I make this in my trusty crock pot. It makes the best stock and in the easiest way.
Head to your store with the fresh fish market and purchase a large whole fish that you like. I usually pick striped bass because I love that fish. Ask them to debone and fillet it for you and wrap what they take off separately. I don’t keep the innards but the rest will make a wonderful stock.
Into the crockpot put a large onion quartered. One leek cleaned and cut into sections, a couple peeled carrots and 2 bay leaves. I also like to include sprigs of fresh thyme.
Place the fish carcass that you have rinsed off on top. Add in filtered water to cover the fish. I take mine at least ¾ the way to the top of the crockpot. I want a lot of stock from this nice fish. Add 1-2 teaspoons each of course sea salt and black and white peppercorns. Put the lid on and set the crockpot to low. I let it cook 10-15 hours.
The really cool thing with cooking this in the crockpot is your house does not smell like fish.
Strain the stock into a bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool. Once cool you can separate into containers to freeze. If you are ready to get cooking don’t worry about cooling it. But since I like to have my stock cook all day I usually make it the day before I’m going to use it.
I use this for my base stock in my Cioppino.
Hi Diane, I love your blog and your pictures are beautiful. I am a details person so of course I have multiple questions about your fish stock. How much did the fish weigh? Did you only use the filleted fish body and not the bones or head, tail? Was there anything left of the fish that could be eaten? How big is the crock pot that you used? Thank you so much.
Michelle- I'm not sure how much the fish weighed but it doesn't really matter for making stock. To make the stock use only the head and tail. The innards go in the trash and the fish filets we ate in a separate meal. You can have them take the skin off the filets or leave it on. However you like your fish. Enjoy!