Glace de viande is an ultra-concentrated stock used to enliven pan sauces or soups; it’s usually made with veal. Glace, pronounced glah-ss, is also the closest thing I know to making your own bouillon cubes — only this is infinitely better. Looks like duck Jell-O, doesn’t it?
The only problem with glace is that is a pain to make. If you have other things to do, this recipe can take several days. Really. But it’s still worth it. Take your time and go with it.
Once its made, glace lasts two weeks or more in the fridge and a year or more in the freezer. Freeze it in blocks with an ice cube tray, or in small glass jars. Remember a little goes a long way.
Then, when you need a bomb of meaty flavor, grab some demi-glace and drop it into the sauce or soup.
If you make this with domestic ducks or geese, cut as much fat off them as you can, and note that you will only need 3-4 duck carcasses or 2-3 goose carcasses.
Duck Glace, Concentrated Stock
Ingredients
- 6-10 wild duck or 3-4 wild goose carcasses , with some meat still attached (like wings and necks)
- 20-30 duck feet , or 1 pig's foot
- A little olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 2 chopped onions
- 4 chopped carrots
- 5 chopped celery sticks
- Stems from 1 bunch parsley
- Large sprig of fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried
- Large sprig rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried
- 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 garlic cloves , peeled and smashed
- 1 tablespoon crushed juniper berries (optional)
Instructions
- Coat the duck carcasses with the olive oil and salt well. Set aside for 15 minutes while you heat the oven to 400 degrees. Alternatively, grill the duck carcasses over high heat until well browned. If you are roasting, put the duck or goose carcasses in a large roasting pan and cook at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until well browned.
- Meanwhile, chop the duck feet with a cleaver or heavy chef's knife, or score the pig's foot all over. This opens the feet up to the broth, so all that collagen can get into it. This is what makes the concentrated broth set up solid. Do not skip the feet!
- Once the carcasses are roasted, remove and chop them into large pieces with poultry shears or a large chef's knife or cleaver. You're doing this to be able to fit them all into your stockpot. Stuff the duck carcasses into your largest stockpot and cover by 1-2 inches with cold water. Add the feet to the pot.
- Bring the stock to a bare simmer - do not let it boil - and skim any froth that surfaces. Do this as many times as needed. Simmer the stock for 4-8 hours. You can stop now if you'd like and pick up the process the next day.
- Once the stock has simmered for 4-6 hours, add all the vegetables, herbs and spices. Simmer this for 90 minutes to 2 hours -- no longer.
- Strain the stock. First pull all the bones and things out with tongs, then use a Chinese spider strainer or slotted spoon to fish out the smaller bits. Finally, pour the stock through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth (or a paper towel) into another large pot. You might need more than one pot. This is another place where you can stop and pick up the process later.
- Once you have your finished stock, you should have something on the order of 2 gallons. Now a normal demi-glace recipe would have you split the stock and make a sauce espagnol out of one half, then combine it with the other half after you've already added some more herbs and aromatic things. I see no reason to do this. Instead, move the pot off-center to a burner set on low heat: This will concentrate the impurities you will need to skim off all on one side of the pot. Skim frequently.
- Let this simmer down for at least 4 hours. I usually have started this whole process in the morning, and by evening have my nice stock. This final reduction process I let go on overnight. In the end, you should have a clear, thick broth. Pour this into small containers, and refrigerate. It should set up and become a gelatin.
Thank you Hank! I’m hoping to concentrate and freeze all my stock this year to save space until I get a pressure canner!
So is there a ratio to use this as if it were bouillon cubes? Cup of hot water to X amount of Demi Glace to make stock?
Jake: Sorta. It is about 75% concentrated, so if you need a cup of broth, you use a 1/4 cup of this and dilute it.
I got to step 4 but then needed to stop. I was cooling the bones and water but forgot it overnight on the counter. Is it still going to be ok to use or do I have to throw them out and start over?
Jennifer: So your stock sat out at room temperature for 8 to 10 hours? Unfortunately, I’d toss it. There is a chance it is still fine, but there is also a chance it is loaded with nasty bacteria, some of which can survive boiling.
Maybe you could collect and freeze carcasses until you have the royal “5”?
Yeah, this is fantastic as I love waterfowl and don’t like to waste it but who the hell will be cooking 5 birds at time?
Quick question, will goose feet have the same result as duck feet? And will the flavor be different?
Lars: Yes they work great. Using them today, as it happens. No difference in flavor. In fact, no flavor at all. You get that from the carcass.
you say use duck feet and then say pigs feet, my ducks have already been processed and alas did not know i’d need their feet, HOWEVER I DO have a few pigs feet laying around and wondered if using them would give me the collagen or should I just skip it all together. I do not want to have a porky flavor to my duck demi glace
Lauren: You will not get porky flavor by using pig’s feet in my experience. I do it all the time.
