What Are the Best Tips for Making Celery Broth?

When making celery broth, a cook should consider other flavors that can highlight the taste of celery and work well with other ingredients. Potatoes, for example, are often used to add extra creaminess through starch and to improve upon the base flavor of the broth itself. Additional herbs and spices can be added to the celery broth, such as rosemary, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Once the broth has boiled and simmered properly, then it should typically be strained, though a potato masher can be used to extract additional flavor from the cooked and softened celery.

Making celery broth is not terribly complicated, though a few tips can make the process even easier and more productive. Fresh celery keeps fairly well in a refrigerator for quite some time, even more so if wrapped in aluminum foil before being stored. Celery that seems a bit weak can be shocked in some ice water, then placed in a cup in a refrigerator for a few minutes to bring back some of its crispness. Chopping the celery up into somewhat smaller pieces for celery broth is important, though they do not need to be diced or chopped finely.

Adding extra flavors to celery broth can also make the resulting liquid much more interesting. Bacon can be used, often by browning it first in the pot that the celery is going to be cooked in. Even if the actual bacon is not included in the pot, the inclusion of flavor from browned bits in it can be enough. Potatoes can also be used in celery broth to add flavor. The starch from the potatoes also makes the resulting broth slightly thicker and creamier.

Various spices and herbs can be added to celery broth to introduce additional flavors and to make it even better as a base for soups or other dishes. Salt and pepper are often added to taste, depending on the preferences of the cook making the broth. Rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves can all be used in making this broth, and they are removed along with other solids at the end of the dish.

Celery broth is typically strained thoroughly to remove any solid pieces of celery from the flavorful liquid after cooking. Some of the celery can be smashed up to release additional flavor before straining. Though a hand blender is often used for this in other soups or broths, the stringy threads of the celery can make this difficult. Use of a potato masher helps release additional flavor into the broth, and keeps the celery intact enough for easy straining.