What is the difference between bouillon and stock?

A spoonful of bouillon or stock can give your sauce, soup or stew so much more flavor, but what exactly is the difference? When do you use bouillon and when stock? And what is demi-glace? FavorFlav explains.

Tip: butchers often sell good-quality bouillon, stock and demi-glace. That way, you don’t have to slave away in the kitchen yourself, but you still have something better than a bouillon cube.

Planning to make your own bouillon or stock? Then it can be useful to get a pressure cooker; with one, beef bouillon is ready in an hour instead of having to simmer on the stove for hours. Although nothing beats the smell that spreads through your home when you simmer bouillon all day.

Bouillon

Bouillon is made by simmering meat, poultry, fish or vegetables and is a good base for a stew or soup. Add some vermicelli, chicken and vegetables to your chicken bouillon and you have a delicious meal. Non-vegetarian bouillon is made from bones; if you put them straight into a pan of water, you get a clear bouillon. Roast the bones first? Then both the flavor and the color become much more intense, and you have a dark bouillon.

Stock

Stock is essentially nothing more than a heavily reduced bouillon. If you reduce bouillon to about two-thirds of its original volume, you have stock. The flavor is more intense, and stock made from bones also becomes much thicker because it contains relatively more gelatin. Stock is the base for many sauces, as well as for ragout or pâté.

Demi-glace

If you reduce stock even further, to one-tenth of the original bouillon, you have demi-glace. Demi-glace is thick and syrupy, and just a small spoonful gives a dish an incredible amount of flavor. It is also often used to glaze dishes and give them a beautiful glossy coating, or even served on its own as a sauce. Making the demi-glace yourself? Make sure not to salt the bouillon, otherwise the demi-glace will become far too salty.

Also read:

• Everything is better with a spoonful of stock
• Make it yourself: oxtail bouillon
• How do you fix a dish that’s too salty?