Broke down a whole case of lobsters in 45 minutes last night but spent 2 hours on the bisque stock

I figured breaking down the lobsters would be the hard part, but it was the shell roasting and stock simmering that ate up my whole prep window. Turns out getting deep flavor from the shells takes way longer than I expected if you actually toast them right. Has anyone else found a way to speed up shell stock without losing that roasted depth?

2 comments

2 Comments

knight.oscar20d ago

Damn, two hours on stock? That seems a bit much honestly. I mean yeah you need to toast the shells but I usually get a solid roasty flavor in like 30-40 minutes if I crank the heat a bit and keep tossing them. Maybe your bisque isn't the main event here just a backup sauce or something. But hey if you're that worried about perfect depth just skip the roasting altogether and use some tomato paste to cheat. Works fine for shrimp stock anyway.

the_hayden20d ago

Wait, isn't the whole point of a proper bisque that deep, layered flavor you can only get from a long simmer? Wouldn't shortcutting it pretty much just end up with thin, watery soup that tastes more like tomato paste than actual shrimp?