Homemade Stock Question

I make many different stocks and if doing poultry, beef or pork, I cook them down for about 12 hours on a low boil. That way they concentrate and when cooled in the fridge, they turn into a jell much like Jello and that is a concentrated stock/aspic and a little bit of that goes a long way when cooking.

If only cooking for a few hours like you describe, it won't get that concentrated and I treat that like a broth and tend to not add much water to it when cooking.

As for stuff like seafood stocks, I only cook them for around an hour or so. I've found the longer you cook them, they tend to get a little bitter in taste. Like a shrimp stock, I'll just put the shells and heads in a pot, cover that with water, add a touch of salt and bring it to a boil. I don't add any of the trinity or other aromatics since it only cooks for a short time.

I make stocks and freeze in quart bags also. I always keep 6 - 10 bags or so in the freezer.

I use a pressure cooker and make a gallon or more at a time. At 15 psig, the water temperature in the pressure cooker is 250 deg F instead of the 212 F you get on the stove at atmospheric pressure. 1 1/2 to 2 hrs is plenty at the higher temp.

I measured water volume from a full ice tray a couple days ago for some unknown reason (16 cubes).

It measured 2 cups, or about 1 oz per cube.

How much water are you using and how many bones and of what? I make 5-6 qt of stock with a whole chicken or small turkey and I wouldnt consider that concentrated

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My question, would this be considered a concentrate?

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That depends... there are many factors that contribute to the quality of a stock. My best answer would be, does it taste like a concentrate?

I probably wouldn’t consider that concentrated unless you reduced it down a lot. I usually boil a whole chicken (meat and bones) in the 6 quarts. It comes out pretty rich but when I cook with it, I don’t really dilute it much

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if I use the bones from a Costco roasted chicken I will add enough water to cover everything to boil then simmer. When I strain it is a little over a quart of stock is what is left.

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I would consider it a concentrate if it reduces down to 1/4 of its original volume. So if you used 4c water to start and ended with 1c, then that could be a concentrate. Most stocks aren't concentrated though.