Do you always get "scum" when making broth?

[athenalove46]

I started a broth last night with a left over roast chicken. It's been on the burner for 20 hours now. I have checked often and I can't see anything that would look like scum on the top of my broth. To my knowledge, scum is the bubbly frothy (dirty looking) stuff that rises to the top? If I'm not right could someone enlighten me? TIA!

[annethcz]

I don't always get scum when making chicken broth. I actually made some last night, and didn't have any scum on the top.

[snowbunny]

Not always. I rarely see scum when I make my stock in the crockpot.

[greenmom4]

I don't think I've ever really gotten scum, at least not recently. To me, the test of a successful broth is if it congeals from the gelatin after cooling.

[RollerCoasterMama]

I'm making my second batch ever right now, so take this with a grain of salt!

My other batch, I watched for scum to skim and it baaaaarely had any. Every so often I skimmed a teeny bit, but it was hardly anything. And when I let it get solid, there was just a small layer of fat at the top and the rest was solid like jello! It was awesome!!! I was surprised at the lack of scum because I had everything in there...full carcasses with skin, gizzards, veggie peels and leafy bits. But the result was gorgeous and amber.

So I'd guess scum is optional.

[athenalove46]

Awesome. Thanks! Through my reading they made it seem like there would always be scum.

[RollerCoasterMama]

No scum to speak of last night either. Maybe it is a crockpot thing. But last time I brought it to a boil on the stove first before transfering to the crockpot. This time I just heated it on high for a couple of hours, then left on low overnight.

Seems pretty stock-like this morning! I strained the broth and it's lovely! Now it's chilling in the fridge. Yum yum!

Oh, I forgot to do the presoak in vineger. Oops. So I added the vineger to the crockpot. Probably not going to get the full effect, but the solids in the crock pot were cooked to mushiness and the broth is a nice color, so hopefully it still gels.

[deditus]

Umm, I don't think I have ever had scum, but I do remember seeing it when my parents made broth.

[proptart]

I seem to get scum if I start with raw chicken, no scum if it's cooked chicken.

[ASusan]

no scum last night. Rarely have any. I use crock pot.

[noobmom]

Scum is from blood proteins. If you start with raw bones/meat, you'll get scum. If you start with a leftover carcass from a roasted chicken, you won't get scum.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by noobmom

Scum is from blood proteins. If you start with raw bones/meat, you'll get scum. If you start with a leftover carcass from a roasted chicken, you won't get scum.

Interesting. I only use kosher chickens (which are soaked and salted by the butcher before I even buy them, to remove as much blood as possible as per Kosher laws) and I've never seen scum on the soup, even when I use raw bones. At least I don't remember ever seeing scum- it's been a while since I've used anything but leftover cooked bones for stock making.