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3. Acids
Acids help dissolve connective tissues, they are sometimes used in stock-making to extract flavour and body from bones. Tomato paste or purees contribute flavour and some acid to brown stocks. They are not used for white stocks because they would give an undesirable brown/red colour. Similarly, when making brown stocks, be careful not to add too much tomato, which can make the stock cloudy. Wine is occasionally used, especially for fish stocks although its flavour contribution is probably more important than its acidity.

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4. Seasonings and Spices
Salt is usually not added when making stocks. Stocks are never used as is but are reduced, concentrated, and combined with other ingredients. If salt were added, it might become too concentrated. Herbs and spices should be used only lightly they should never dominate a stock or have a pronounced flavour. Herbs and spices are usually tied in a cheesecloth bag called a ‘sachet d’épices’ (sa-shay day peace; French for “spice bag”), often called simply sachet for short. The sachet is tied by a string to the handle of the stockpot so it can be removed easily at any time. A bouquet garni is an assortment of fresh herbs and other aromatic ingredients tied in a bundle with string. A basic bouquet garni contains pieces of leek and celery, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, and parsley stems. The ingredients can be changed to suit different recipes. The following seasonings, in varying quantities, are commonly used for stocks:
Thyme / Parsley stems / Bay leaves / Cloves / Whole Peppercorns / Garlic (optional)

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5. Ingredient proportions
The easiest way to remember the proportion of bones, Mirepoix and water is; Bones 80% + Mirepoix 10% + Water 100%
White Stock (Chicken/Beef/Veal)
Ingredients
Bones 2-kgs
Mirepoix 250-gms
Water 3-ltrs
Sachet 1 no.
Brown Stock (Beef/Veal)
Use the above proportions
Brown the bones in an oven
Tomato Paste 125-gms
Fish Stock
Fish Bones 2.5-kgs
Mirepoix (white) 250-gms
Water 2-ltrs
White wine 400-mls
Sachet 1 no.
Ingredients and proportions can vary greatly. If you want a particular flavour to predominate, use a larger quantity of that vegetable. For example, if you want a broth tasting primarily of asparagus, use a large quantity of asparagus to make it, with smaller quantities of more neutral vegetables (like onion and celery) to round out the flavour. For a more neutral, all-purpose vegetable stock, avoid strong-flavoured vegetables and use more balanced proportions of ingredients.
Here are a few additional guidelines for making vegetable stocks or broths:

1. Starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squashes, make a stock cloudy. Use them only if clarity is not important.
2. Some vegetables, especially strong-flavoured ones, are best avoided.  Cauliflower can overwhelm a stock with a strong flavour or odour. Dark green leafy vegetables especially spinach, Fenugreek (methi) leaves, develop an unpleasant flavour when cooked a long time. Beets turn a stock red.
3. Cook long enough to extract flavours but not so long that flavours are lost. Best cooking time is 30 to 45 minutes.
4. Sweating the vegetables in a small amount of oil before adding water gives them a mellower flavour, but this step can be omitted. Butter can be used if it is not necessary to avoid all animal products.

