MealsEric DiGioseSeptember 13, 2020Italian Herb

Homemade Chicken Stock

MealsEric DiGioseSeptember 13, 2020Italian Herb

The only stock you’ll want to watch boil down.

In this case we’re extracting the flavors of the chicken carcass, and adding in some vegetables and seasonings for a well rounded broth.

What Kind of Chicken?

Resist the urge to throw in a raw chicken. Instead, stock is a great re-purpose for leftover bones from a previous meal. In this particular case, we’ll need the leftover bones of a roast chicken. The flavors of the chicken bones, including any additional fat will boil down in the water to create a nice flavorful broth.

Not a fan of chicken? Pork or beef bones work, especially the leftovers from ribs here, though the broth may take on a darker color than chicken. No meat? A vegetable stock will do just fine as well- just double up the veggies to make up for it!

The Hard Work- Adding Water

This can’t get any easier, but make sure the pot is big enough by using at lease an 8 quart pot. In a typical cookware set this is the large, tall “sauce pot”.

This will allow you to throw everything in, and cover with an ample amount of water. Essentially, this water will boil all your ingredients, extracting their flavors, and then begin to evaporate. By using a large enough pot, we can add enough water to ensure we don’t get rid of it all by the end of cooking our stock.

Ready To Get Started?

This works best when using the bones the day after eating the chicken.

What you’ll need

Makes roughly 60 ounces of stock

1 chicken carcass, meat removed. Beef or pork ribs work just as well
1 onion, sliced in half
1 bunch of carrots, 3-6 in total, snapped in half
3-6 stalks of celery, snapped in half
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp each of salt, black pepper
1/2 tsp each of oregano, thyme, rosemary. Substitute 2-3 fresh springs of each if desired

Lets Do This

Throw the chicken carcass into a large sauce or stock pot
Add the fresh vegetables, breaking apart the larger ones such as the carrot and celery
Add water, covering the ingredients with plenty of water as it will boil off as it cooks
Add the seasonings and spices and bring the pot to a rolling boil
Boil for 45 minutes to an hour. The stock should take on a golden yellow. Remove from the heat and cool
Remove the ingredients and strain the liquid through a cheesecloth to remove any fat. If you do not have a cheesecloth, you can use a regular strainer, but use a spoon to skim off any fat that may have snuck through
Add to a jar such as a mason jar and place in the fridge. Stock can keep for a week when refrigerated

How To Use Chicken Stock

Chicken stock can be used for anything where water may be used. Rice dishes, butter sauces or gravies, or even adding flavor to tomato sauces or seafood dishes.

That being said, the easiest use is as the base of a soup. Again, take your favorite soup recipe, and use the stock in place of water.