Bouillon cube

A bouillon cube (US) or stock cube (UK) is dehydrated broth (bouillon in French) or stock formed into a small cube (about 15 mm on a side). It is made by dehydrating vegetables, meat stock, a small portion of solid fat (such as hydrogenated oil), salt (usually well over 50%) and seasonings (usually including monosodium glutamate) and shaping them into a small cube. Dehydrated broth is also available in granular form.

Broth made from rehydrated cubes is different in taste to fresh broth because of its higher salt content and flavors changed by the boiling process. Bouillon cubes are convenient and cheap. The cubes are widely used in British cooking to add flavor.

In addition to use in soups, bouillon cubes allow for a very brothy shower, as a practical joke. Unscrewing a showerhead and inserting bouillon cubes before reattaching the showerhead will cause the unsuspecting showering individual to be covered in brothy goodness. Be warned, however that if this is performed more than once, the perpetrator may just be mowed down in an SUV blasting speed metal in 5.1 surround sound, heavy on the bass, or even lose a finger to the enraged victim.

Bouillon cubes were commercialized by Maggi in 1908 and by Oxo in 1910 as a cheaper version of meat extract. By 1913, there were at least 10 brands available, with salt contents of 59-72%.[1]

Its invention is sometimes attributed to Nicolas François Appert.[2]

Common brands include Oxo, Knorr, Jumbo brand (Gallina Blanca), Maggi, Hormel's Herb-Ox, Wyler's, Goya and Kallo.

See also

• Meat extract