Procedure for preparing white stock

1. Cut the bones into pieces, 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm) long or ask your local butcher. This exposes more surface area and helps extraction. Fish and chicken bones don’t need to be cut, but whole carcasses should be chopped for easy handling.
2. Rinse the bones in cold water. (If desired, chicken, veal, or beef bones may be blanched.) This removes some impurities that cloud the stock or, if the bones are old, give an off taste and as we Indians don’t like seeing blood on the bones.
3. Place the bones in a stockpot or large thick bottomed vessel that is deep and add cold water to cover. Starting in cold water speeds extraction, starting in hot water delays it because many proteins are soluble in cold water but not in hot.
4. Bring water to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Skim the scum that comes to the surface, using a skimmer or perforated spoon. Skimming is important for a clear stock because the scum (which is fat and coagulated protein) will cloud the stock if it is broken up and mixed back into the liquid.
5. Add the chopped Mirepoix (veggies) and the herbs and spices. Remember, the size to which you cut Mirepoix depends on how long it is to be cooked the larger the pieces the longer the cook time.
6. Do not let the stock boil. Keep it at a low simmer. Boiling makes the stock cloudy because it breaks solids into tiny particles that get mixed into the liquid.
7. Skim the surface as often as necessary during cooking, this needs patients.
8. Keep the water level above the bones. Add more water if the stock reduces below this level. Bones cooked while exposed to air will turn dark and thus darken or discolour the stock. Also, they do not release flavour into the water if the water doesn’t touch them.
9. Simmer for the recommended length of time: This if for large quantities, but you get the picture
   1. Beef bones—8 to 10 hours Chicken bones—3 to 4 hours
   2. Veal bones—6 to 8 hours Fish bones—30 to 45 minutes
10. Skim the surface and strain off the stock through a china cap or mesh sieve lined with several layers of cheesecloth or muslin cloth. Adding a little cold water to the stock before skimming stops the cooking and brings more fat and impurities to the surface.
11. Cool the stock as quickly as possible, as follows:
    1. Set the pot in a sink with blocks, a rack, or some other object under it. This is called venting. It allows cold water to flow under the pot as well as around it, do this in your sink.
    2. Stir the pot occasionally so all the stock cools evenly. Hang a ladle in the pot so you can give it a quick stir whenever you pass the sink without actually taking extra time to do it. Cooling stock quickly and properly is important. Improperly cooled stock can spoil in 6 to 8 hours because it is a good breeding ground for bacteria that cause food-borne disease and spoilage.
12. When cool, refrigerate the stock in 500-gms plastic storage boxes. Stock will keep 2 to 3 days if properly refrigerated. Stock can also be frozen and will keep for several months.

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Stock Recipes
Basic White Stock (Beef or Veal)
(Yield 2 litres)  
Ingredients
Beef/Veal Bone 2-kgs
Water 3-ltrs
Mirepoix;

Onions 125-gms
Celery 75-gms
Parsnip/Muli 75-gms

Sachet;

Dried bay leaf 1
Dried Thyme ¼ –tsp
Peppercorns ¼ –tsp
Parsley stems 2
Clove 1

Procedure
1. Review instructions for stock preparations above.
2. Place bones in the stockpot and cover with cold water, blanche or thoroughly wash in cold water before use.
3. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and skim the scum.
4. Add Mirepoix and sachet.
5. Simmer for the required amount of time and skim the surface.
6. Keep adding water to keep bones covered.
7. Simmer for 1 – 2 hours and keep tasting for desired flavour
8. Strain through a muslin cloth lined sieve
9. Cool the stock, vented and refrigerate immediately or freeze for later use.

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Chicken stock
Follow the above recipe and substitute Parsnips with Carrots and reduce cooking time to 1 hour.

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Brown Stock
Follow the above recipe using Carrots in the Mirepoix. Before boiling the bones, brown them in a hot oven 375 F or 190 C for an hour. Add the Mirepoix to the roasting pan after removing the bones and deglaze the pan with water to remove all the drippings. This adds to the flavour of the stock.
Add 50-gms Tomato paste along with the Mirepoix
Simmer for 2 – 3 hours, cool, strain and refrigerate immediately.

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Vegetable Stock
(Yield 1.5 litres)
Ingredients 
Oil 20-ml
Mirepoix;

Onions 250-gms
Carrot 125-gms
Celery 125-gms
Leeks 125-gms

Mushrooms 75-gms
Turnip 75-gms (Shalgam in Hindi)
Fennel root 25-gms (Saunf plant root)
Garlic 10-gms
Tomatoes 75-gms
Water 2.5-ltrs
Sachet;

Bay Leaf 1 small
Dried Thyme ¼ –tsp
Peppercorns ¼ –tsp
Parsley Stem 3
Clove 1

Procedure
1. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat.
2. Add Mirepoix and all veggies sweat for 10-mins do not brown.
3. Add chopped Tomatoes, water and sachet.
4. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 30-mins, do not boil.
5. Cool, strain and refrigerate immediately.
6. Use mostly the whites of spring onions if leek not available
 
Now that you’ve learned to prepare basic stocks you can go ahead and research more about the variations of stocks and its uses or comment/request for other types of stocks.