I have always made my demi with a 1:3 ratio to red wine.
so, 1 cup of red wine with shallots are cooked down to a bit less than a quarter of a cup, then 3 cups of stock (whichever kind you like) are added and cooked down to about a quarter to a half cup.
But I have not done this with duck, process should be the same right?
Rob: You are right, that’s demi, but this is a recipe for real glace de viande, which is better. Meat jelly, basically. Your method will certainly work with ducks, though.
If you keep on with this, removing the water even after you get the jelly, (by more elaborate method, and eventually sundrying), isn’t that how you get portable soup?
Any reason you wouldn’t use dried mushrooms, or fennel, or sage in this?
Chad: I’d skip the fennel, as it might become too prominent in the concentrated broth. Mushrooms are a great addition, though.
Fun to make. After 7 hours in jars, in the fridge mine hasn’t yet begun to gel. I started with fewer carcassas than stated in the recipe. Would that cause it to stay liquid? Any suggestions for getting it to gel at this point? Thanks much Hank.
Clay: With ducks, it can be tricky to get it to gel. The cause is not enough duck feet or pig’s foot, or not reducing it enough.
Beginner’s question: Can you suggest some specific uses for the stock? Something not too hard?
I keep making stock whenever I roast a duck or a goose because I feel guilty if I don’t try. It always gels up when cool, so I think it’s quite concentrated. But I’ve never been thrilled with the things I’ve made with my stock. I tried ramen, risotto, and soup with dumplings. They were fine, just … they managed to taste kind of bland and too rich at the same time. I don’t even know how that is possible.
Any ideas how a bad cook can make the most of good stock?
Got a pot of this going right now (ruined it on my first attempt. but that’s another long, sad story) and it has reduced from darn near 8 quarts down to two. Wondering if you have a trick or method to the skimming. I have been having a hard time. Tried blotting them out with pieces of paper towel and even picking out with a toothpick. Just haven’t really figured out a good way to get out the bad stuff without taking too much of the good….
Chad: I just skim with a spoon. You might want to stir the broth a bit to send the scum to the edges of the pot, then skim.
I have 5 lbs. of Coues whitetail bones that I’d like to make demi. Any recommendations on the mirepoix ratio for this? I’ll be using the basic prep you’ve nicely laid out here. Thanks!
Neal: Maybe 5 carrots, 5 celery sticks and 2 or 3 onions. It’s not an exact science…
We’re making a big batch of antelope demi glace for an event next month. Hopefully using our massive Swiss pressure cooker to cut the time down a bit.
Has anyone made antelope demi glace via the pressure cooker method? Tips, suggestions?
Cory, I am going to try that with a pressure cooker. Not sure I want to cook things for 12 hours… But can you do with this with only one duck
Well, the start of another waterfowl season has me looking for new ideas, and you always have some good ones!
Quick question on the demi-glaze recipe. I see you recommend removing excess fat from domestic bird carcasses, would you want the same from wild ducks? The reason I ask is that I often only pluck the breasts and remove them, and then pull the legs out skinless. The easiest method for me to get a much of carcasses to use would be to then just skin the rest of the carcass. Looks like there is plenty of labor in this recipe already, looking to save myself a little.
I can tell that it will be worth it though, can’t wait to add one of these cubes of goodness to my pan sauce I make after a quick sear on skin-on, rice-fed, plump, Texas prairie specklebelly breasts!
Have you ever tried this with a pressure cooker? I roasted my bones and added everything along with some red wine (Just because! Ha) and let it hard pressure cook for about an hour. The bones were mushy almost and after a reduction it was super thick and gelatinous. It worked for me okay, but it wasn’t as clear as yours. Think that came from not skimming at all? Can’t really skim with the pressure cooker system, or not that I know of at least.
I had venison with Cumberland sauce in Germany many years ago and still remember that meal! One of the most delicious meals I’ve ever had. I didn’t know it was called Cumberland sauce only that it contained red currants. Tried recreating it over the years with little success (good but just not “IT”) The venison backstraps are defrosting as I write this and will make it for the wife and friends tomorrow night. THANK YOU for this great recipe and website. Being from PA we enjoy a lot of venison. I’ll be a regular visitor to be sure!
Mike: I am not certain, but if it were me I would go to the butcher or an Asian market and buy me some pig feet. There is definitely collagen in shanks, but maybe not enough to set up a demi-glace.
Other than that, it should work just fine.
Hank
First of all, thank you for the great site! I visit it often and enjoy it immensely. I have saved up some venison shanks and arm bones to try making demi-glace with, but am unsure how much I will need. Do you think there is enough collagen in deer shanks to replace the pig or ducks feet? Are there any additional adjustments I should make to your duck or goose recipe for venison demi-glace other than the bones?
Thanks, Mike
Squeak: Not really, but it works just as well. You can save it and use it like demi-glace.
Is that jelly kinda stuff, that is left in the roasting pan after you roast a duck also considered demi-glace?
Nope. No wine. This is a base to a sauce that would often have wine in it, but you don’t use wine to make the basic demi.
doesn’t this have wine in it?