How to Make a Rockin’ Chicken Stock
In a number of our recent recipe posts, we’ve talked about using chicken stock. As such, we figured it was time to dish up our favorite recipe, as well as provide you, dear reader, with some more information about this healthy kitchen staple.
First, the recipe:
Ingredients:
4 to 5.5 pounds of meaty chicken bones (backs, necks, breast bones)
2 gallons of cold water (or enough to cover chicken pieces)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 bay leaves
Method:
In a large stockpot, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 3 hours (essentially, the longer you simmer it, the more intense the flavor), adding water as needed to keep ingredients submerged. Strain stock into a clean pot or heatproof plastic container and discard solid ingredients. Let cool and refrigerate overnight. In morning, skim solidified fat from the top and re-refrigerate until ready to use. Immediately prior to use, bring stock to a gentle boil. Makes about 12 cups.
And now on to the question and answer portion of our program. The following is a list of answers, fun facts and tips about making the perfect chicken stock.
What’s the difference between chicken stock and chicken broth?
Although often used interchangeably, there are a few subtle (and not so subtle) differences between the two. Chicken stock is typically made out of the bonier parts of the chicken, whereas chicken broth is made from meatier parts and actual pieces of chicken. If you really want to get technical however, it should be noted that the two actually react differently during cooking, with stock being able to stand in for cream or butter when making sauces. As such, chicken stock is higher in calories and fat than its broth counterpart.
Why do you use cold water in chicken stock recipes?
As followers of the Primal diet, you know that there is a big emphasis on protein. The reason for the cold water? On a chemical level, it actually promotes the extraction of protein, helping to up the nutrient quotient of the stock.
I’ve heard you shouldn’t boil stock…any thoughts?
The beauty of the internet is that there are a ton of available resources. The drawback to the internet is that there are a ton of available resources. As such, there is a lot of back and forth regarding whether you should bring the stock to a boil. Those who supported it say it is necessary to get all the flavors to mingle, while critics contend that it would make for a cloudy stock. Provided you’re not some sort of clear food fanatic, we say go for the boil.
To skim or not to skim… that is the question.
And here is your answer: As you’re bringing the stock to a boil, you’ll notice that a froth forms on the top. Some chefs recommend that you skim it off, while others contend that it’ll do you no harm to leave it on. Since we’re talking about dealing with boiling liquids, our vote is that you skip this step. There’s nothing damaging in the froth, so why risk the burn?
Hmmm…using the scraps? So it’s cost efficient?
Why yes it is – if you’re looking to stretch a dollar (and these days, who isn’t?) making your own chicken stock is the perfect way to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth from your favorite chicken dinner! Interested in learning more about how to stretch your Primal food dollar? Check out our recent Everything but the Squeal post.
Wow, 12 cups! Can I store it?
Chicken stock will keep well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. However, it also keeps well in the freezer for up to three months. One popular way to freeze chicken stock is to use an ice cube tray – it allows you to save approximately 1 oz servings of the stock and, once frozen, they can be dumped out into a zip-top bag (which takes up less room than bulky plastic containers!) If you’re looking for a greater quantity, you could also try freezing the stock in muffin trays or small loaf tins. Don’t have the freezer space? Well, chicken stock can also be canned – just be sure to follow safe canning practices to ensure freshness. Again, however you chose to store it, just be sure to bring it to a gentle boil before use.
But still, 12 cups…what can I make with chicken stock?
Yes, it’s a large quantity, but the reality is, there are literally endless uses for chicken stock. The first that springs to mind is probably as a foundation for soups – essentially, it’s just a really great way to add flavor and some oomph to soup recipes. To that end, chicken stock can also be used as a base in casseroles, stews, and curries. Want to add flavor to a roast dinner? Baste the meat with chicken stock – it will enhance the “chickenyness” as well as introduce the herbs and spices used in the original stock. Or use it as a base for gravy. In addition, the stock can be used to sauté vegetables or as a base in stir fry recipes (subbing in for oil or butter, wine or any other liquids); not only will this add some serious flavor, but the stock also almost completely evaporates during cooking so you can say sayonara to soggy veggies!
Can chicken stock be substituted for chicken broth in recipes?
