Are their any good commercial produced chicken stocks?

I've been using Pacific Natural Foods Free Range chicken stock, which I think is better than most. I make my own stock but never seem to have enough so if you're like me, do you have a go to commercially made chicken stock that you consider good? If this has been covered before I've missed it, could you point me to the thread?

Drew

[Jenise]

Drew, I make my own stocks too but honestly I use more chicken stock than I can keep up with, so I also buy commercial. It has been my habit to buy two: Kitchen Basics for a richer, roasted chicken style and Swanson for a paler, unroasted style. The Kitchen Basics is not very consistent, however, and what I've bought lately has been browner than it was at first, which can make some foods unattractive. At the same time, the last Swanson I bought wasn't clear in the way it's been for the 20 years I've been using it, it was milky and opaque--the stock was made at too high a heat and the proteins boiled out of the bones. I had to whip up some egg whites to clarify it. Not acceptable. And then there's the Haggen store brand which I've liked and found consistently good in the eight years I've lived here: crystal clear, rich and golden it used to be. But the last time I bought it? Pale, dilute, and cloudy.

So I'm not a happy camper, and I can't reccomend any of the above now.

"Good" is a very subjective thing, but I am guilty of using commercial chicken stock sometimes.

I've been using the Swanson Unsalted Chicken Stock that comes in the cardboard steri-pack, or whatever it's called. A bit pricey if you need a lot but I think it's one of the best on the market as far as they go. The ingredient list: Chicken Stock, Contains Less than 2% of: Dehydrated Chicken, Flavoring, Chicken Fat.

The new Knorr Homestyle Stocks look interesting but I've only used the beef to pump of the flavor of an oxtail/mushroom soup... a real umami bomb that came out great. The Knorrs are a small plastic tub of a concentrated gel to reconstitute with water, and have a more suspect ingredient list, but may taste ok.

We make our own so long as we have a supply of carcasses, which should be for the next year or two. Then we use Wolfgang Pucks Free Range Chicken Stock. We do use his beef and vegetable stock regularly.

We use Swanson's low sodium. We have yet to run across a problem like that mentioned by Jenise.

Drew,
This won't be very helpful, I'm afraid, but I'm in exactly the same boat that you are: I make my own and when I need more I go for the Pacific Natural (Organic) as the closest substitute. Generally, I reserve mine for the most special uses (soups, paella, risotto) and use the commercial stuff for other recipes.

Mark Lipton

I keep either the Tone's or McCormick concentrates on hand, both beef and chicken on hand. They work for me.

Can't remember the source, but I recall a comparison that made sense rated Rachael Ray's canned stock well ahead of the others available.