Gluten Free Soup & Stocks - Rachael Ray STOCK*IN*A*BOX

The weather had been getting cold enough, so I decided it was time to make some vegetable soup. For that, I needed some beef stock. Normally, I would have used Imagine Foods Beef Stock, but while I was in the store, I noticed that Rachael Ray was selling a beef flavored stock that was marked gluten free. Fortunately I was able to rescue the soup from Rachael Ray Stock-in-a-box.

Now when I try a new ingredient, I taste it right out of the package. The first thing that I noticed was this stock was watery. It didn't bother me at the time because I have made several soups that didn't have flavor until they were heated. So I made the soup, and heated it in a crock pot.

A couple of hours later, I began to realize the soup was in trouble. Normally when I make this soup, the broth begins to smell up the whole house with the aroma of vegetables stewing in a beef broth. There was no smell with Rachael Ray's Stock-in-a-Box. I kept checking the crock pot to see if it was on.

After the cooking time completed, I gave the soup a taste, and was severely disappointed. The broth was watery and lifeless. The meat and vegetables had a good flavor, but the broth made everything taste like it was sitting in water.

Since I hate wasting food, I then strained the soup. The broth was then placed into a pot and brought to a boil. Once I had evaporated most of the liquid away, I tasted the broth again. I got a strong taste of the peas, carrots, and beans that had been stewing in the crock pot, and a very light hint of beef. To add flavor, I poured in a can of Progresso's Cream of Mushroom soup. This turned the bland soup into a tasty stew.

Even through there are very few beef stocks that are marked gluten free, I don't recommend Rachael Ray Stock-in-a-box. There's no flavor to it, and I will not buy it again.