Homemade chicken broth

I use chicken broth often in many different kinds of dishes. Buying commercial broth is both expensive (for what you get, and full of sodium to boot) Here is how I have been doing it. I buy chicken backs from my butcher ) problem is they come in a 40 pound (frozen) box and that is the only way I can get them. I have the butcher cut them into 8, 5lb blocks. When ready I simply take 1-2 blocks from the freezer. I start with a stockpot of water and put the chicken in to cover. I simmer the chicken until it is fully thawed, then I empty the water, and rinse 3-4 times until the water is clear of any blood. Then I chop carrots, celery, and onions, and put in with the chicken, adding a small hand full of peppercorns, but no salt. I let that all simmer for about 1.5 hours then cut the heat off and let it sit in the pot until it reaches room temp. I strain the backs and veggies etc and then put the broth back into the pot, setting it in the fridge overnight. This allows the chicken fat to solidify and be easy to skim off. 10 pounds of backs will result in 2.5 - 3.0 gallons of excellent broth.

How do you do you do yours?

[Jenise]

I do buy a lot of chicken broth because I tend to use more than I make. But I do simmer a halved whole chicken with onions, celery, a whole yam, fresh bay leaves, a garlic clove and peppercorns--stewed chicken prepared that way is my favorite version of chicken on the planet.

When making most broths, vegetable or meat (OK, when I used to make meat stocks!), I start by roasting the ingredients. Brings a ton of flavor and lets me reduce salt even further.

I've lately been back to my old ways, always having a stockpot on a low simmer on the back of the stove, since I mostly work from home. Vegetable trimmings get a sauté if I don't have the oven on for bread or whatever, and then into the pot. We just use it from there as we're cooking. About once a week or so I strain it all off, compost the now-depleted vegetables, freeze the remaining stock, and start over.

Oh, and it's not just veggies. I add some wine, some cheese rinds, peppercorns, a bunch of herbs, a dash of soy sauce, mushroom soaking liquid etc to the vegetable stock. This gives a much rounder, more savory finished product.

Recently I haven't made a whole lot of stock -- aside from the stuff I clarified for the Robbie Burns party (mmm chicken feet)

But when I was making tons of it, I was cooking my way through all of the soups in Kasper's "The Splendid Table" which is about the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, north of Tuscany. And while I used it as "chicken broth" it is really quite a bit richer, because you start with turkey wings and a bit of beef shanks. Very rich and delicious stuff and also perfect for risotto. I would make 4 or 5 quarts at a time and stick them in my neighbor's freezer (we don't have a large freezer) and she would make use of a quart when she was making soup. "Rent."

Here are the ingredients, to get the gist of it; Perhaps I should look at the book to see what is going on with the first 2 ingredients -- 2 pounds of wings plus 3 pounds of wings, or is it either or? Will try to remember to edit this when I'm sure.

Ingredients

1 quart-sized bag of bones and trimmings from poultry, beef and veal, or about 2 pounds turkey wings and 1 pound meaty beef or veal bones
3 pounds turkey wings
2 medium stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
3 large onions, coarsely chopped (if organic, leave skin on, but trim away root ends)
3 cups organic onion, carrot, and celery trimmings (optional)
2 tablespoons olive oil (needed only if browning bones)
1 whole head garlic, stuck with 3 whole cloves
1 bay leaf

http://www.publicradio.org/columns/sple ... stock.html

For years now, I've collected all the bones and carcasses of birds and rabbits that we've cooked and, when they've accumulated, make a stock from them by placing them in a stock pot, covering with water, bringing to a boil and skimming, then adding onion, carrots, celery and a bouquet garni of celery leaves, bay leaf and parsley. I simmer for three hours, cool and skim the fat off. Although I've heard chefs caution against freezing stock, I don't use it fast enough to keep it all in the fridge, so most of it gets frozen for later use. In a typical run, I'll use the bones from 4 birds (chickens and ducks, mostly) to get a gallon or so of a very gelatinous stock.

Mark Lipton

I'm curious about this part:

...then cut the heat off and let it sit in the pot until it reaches room temp...

Always been of the mind (re: Alton Brown and others) that it is a bad idea to let stock, soup, and the like cool to room temperature without encouragement before refrigerating because of possible bacterial spoilage. Isn't it the accepted wisdom that it should be cooled quickly in an icewater bath then refrigerated?

I'm not overly finicky - just cautious. I don't think I've ever been clobbered by "bad food" but it is a concern.

I agree Fred, and I am trying harder to abide by the dictum "food should only be HOT or COLD."

