Jus vs. Stock

robert.c.brown15

Hey All,

Not sure this is that advanced of a question but was hoping I could get some clarification on jus vs. stocks. I thought I understood the purpose behind a stock and a jus and their respective cooking processes, but I seem to be way off.

I always thought a jus was a quick sauce you made with the drippings, etc. from your roasted meat or bird and put it on the plate with the meat or chicken. Quick enough that the meat doesn't cool down.

Stocks are added to the pan juices, etc. to make the jus. The stocks were what took a long time to make, but a jus was quick.

Then I was reading through Bouchon and Eleven Madison Park this weekend. In both books, making a jus was more time consuming and more complicated/complex than a stock. It seems to be its own "side" component. I never imagined freezing chicken jus by the cup, that is what I do with chicken stock.

Should I just make jus for now on? It takes longer and is more complicated but yields a better product? Less versatile I guess, but definitely better when adding it to a plated dish with its respective protein?

I have no formal training whatsoever, but a jus always seemed to me to be something that is thrown together with the help of the stock that took hours to cook. Stocks now seem to take relatively less time compared to a jus.

Thanks for the help in understanding this and where a jus has its place in cooking.

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Brandon_34695

I think a difference between you and I making a pan sauce from the fond / drippings / etc and these busy restaurants is a matter of scale, consistency of product, and division of labor. The various sauces are made before service starts by the saucier from a few jus and stock, long before the line cooks fire the proteins, and then it is off to the pass to be sauced by the chefs. They need a lot more jus than you are going to get from sautéing or oven roasting your protein, and they need it ahead of time. I think our pan sauce is perfectly good, but it isn't going to scale to restaurant service, and the books you are mentioning don't really make a lot of concessions to people who aren't in a professional kitchen. If you have a free Sunday afternoon it can be fun to meticulously follow the recipes in these books (at least I think so), but on a weeknight, I don't do it. You are probably on the right track about making some extra to freeze.

Chris_Young_80640

The way I define the difference is fairly simple:

Jus is composed from pure meat juices. These might be reserved from the sous vide package, or made by decanting off the roasting juices, or using the juices accumulated during a pan roast.

Stock is made from meat and/or bones extracted using water as a solvent. Stock is much more economical than a jus, hence restaurants tend to rely on stocks rather than jus.

Both stocks or jus can be finished (adulterated) with other ingredients to make a broth or a sauce.

robert.c.brown15

I really, really enjoy making stocks and seeing the results. I made 2 quarts Friday and put it in the fridge overnight. I was thrilled to see it all turned into a jelly when I checked it in the morning. Don't know why, but I really enjoy it.

I understand what you are getting at for professional kitchens vs. home kitchens, so that makes sense. I was just re-reading Bouchon again and Thomas Keller says that his chicken jus will take less time than the stock. Having made his chicken stock 3 times now, and able to get great results in 3 to 4 hours, it makes me wonder if I'm somehow doing his chicken stock wrong. His chicken jus looks like it would take 4 to 5 hours minimum, nothing compared to the simplicity of his stock.

Eleven Madison Park's veal jus is absurdly complicated compared to the veal stock. I guess I'm not understanding the varying applications of a jus and a stock in cooking/finishing plates.

Manfred_18311

@Robert_Brown

Jus made from drippings …, yes and no. You can reduce the drippings and make a

nice Jus from it, but as Brandon explained it, this procedure can’t fit the

needs of a restaurant kitchen.

The classic

jus is a variation of stock. Giving all the ingredients, Carcass or bones with vegetables,

spices, herbs in a pot and fill it with water. This is the base of a good stock you can boil

to some degree of reduction.

For the

classic Jus there is a step in between, you roast your bones and vegetables

(add some concentrated tomato puree) until it’s all dark brown, than it goes in

a pot with water just covering all the ingredients. I use cleared vegetable

stock instead of water for complexity. Reduce 2/3 of it and repeat it x 2, Strain

and filter. This is now a Jus you can build up on the architecture of the sauce.

If you

reduce Jus further you will get to Demi-Glace. If Demi-Glace are poured over

the back of a spoon, it should have the consistence of syrup like liquid and

the glance of it. Depending how you want developed the sauce further you have now on

base a very fine and diverse taste and texture you easily can completely kill off

by adding cream to it.

It’s the gelatin

of the bones what made your stock “jelly” which is released during boiling and

simmering of bones or whole carcasses for long hours. The clear gelatin sheets

you buy from the shelf are basically made of pig carcass/bones.

Jus,

Demi-Glace, it all stands on the foundation of a stock.