Shelf · Water & steam · Low heat
Skimming
Lifting the grey foam and loose fat off the top of a simmering pot, and throwing it away.
Why it works
That foam is protein that has come out of the meat or beans and coagulated. Left alone it eventually breaks up and disperses back through the liquid, which is what turns a stock cloudy and gives it a faintly muddy, livery taste no amount of later seasoning removes.
The tell
What you lift off is grey and scummy rather than golden. Once what surfaces is clear fat with no grey in it, the skimming is done.
- Grey scum
- Clear fat only
- Boiled cloudy
How it fails
Letting it boil while you wait. A boil is what drives the foam back into the liquid in the first place — hold it at a bare simmer, skim in the first twenty minutes when nearly all of it appears, and leave the pot uncovered so you can see the surface.
In the app, the card opens on the recipe step that names it, with the tell drawn.
Learning is free on every plan.