Yesterday I made a big pot of chili, and then used an ice bath to get it down to where I could comfortably stick it in the fridge.

I'm curious about this part:

...then cut the heat off and let it sit in the pot until it reaches room temp...

Always been of the mind (re: Alton Brown and others) that it is a bad idea to let stock, soup, and the like cool to room temperature without encouragement before refrigerating because of possible bacterial spoilage. Isn't it the accepted wisdom that it should be cooled quickly in an icewater bath then refrigerated?

I'm not overly finicky - just cautious. I don't think I've ever been clobbered by "bad food" but it is a concern.

As a general rule, yes, but in the case of stock the layer of fat on the top will help prevent bacterial spoilage by keeping bacteria out of the broth itself. It's not ironclad protection, but it does mean that one can gradually cool the stock without risk of bacterial spoilage.

Mark Lipton

Bob, my method is very similar to yours but I also add chicken feet to the pot. You'll be amazed at the difference in taste and texture they bring to the table. Throwing in a quartered turnip, two cut up celery stalks including the leaves, and some parsley is also a good idea.

Sorry to hear that chicken backs are an issue where you live. They are a common item in the supermarkets here.

I put the soup in the refrigerator, skim off the fat the next morning, and freeze it. Never had a problem.

I can see the chicken feet Ken, they would add gelatin and therefore a certain silkiness to the broth. I wonder though that is when the broth is cold and or frozen.

I make a little chicken broth whenever I have any parts of the bird left from any recipe. But the one I tell friends all the time is to make certain to reuse the carcas from those roasted deli chickens that sell for $6.99. Thos chickens have been brined and seasoned, and just boiling the carcasses with a few herbs will yield dividends. Somehow they never think to reuse chicken carcasses cooked in other ways to render broth. Once I even caught my sister pouring off the broth down the drain from a bird she simmered for the purpose of making chicken salad!! Horror of horrors! I did everything but slap her!

Good point Jo Ann -- I didn't think of that because invariably when we've had a couple of meals from a Costco rotisserie chicken, we make chicken soup. There's always enough meat left on the bird to make a good soup, and we just fry up some onions, carrots, and celery and then put in the carcass and some water. So we never get to the stage of declaring it chicken broth and putting it away, it goes straight to soup.

Bob, there is a wonderful glutinous mouth-feel in a chicken broth that has had some chicken feet added to the carcasses. It's like velvet, and it's not so much the appearance as the texture in the hot soup. Worth a try if you can find some feet. Oriental groceries are a great place to find feet of chicken, pig, cow, whatever. Thomas Keller's "Veal Stock" calls for a cow-foot, and that does similar wonders for the mouth-feel of the finished product.

Regarding the chicken feet, Frank just said it better than I could. It makes an amazing difference and I hope you try it.

I use a lot of them because I like the effect. When the soup is in the refrigerator it becomes solid, almost like jello. Not to worry. It heats up just fine, and you can always adjust the silkiness of the broth by adding water if you want. There is no problem at all freezing it. However, it's best to take it out of the freezer a day before you want it and defrost in the fridge.

PS... around here most supermarkets have chicken feet on display, but all of them have them in the back and all you have to do is ask.

I don't make "stock", but soup. My technique, regardless of whether it's chicken backs, chuck bones or a meaty ham bone, is to cover the meat & bones with just enough water (no salt) to cover and cook until the meat is falling off. Then I'll strain it and add the veggies (onion, celery, carrots - I will have to try roasting first, as Cynthia suggests). Next, I separate what I strained out into 3 piles. The meat gets chopped and added to the soup. The skins, etc. become cat food. The bones get put into a smaller pot with enough salt for the entire batch of soup and simmered for at least an hour and strained into the soup. This second cooking of the bones extracts a lot of flavor. Then I will add other soup stuff (noodles, veggies, whatever).

I make a little chicken broth whenever I have any parts of the bird left from any recipe. But the one I tell friends all the time is to make certain to reuse the carcas from those roasted deli chickens that sell for $6.99. Thos chickens have been brined and seasoned, and just boiling the carcasses with a few herbs will yield dividends.

I make the majority of my chicken stock from the carcasses of the Deli Roasted Chickens or the roasted scrapes of chicken leftovers. I use my crockpot. I learned over the years that whatever vegetables you have on hand plus a bayleaf, a little wine, some peppercorns and roasted meat scrapes make the best stock. However, with chicken you definitely have to have celery in the mix. I also like to use leeks.