Although they start out with pretty similar ingredients, at the very basic level, chicken stock refers to an ingredient, where as chicken broth is something that can be consumed, as is, if you so choose. It should be noted, however, that if a recipe calls for chicken broth and you only have chicken stock on hand, you can use it as a substitute, you’ll just want to cut it with water to create a broth.
If you have any chicken stocking-making tips, or recipe ideas for stocks or broths please share them in the comment boards!
Further Reading:
Make Your Own Primal Energy Bar
10 Delicious DIY Salad Dressings
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Posted By: Worker Bee
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This looks like an awesome start to a great Jewish chicken soup! I usually use a leek and a parsnip in mine too, and its awesome!
i use the carcasses of those roasted chickens you can buy in the market for a couple bucks. i usually save up 2 or 3, and dump them into my big slow-cooker, fill with water, and leave on high for about 8 hours. then i strain the stock and put it in a giant bowl in the fridge to get the fat solidify on top. skim off the fat, pour it into freezy containers and keep them in my freezer for soups, stews, etc. and any stock that doesn’t fill a freezy container, i do the ice cube tray thing. i couldn’t cook without this stuff!
I like it, can I do same with steak bones?
great recipe… as usual. thanks!
It is actually far more nutritious for you to simmer it bordering on the 12-24 hour mark, the bones break down and soften further, releasing many of their yummy nutrients into the stock. It can take some time for the marrow to leach out of the bones unless you crack them beforehand. You’ll find that this will make a very gelatinous broth/stock whatever and extremely flavourfull.
I’ve done the same with beef bones, only have done so for much longer. The results are very worth it. But stinky.
This is how our ancestors made stocks from animal carcasses – in our modern, fast food age we want to do things fast. This is something else that, over the years has been altered for the sake of saving time.
I store mine frozen in the smaller ziploc freezer bags, but I lay them down on cookie sheets to freeze, then stand them up for storage.
I get really excited when I cook a turkey, I actually don’t even let the bird cool before I start to strip the bird for the stock pot.
Hands down, I make the BEST soup on the planet. Ok, in my family.
I make chicken stock at least every two weeks and we use 3-4 quarts of it up in those two weeks. I make mine in the crock pot overnight, so it’s super easy.
http://www.nourishingdays.com/?p=967
I also freeze onion and celery trimmings when I chop vegetables. Then I add those to the stock instead of having to use extra onions and garlic.
I just started making my own stock and love it. I like to roast a chicken every few weeks and use the carcass for my stock. Last time I used half of the stock to make homemade chicken soup (based on the recipe found here). I just finished up the soup last night.
I love the idea of taking a chicken and making a variety of meals: the original roast chicken, chicken salad, chicken broth, chicken soup. It seems so Primal Mother. Hey, it seems special to me — when growing up I only believed that soup came from a Campbell’s can.
I picked up some grass-fed beef neck bones and want to make a beef broth. There’s got to be a way to make a good pot of French Onion soup with the broth.
You can also add about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the beginning to help get more minerals out of the bones. I second the idea to simmer the stock for 12-24 hours…I usually bring mine just to a boil on the stove and transfer it to a slow cooker for 18 hours. Also, don’t forget the chicken feet for more gelatin! You can usually find these at Asian or international grocery stores.
Also, I’ve been taking the used bones (when you cook them long enough, they become soft), grinding them in my food processor, and adding it to the homemade dog food I make my pups.
I’ve got four important additions (2 of which previous comments brought up, but which should really be reiterated).
If you want the MOST nutrient-dense broth possible — the kind our ancestors ate, then you need to:
1) Cook the stock much longer. The 12-24 hour range is best. This can be done in a slow cooker if keeping your stove on that long makes you nervous.
and
2) Add something slightly acidic to it like vinegar or a squeeze of lemon.
These two changes will help leach the all important minerals, vitamins, and gelatin out of the bones — all the things you need to promote your own joint health.
3) Save the fat that you skim off the top after refrigeration! That’s some valuable, flavorful fat that you can use to make your vegetables and other dishes tastier. Remember, a number of essential vitamins are fat soluble, so you get the most out of your vitamin-rich roasted broccoli if you slather it in some sort of animal fat like butter or (in this case) rendered chicken fat.
4) Be sure to only make stock from pastured/wild/organic hens. This is because animals (including us) use fat and marrow to store toxins. So, if you’re making this from a chicken that’s been pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, that nastiness is most concentrated in the bones and fat — precisely the ingredients for your stock.
