Do you let broth cook overnight on the stove?

[swood]

The subject pretty much says it all.... how do you handle broths that need to be cooked more than about 12 hours? I am afraid to leave something cooking overnight... Can I just turn it off, leave it on the stove, and turn it back on in the morning? Or do I have to cool it, refrigerate it and then turn it back on?

[tanyalynn]

When I had an oven that had good temperature control, I made stock in the oven. After the initial skimming, I just plopped the whole pot (actually 2 pots fit if I was careful) and left it there til I was done. Took a bit of fiddling to figure the best temperature, but it was very convenient.

For smaller batches, crockpots work too, but I've also turned it off at night and then turned the stock back on in the morning (with my new oven that doesn't have great temp control).

[philomom]

Crockpot.

[PeggyinNC]

I try to put mine on not long before bed, just get it boiling and stuff, and then turn it down very low, just so it keeps simmering all night, and it is usually done by morning. I would never turn chicken broth off and leave it out all night if it was not simmering; I would be afraid of salmonella or whatever. If I were afraid of leaving it going all night, I would reverse it and put it on early in the morning and finish it up before bed....

[mbravebird]

I leave mine on a simmer overnight -- is there a reason not to? Is the burner more dangerous/volatile to leave on than the crockpot or the oven? I'd hate to not be able to do it this way -- it's very convenient.

[JustKiya]

I've always simmered on low overnight since I've gotten a proper stockpot. Before that, I used a crockpot.

If I had large pets or night-wandering children, I might not.

[cristeen]

I have a specific burner on my stove that is low-powered for simmering. I put the pot on that burner set to the lowest setting overnight most of the time.

Although I have been known to turn it off at night and turn it back on in the morning, too. It just depends on what else is going on.

[Magelet]

I have a gas stove, and I'll leave it to simmer, well its really more like boiling, a slow boil/hot simmer, all night. I cover it, make sure there is nothing near the stove to catch fire, and go to sleep fine. I do make sure there is a LOT of liquid, so that it won't accidentally boil dry. I usually add more water than I really need, and let it boil down in the morning. I used to freak out about it, but then I realized, the stove isn't going to explode any more than it would cooking it while I was awake, and its really rather unlikely anything would happen. I do agree, if I had a cat I'd not do it, or shut the cat out of the kitchen. Perhaps not with young kids.... depends on the kids.

I have left it on my stove, with the stove turned off, directly after boiling, for up to 8+ hours. I find that between the pilot light and residual heat, it stays very hot. Its probably a slight gamble, but I don't think its huge. I have no qualms about turning it off for a couple of hours if I go out. But I sometimes leave it on if I go out briefly as well.

[Pookietooth]

Crockpot or just all day, not overnight. Chicken broth really doesn't need to go so long, although beef broth does.

[westcoastmom]

I leave mine in a large stockpot on a back burner all night simmering on low. Sometimes I let my stock simmer for a couple of days and nights. It is a much richer stock.

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by mbravebird

Is the burner more dangerous/volatile to leave on than the crockpot or the oven?

Maybe not if you have an electric stovetop, but mine's gas. I'd be really uncomfortable leaving a flame going all night.

[Junegoddess]

I've happily left mine simmering overnight on both gas and electric. And I have cats. I make sure nothing is nearby that could catch on fire, and my cats are trained to never get on my counters (yes, I'm sure they still do, but they're smart... they don't like hot things.)

I think chicken stock really needs 24 hours or more, even after that long it seems the bones still have some "goodie" left in them.

[kjbrown92]

I use a crockpot as well, because I am not comfortable leaving the gas stove on all night. I do about 36 hours for the crockpot since it's on a lower simmer than it would be on the stove.

[BedHead]

I also leave mine on overnight in low on my electric stove. With the lid on of course.

[swood]

Thanks for all the replies... and good point about making sure there is enough water if I let it go overnight. I have a gas cooktop/electric oven. I'm just paranoid about something happening at night, like the house catching on fire! but we don't have pets and the kids wouldn't be an issue. I am going to make my first beef stock in the very near future, and I think NT says to simmer it 24-72 hours? Anyways, didn't know how I was really going to accomplish that without letting it go overnight!

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by swood

I have a gas cooktop/electric oven. I'm just paranoid about something happening at night, like the house catching on fire! but we don't have pets and the kids wouldn't be an issue

In our old house we had a gas stove and let it simmer all night on the burner without any problems. When you consider the amount of water in the pot and the low temperature...you'd have to leave the thing unattended for days I'd think before the pot going dry would be an issue. Our house was over 100 years old and the stove wasn't all that high-tech. My parents, however, have a newer house. If my mom leaves anything simmering on her gas stove overnight they end up with a carbon monoxide issue - detectors going off, etc.

I use a crock pot now - I like a richer broth and tend to reduce it down to freeze it anyway. Adding all sorts of water like I used to do doesn't make much sense anymore.