making your own stock

[hermanntrude]

I've recently (in the last few years) discovered the pleasure of making my own chicken stock. I am shocked at the positive nature of the process. Not only does it save money because you buy the chicken breasts on the bone, which is much cheaper, but it also saves money because u dont buy chicken stock any more. Not only THAT, but you get better chicken breasts (they're better on the bone because they havent been in one of those machines that adds water to them to make them heavier so they're worth more) AND you also get better chicken stock.

It's win, win, win, win!

Simply cut the meat off your breasts (dont worry about doing it perfectly... you get better stock if you leave some meat on the bone anyway), then dump it, with the skin into a large pot. Add some savoury, cinnamon, salt, pepper and a couple of roughly chopped onions and whatever else you've got and boil the whole lot for at least two hours. Then strain off the solids with a colander and pour the cooled liquid into ziplock bags and freeze it.

try it. it's awesome.

 

[karrie]

another stock making tip....

keep veggie scraps (carrot ends, pepper cores, even onion skins) and bone scraps (not everyone makes enough chicken in one sitting) in a bucket in the freezer, and once the bucket is full, boil up for stock.

 

[Twila]

The stock never last long enough in our house to be stock...it always becomes chicken vegetable soup. I love homemade soup.

 

[hermanntrude]

i do this every time i buy chicken. I'd be swimming in soup if it ALL became soup

 

[#juan]

Sounds good gang. I don't think you can have too much chicken stock.

I have a large stock pot....Actually it's a canning kettle that I use to make stock. Every chicken bone that passes through our kitchen spend some time in the stock pot. I save all bones in a large plastic bag in the freezer. When it's full they go into the stock pot with enough water to cover the bones, an onion, a few bay leaves and a carrot or two. This whole lot is simmered for four hours. I've simmered them longer but it didn't seem to make enough difference to warrant it. I will take the bones out and skim off the fat. If there is a lot of debris in the stock I would normally strain it. Depending on the taste, I would reduce the stock to strengthen the flavour. I think chicken stock should be tasty enough to serve as soup.

 

[talloola]

I make all of my own chicken stock, then freeze it in plastic containers, to use
for many different dishes.
I buy the large economy packages of safeway chicken legs with back attached.
I use two large stock pots, half an onion in each pot, and cook the chicken till done, remove chicken, use for
'whatever', chill stock, skim off fat, and freeze, it's very condensed, so water can
be added each time I use it from freezer.
Risotto, soups, chicken stew, etc.
Much less salt content than commercial stock, which gives it a much gentler,
milder but tasty flavour.

 

[bobnoorduyn]

mmmmmm, chicken, (Homer Simpson, drool). I was going to post my wife's recipe, Vanduchka's chicken 'oodle soup. Problem is, I neither follow or write recipies, and the noodles are 80% of the experience. We use chicken breasts, with bone, (do not use boneless, you can throw in a thigh if you wish but the soup can get oily). I stole her noodle recipe, well, I just observed and practiced, now she likes mine better than her own, It's like my pizza dough recipe, I don't know it, I can only do it, I can show you, but it's a kind of do and feel thing. If I can write a recipe and if she who shall be obeyed will let me post it, it'll knock your socks off.

 

[bobnoorduyn]

I know it's off topic, but Vanduchka's borsch is to die for, but it is made with pork ribs, and even better on day 2, MmmMmmm.

 

[#juan]

Making beef stock is much the same. My butcher saves the larger bones and he runs them through the band saw so they fit in the stock pot. I brown the bones in the oven before I start the stock. I include a few bay leaves, an onion, a few carrots, and sometimes a small head of cabbage with the bones. Beef stock sometimes gets a little help from Bovril because for some reason, all beef bones don't produce the same stock.

For the Love of Bovril

 

[karrie]

Thanks for pointing that out juan... same goes for the much underrated pork stock.

I like to buy pork shoulder 'hams', because they boil up into such rich stocks, perfect for making baked beans and/or pea soup.

 

[#juan]

Baked beans. There's an idea. I have a couple good recipes for baked beans. I'll post them if I can get my stupid $#&& scanner to work. Other wise I have to type them.....with one finger...;-)

 

[hermanntrude]

Thanks for pointing that out juan... same goes for the much underrated pork stock.

I like to buy pork shoulder 'hams', because they boil up into such rich stocks, perfect for making baked beans and/or pea soup.

I attempted to make pork stock once and got a delicious concoction which I immediately used to make a pea soup. All was well until the soup cooled. At that point it turned into the most hideous thing I have ever cooked. Basically it was pea jelly. It makes me heave just to think about it.

 

[Walter]

I attempted to make pork stock once and got a delicious concoction which I immediately used to make a pea soup. All was well until the soup cooled. At that point it turned into the most hideous thing I have ever cooked. Basically it was pea jelly. It makes me heave just to think about it.

Now you know how Jell-o is made.

 

[Twila]

i do this every time i buy chicken. I'd be swimming in soup if it ALL became soup

hmmmm swimming in soup. that'd be AWESOME!! We don't eat alot of meat in my house. In fact we have meat only a couple times a week. But I could sooo get into a pool of chicken soup. lol

 

[karrie]

I attempted to make pork stock once and got a delicious concoction which I immediately used to make a pea soup. All was well until the soup cooled. At that point it turned into the most hideous thing I have ever cooked. Basically it was pea jelly. It makes me heave just to think about it.

a really good stock will often gelatinize once cooled. It kind of depends just how long you boiled it all, and how much cartilage was in the pot.

 

[#juan]

a really good stock will often gelatinize once cooled. It kind of depends just how long you boiled it all, and how much cartilage was in the pot.

Occasionally, usually with beef, I will boil the stock right down to the point where I can get it all into an ice cube tray. After freezing these cubes are like little blocks of translucent rubber. I store them in a plastic bag in the freezer door. I use them to add more flavour to a sauce or to gravy or soup.

 

[karrie]

It really does hold a heck of a lot of flavor when it's that thick.

 

[Ron in Regina]

All that talk about soup & soup stock this afternoon....and I was just starving. Now
I'm at home and I've got a pot of soup (the power of sujestion) on the stove, and the
house is starting to smell just fantastic!!!! Thank you all for planting the seed of this
idea!!!

 

[tracy]

I attempted to make pork stock once and got a delicious concoction which I immediately used to make a pea soup. All was well until the soup cooled. At that point it turned into the most hideous thing I have ever cooked. Basically it was pea jelly. It makes me heave just to think about it.

Oddly enough that sounds appetizing to me.

 

[karrie]

Oddly enough that sounds appetizing to me.

not odd at all... silly Englishman got all upset that he got the recipe perfect. ;-)