Don’t peel the onion or the garlic, just throw them in with skins on. It will add some color and richness to the stock.
Also, if you a worried about too large a volume to store, you can just reduce the stock after you strain it. That 12 quarts will be 6 quarts in no time. Just make sure you remember it’s been reduced, because it will be STRONG!
Someone mentioned feet, but if you can’t find them, then necks will add some gelatin as well. And I think it is a good idea to roast the bones first, the flavor is much more intense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the good stuff in the bones is released easier.
Oh, and I also agree with the previous posts about time. I usually go for 18 hrs or so. I know some people worry that if you simmer for too long (say over 12 hrs) the stock gets greasy, but I’ve never made a batch of stock I didn’t like…
The cheapest meats are bone-in. I pay $140-$1.80 a pound for chicken and poultry thighs and legs, about the same price as bony necks and backs. One pound yields approximately half a pound of meat. Turkey is meatier and thus a more economical buy. One gets broth or stock and meat for less than the cost of boneless cuts.
Tossing everything in the pot is the easiest method. However, baking the pieces in the oven, pulling off the meat, and tossing the crispy skin and bones in the pot makes a more flavorful stock.
I have consumed stock and meat that has been refrigerated as long as five days without any hint of digestive problems. I keep my refrigerator very cold and the layer of fat at the top of the stock jar is supposed to keep it fresher longer.
Chinese medicine advocates broth made from pork neck bones. These have plenty of meat on them as well. Bring to boil, skim froth, add a couple of chopped red onions, a couple of cloves garlic, cloves, bayleaf, 1 habanero pepper sliced open, peppercorns, juniper berries, allspice berries, annato seeds, and salt. A great preventive that works on many levels. It has loads of flavour. I heat up a really big mug of this after work. Or even at lunchtime. It’s sustaining stuff. If you add more habanero peppers, it’ll blow your ears out! LOL!
Jennifer, YES, so true. I don’t bother adding anything to mine other than water. I boil the
%^&* out of it and can it. (Pressure cooker, 10 lbs pressure, refer to Ball Blue Book for times.) The herbs from the carcass already add flavor and I add more stuff when I cook with it, depending on what I’m making. Carcasses of forest grouse, quail, doves, pheasant and turkey make great stock, too.
my stock making hints:
-Always use cold water
-never stir your stock, or it’ll be cloudy
-don’t boil it, use a slow simmer (at least thats where i stand on this apparent issue)
-Collect your gnawed-on bones in a large freezer bag. After you have a few chickens worth, use them all in your stock. (they are cooking for hours so no worries about gnawed on bone germs) Throw some pork or lamb bones in for fun if you have them.
-to strain the soup and have it come out clear and amazingly delicious, LADLE the soup out of the pot from the top down & through a strainer into another container(s). Don’t just turn the pot over and dump it all through the strainer… that makes it a cloudy mess. After you have ladled all the clear golden stock out, you can press and strain what liquid you can’t reach with the ladle into a different container. Clear golden chicken stock made like this is so phenomenal tasting that it is worth the extra 2 minutes of effort.
I will have to start doing this. Just last night, I roasted a chicken and threw away the carcass. Dang.
Jewish Penicillin
can also be done with rabbits, pheasant and other game
Please UNsubscribe us. VEGAN here…….
stumbled into a steakhouse for dinner by accident, eh?
Gus, I have been reading some info about boiling the bones. It seems if you save up and put your bones in a slow cooker for 12+ hours and save the stock it’s supposed to be as good for your joints as glucosamine and condroitin. A Dr. Williams claims that if you also boil your egg shells with it that membrain inside the shell really boosts the joint support.
Oven stock. Use your biggest oven save stock pot, put your chicken bones in, your chopped veggies (don’t remove onion skins), and put in the oven at 275 for 8-ish hours. When you boil a big pot of stock on the stove, you cook what’s at the bottom more than the top. When you do it in the oven, you have a constant, even source of heat and the stock simmers slowly and evenly. Boiling won’t hurt the flavor, but it will break up the proteins and cause cloudy, possibly “grainy” stock. Simmering slowly gives you a clear, smooth stock, which is more important if you’re making a soup that needs the clarity.