my stock didn't form foam on top!

[Enudely]

O.k, so I just put my first pot of stock on the stove to boil and then went down for a nap. I told dh..... ok, let it come to a boil and then skim off the foam at the top, then turn it down to simmer. I woke from my nap to a happily simmering pot of stock, but dh said no foam formed on top!! :
Can that be right?

[covertlycrunchy]

Mine last stock batch failed to do that....I just posted on it about a week ago-ish. Someone told me it because I used a raw bird, insead of one that had been preroasted. Haven't had the time to try and test the theory tho.

[spartz]

That doesn't sound right. I often use raw birds and they do foam - but maybe not as much?

How much attention was your DH paying? If there wasn't much foam he might have missed it, especially if it was quickly reabsorbed and/or he mistook it for just a bit of bubbly stuff from the boiling.

[Enudely]

so what do I do now? Is the stock still good?
I did use a raw bird.....

[nicolelynn]

My chicken stocks foam very very little. Only enough to skim off one tablespoonful. Chances are dh didn't notice because it was so little. I make mine from raw birds as well.

Beef stock on the other hand...skimmed tons and tons of foam off that...stood over it for 20 minutes or so doing so. Ofcourse, I've only done beef stock twice and each time roasted the parts first.

I think it should be ok.

[Nora'sMommy]

Mine only don't foam when I put them in frozen.

[AJP]

No biggie. Sometimes there's foam or scum, sometimes there isn't. I've been making stock for years, and can detect no rhyme or reason to it. Even if it did foam and it went away on its own without skimming, it's still no biggie. It just means your stock might be a little cloudier than usual. The foam is formed from proteins clumping together, I think, and IMO it's purely aesthetics that you'd want to remove it. I know some people say the foam is "impurities" but I doubt it. It's just stuff in or on the bones, and skimming the foam isn't going to remove any impurities - if there are ickies in the bones, they'll be dispersed in the liquid, not all captured in the foam. If your bones are from a clean source, there shouldn't be anything in them that needs to be removed. Relax and use your stock.