carbs

0.2 g Fat

0 g Fibre

Gluten-free Year round

Let’s cook with it → Invent something with it

What it is for

Heat unfolds them and they link to each other: they bind, they firm, they build crust. They are one half of the Maillard reaction; sugar is the other.

Where it catches you out

Every protein has its own threshold and none of them are reversible. Egg turns at 82 °C, meat at 70, fish at 55 — once past, there is no coming back.

The knack

The gelatine from the bones sets as it cools; if it does not set, it did not simmer long enough. A stock cube is not the same thing and most of them carry wheat.

Storage and health

How to keep it, and who it suits.

Keeping it

Three days in the fridge, three months frozen. The fat that sets on top is a seal: leave it there until you need the stock.

Gluten-free

Stock drawn from bones, meat and vegetables at home contains no gluten. Shop-bought stock cubes often do, so the label matters.

Glycaemic index

This ingredient carries no meaningful carbohydrate, so it has no glycaemic index. On its own it will not move blood sugar; what you eat alongside it decides that.