A real tasty broth is something that you have to cook very often, even several times a week. Therefore, experienced housewives often prepare broth for hot dishes for future use, because ready-made vegetable or meat broth significantly saves cooking time, and in itself it is very tasty and nutritious. And it also happens that a piece of boiled meat is required to prepare a dish. It would be foolish to pour out the water in which it was cooked, you can cook something else in this broth. Since meat and vegetables spoil very quickly, a logical question may arise – how much broth can you store?
The most important thing about stock storage
- For maximum storage of the broth, the dishes are very important. One that can oxidize will not work. The best option is glass or ceramic with a tight lid.
- In the frozen form, the broth is perfectly stored for six months. The best way to freeze broth is in portioned containers with flat lids.
- Sometimes the broth can turn sour just a few hours after cooking. To prevent this from happening, try to cool it as quickly as possible.
How to store broth correctly
Broth is not wine or onions that can be sent to the basement, to the balcony, or to any cool, dark place. It should be remembered that broth is no less perishable than meat itself. Therefore, there are not so many options for storing it, namely:
- If you need to keep your vegetable or meat broth warm, you can use a thermos. At the same time, it is important to know how much hot broth can be stored in a thermos, because food deteriorates much faster in heat. Pour the broth into a clean thermos boiling, then it can stay warm there and not spoil up to 6 hours.
- The finished broth is usually kept in the refrigerator. How long can broth be kept in the refrigerator? It will remain freshly cooked for three days, then it must be boiled over and you can use it for three more days.
- Many people freeze ready-made broth. Again, the sooner the broth is chilled after boiling, the better. And in the freezer, it can be up to six months.
As a rule, warmth is an excellent condition for active reproduction of bacteria, so after cooking it should be cooled as soon as possible. Whatever method you choose to store your broth before you send it to the refrigerator or freezer. The quickest way to chill broth is to put the pot in cold water.
Another important condition for the correct storage of the broth is the cleanliness of the dishes. Before pouring the broth somewhere, the container should be boiled. As a rule, bacteria are capable of multiplying very quickly, they should not be in the dishes, otherwise they will immediately end up in the broth.
How to store chicken broth
Before storing chicken stock, pour it into a glass container or cover with a glass lid to prevent oxidation. No more than two days – that’s how long you can store chicken broth in the refrigerator. In addition, how much chicken broth can be stored also depends on the temperature. It should be between 4 and 8 ° C. As a rule, this air temperature is in the area of the middle shelf of the refrigerator.
How to store broth
There are minor differences to honey in how much chicken broth can be stored and how much meat broth can be stored in the refrigerator.
The storage temperature of meat broth is the same as that of chicken broth – from 4 to 8 ° C. But the terms, how much can be stored, is slightly longer – up to seven days, but such a broth requires additional boiling every two days.
How to store fish broth
The optimum storage temperature for fish broth is from 4 to 6 ° C, so it belongs in the refrigerator. But as for the timing, it can be stored for no more than two days and no boiling will reanimate it like meat or chicken broth. Therefore, if the fish broth has not been used in two days, then it is necessary to get rid of it.
How to store vegetable broth
First, strain it before storing the vegetable broth. And, secondly, it is perfectly stored from 3 to 5 days at a temperature of 4-8 ° C. Vegetable broths are also successfully stored in the freezer.
Can broth be kept in the freezer
Above, we have repeatedly mentioned that vegetable, chicken, meat or fish broth is often stored in the freezer. This is really possible if you follow a few simple rules:
- Before freezing, the broth must be strained from the spices, using gauze folded several times, remove from it the ingredients from which it was prepared.
- When the broth has cooled down, the fat should be removed from the surface before storing it in the freezer.
- It is better to freeze broth in portioned trays, plastic containers, which are previously covered with cling film or a plastic bag.
- Before storing the broth in the freezer, you should boil or scald with boiling water the dishes into which it is to be poured.