Chicken Stock

Easy to Make Homemade Chicken Stock.
At the heart of every great soup is a stock base. Broth is really the same as stock, just with salt added. Commercially made stock is called broth, (salt added) and is convenient, I know. There are now even a few brands that are natural and organic.  But the flavor is lacking, there is just no comparison to homemade stock, and many commercial brands are high in sodium.  And bland tasting, did I mention that?

Chicken stock is a must have pantry stocking item because it can be used in soup, sauces, gravies, used for simmering meats, added to casseroles and flavors endless recipes.  

Have you tried it in mashed potatoes? Yum!

And making the stock at home is actually pretty easy.

Anytime you bake a whole chicken, fry a cut up chicken or have leftovers,
save the fat, discarded meat, skin, bones or whole caucus. Throw into a large pot or slow cooker with water, a few vegetables, herbs and spices and simmer. It’s that easy!

The added rich deep flavor that the homemade stock adds to your cooking is just amazing.

We raise our own chickens so my stock is extra good, natural and organic, but you can purchase organic chicken from the grocery store and it will be just as good.

Not ready to make homemade stock just yet? No problem, you can freeze any left over chicken parts until you have enough or are ready to make it.

Chicken Stock

  

Ingredients:

About 3 to 4 pounds of chicken parts, skin, fat, bones or meat scraps

2 medium white or yellow onions, sliced

3 to 4 large or few mini raw carrots, washed and cut into ½ inch pieces

2 to 3 stalks of celery cut into fourths

4 sprigs fresh or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

4 sprigs fresh or 1 teaspoon dried parsley

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorns (or little course ground black pepper)

4 quarts of water

Freezer containers or canning jars

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot.  Add 4 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.   Skim off any foam or film.

The aroma coming from the pot will have everyone running into the kitchen to see what’s cooking!

After you have convinced everyone it’s not dinner, turn off the heat and allow the stock to cool just a little.

Strain the stock through a sieve, colander or several layers of cheese cloth into a large bowl.  
I use two colanders, one inside the other and cheesecloth in-between.   

Discard the chicken parts and vegetable solids. Truthfully, I don't try to get every little thing strained out, but it's up to you.  

Stain until only the stock remains or leave some of the spices in. 

Skim off any fat on the surface. 
I don't try to get all the spices and fat out, it makes the stock taste so much better in recipes! 

PRINT RECIPE

Storage

Refrigerator or Freezer: 
Allow the liquid to cool to room temperature, then transfer to air tight containers.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Canning Method:

Put stock back into stock pot and heat back up.

Ladle hot stock into sterilized hot pint jars, leaving a 1 inch head space.  Wipe off jar rims and adjust the 2 piece cap to finger tip tight. 

Process chicken stock for 20 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure in a steam pressure canner.  

Makes approximately 8 pints

Use this Chicken Stock in this Mushroom Soup recipe

Turkey Stock:  It's made the same way, only use turkey in place of chicken. Don’t throw away all those leftover parts and pieces of turkey at Thanksgiving!  Make Turkey Stock!

Do you make homemade stock?  
Is your recipe similar or different?  How do you like homemade compared to commercial brands?  

Elizabeth

Other Posts:

Homemade Pickle Relish

Canning Rabbit Meat

Bean Soup