Depending on the broth you are making there are different necessary prep steps and simmering times that are important to follow.
I cannot cover every single variety of broth out there so I wanted to cover some tips that you should follow no matter what broth you are making.
Tip #1: Do not add salt
Do not add salt to your broth when you are making it. If you add salt then you are more likely to over season any soups that you make using that broth. It is better to have a neutral-flavored broth that can be seasoned as needed based on the recipe.
Tip #2: Do not boil your broth
You should simmer your broth, do not boil your broth. When I say boil, I mean a rolling boil. The best method for making broth is to turn the heat to high till it reaches a boil and then immediately turn it down to a simmer for the remaining cooking time. The reason we do not want to keep the broth at a boil is because when broth is boiled, especially a protein broth, tiny particles are knocked off the ingredients and the stock will become cloudy.
Tip #3 Skim your broth
As your broth simmers, you can use a mesh strainer to skim any foam or particles from the surface of the broth. No matter the type of broth you make some particles and foam will rise to the surface, we want to remove these particles and throw them away so that the broth is clear and not cloudy.
Tip #4 Fully submerge ingredients
The final tip is to make sure all of your ingredients are always submerged in water while they simmer. This is especially important when you are making bone broths. I know that the water in your broth will reduce as time goes by, but you still need to make sure that the ingredients are fully submerged in the water during the entire cooking process by either moving the ingredients around or adding more water.
If you are making a bone broth and the bones are sticking out of the water, then because they are exposed to the air, the bones can change color and ruin the color of your stock. This is important especially if you are making the Korean white bone broth (사골육수). Another reason the ingredients should be covered is that the ingredients that are out of the water do not add any flavor to the water. They need to be in the water to add flavor.
