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When Making Stock, Should the Lid be On or Off?

Question:

When making stock, should the lid be On or Off?

Answer:

The answer if Off.
When simmering bones or the internal organs of a turkey in order to make some stock or a nice gravy, the lid is best left off of the pan.

When Making Stock, Should the Lid be On or Off?

Definitely OFF!

When simmering the internal organs of a turkey, and/or another type of animal bones, in order to make a stock or broth, it is best to leave the top OFF of the pan for three reasons:

First, without a lid the steam is released from the pan.
This leaves behind a more concentrated liquid, and thus more flavor.

The second reason is for temperature control.
If the lid is placed on the pot and the steam withheld back into the pot then the contents will become hotter and boil. You don’t want a stock to boil, once it boils the stock will become cloudy. Even worse, it could boil over the sides of the pan and all over stove if left covered.

The best results when making stock come from keeping it at a slow and steady simmer.
The longer the parts are kept simmering, the more flavor that will be extracted from the parts.

When Making Stock, Should the Lid be On or Off?

Additional Info

To find the shelf life of broth and stock, see our broth page.

To find out the differences between stock, broth and bullion, see our comparison page.

To find out how long other foods are good for, please visit the Dairy, Drinks, Fruits, Grains, Proteins, Vegetables and Other sections of Eat By Date or use the search function below.