Meat glaze, usually called glace de viande, takes 8 to 15 hours to prepare from already made stock. If it is difficult to work in a single stretch, the glaze can be reduced for several hours, allowed to cool, and then continued the next day. It is best to begin reduction of the bone stock in a wide-mouthed pot to encourage evaporation and rapid reduction. As the stock reduces, it should be transferred into clean pots of decreasing size. Usually three pots are required to reduce 10 quarts (10 liters) of stock.

Meat glazes can be prepared from any kind of stock, but the technique works best for stocks that already contain a fair amount of gelatin and a certain amount of meaty savor. For this reason, meat glaze is most often prepared with a stock made from beef knuckle bones, which release a large amount of gelatin into the surrounding liquid. Stocks containing little gelatin require too much reduction to become glazes, and by the time the reduction is complete, much of their savor has been compromised.