I had a big cooking session at the weekend and thought I’d use the leftover chicken I had to make some Chicken Stock. When I have the time to cook I like to make things like stock or bone broth, as I can freeze large amounts and use them as the basis for many dishes over the next two or three months. Stock forms the basis of so many meals, such as soups, sauces, stews and curries. Always separate the stock into small batches before freezing so you can just defrost the amount you need.There seem to be a lot of different ways of making stock and bone broth. I like to keep mine as uncomplicated as possible as I’d rather add herbs and spices into the meal I use the stock for – not be limited by how I made the stock.
Out of interest, I had a look at the ingredients in the ready-made supermarket Chicken Stocks.
Campbell’s Real Chicken Stock
Chicken Stock (97%) (Water, Chicken, Herb Extracts), Glucose, Salt, Yeast Extract (Contains Barley), Natural Flavour.
Continental Stock Pot Chicken
Concentrated chicken stock (67%) (vegetables (onion, carrot, garlic), water, chicken, herbs, spices), salt, flavours (contain wheat), sugar, vegetable fat, yeast extract, thickners (xanthin gum, locust bean gum), natural colour (carotene)
Massel Chicken Stock
Water, Maltodextrin (Corn), Sea Salt, Natural Vegetable Flavours, Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Red Bell Pepper), Vegetable Proteins (Soy), Sugar, Yeast Extract, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Black Pepper.
Coles Chicken Stock
Chicken Stock* (97%) (Water, Chicken, Onion, Carrot, Celery, Bay Leaf), Natural Flavours, Yeast Extract, Sugar, Salt, Vegetable Powders (Onion, Garlic, Sweet Corn), Black Pepper, Vegetable Extract Powder
*Reconstituted from concentrated stock
The shop-bought varieties have so many more ingredients than my home-made version. I can’t understand why sugar and flavours need to be added to stock, never mind “vegetable” fat, soy and colours (dare I ask what colour is it before they add the colouring?) Maybe I'm wrong, but I’d be surprised if the manufacturers went to the same lengths I do to get good quality free ranged chicken…
It's so much better making my own as it uses up leftovers that could otherwise be wasted – and as it pretty much looks after itself, it isn’t much effort to make at all.
Recipe: Chicken Stock
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Strainer
- Spoon
- Storage Containers
Ingredients
- Left over roast chicken carcass
- 2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 2 sticks celery
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Prepare the Ingredients:Start by breaking up the leftover roast chicken carcass and placing it in your largest pot. This forms the base of your flavorful stock.
- Add the Vegetables:Roughly chop the carrots, onions, and celery. There's no need to peel them as the skins will add extra nutrients and depth of flavor to your stock.
- Combine and Boil:Add the chopped vegetables and bay leaves to the pot. Fill the pot with water until it's almost full. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Simmer the Stock:Once the stock reaches a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer for three to four hours. During this time, skim the top occasionally with a spoon to remove any residue that rises to the surface.
- Maintain and Adjust:Keep an eye on the water level, adding more as necessary to ensure the ingredients stay submerged. This helps extract all the flavors and nutrients.
- Strain and Cool:After simmering, strain the mixture to separate the liquid stock from the bones and vegetable remains. Discard the solids. Quickly cool the stock by placing the pot in a sink of cold water.
- Store the Stock:Once cooled, separate the stock into individual portions and store them in airtight containers. Freeze the portions for future use, ensuring you always have homemade stock on hand.
I’d love to hear how you make stock and what you use it for?
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Hi, I roasted a chicken on Christmas morning. I saved the juices, skin etc. The fat rose to the surface. Underneath there was the most wonderful jelly for soup. I cooked the bones, like you did. I cut the skin into tiny pieces. Yesterday I took some pieces of the skin and put it into a bowl. I fried some celery and leafy greens in butter. I added some cooked dried peas from the freezer. I put everything except the pieces of skin into a metal container (malted milk container) and blended it. Everything went back into the saucepan to reheat. It made the most delicious soup! Eleven out of ten.
That sounds lovely! Even though it's summer, I absolutely love soup!
Last time I used a supermarket bouillon cube I was a teenager. I would never ever use store-bought stock, I prefer using water with any aromatic veggies I have. Sometimes I make chicken stock with bones from a roast chook, sometimes with fresh carcasses. If they're fresh, I first blanch the bones in boiling water, then throw the water and start with cold water, bring to a boil, simmer for an hour, then add veggies (onions, carrots, celery, leeks), a bay leaf, some peppercorns and herbs (usually thyme and parsley). Let it simmer for 30 to 60 minutes, cool down, strain, pack and freeze.
Thanks Gaby that sounds great – I'll have to try adding leeks and herbs next time too!
I usually boil up turkey necks or a roasted chook carcass – but I use a pressure cooker — it is really fast and does a great job of softening the bones which makes me think that there are more minerals in my soup. Saves on fuel too since it normally cuts the cooking time in half. I let the fat stay on top of the broth while it cools and it forms a kind of seal so it keeps longer in the fridge. I also freeze some of my stock for use months later.
Thanks Cathy, I wish I had a pressure cooker to give it a try – great idea!
My Sunday afternoon is a chicken stock cooking scenario, I buy an entire organic raw chicken and cut in half and throw in a slow cooker with a tablespoon peppercorns, handful of thyme, rosemary, 2 cut carrots, 1 red onion, a few bayleaves (didnt have celery this time) and put it on a higher temp to cook for 4 hours, then afterwards I strain leaving the liquid and I use the stock for soups usually. The chicken I cut off all the meat and skin and divide into containers. I throw in a handful into a homemade chicken soup using some of my stock, and I save the chicken for husbands lunches or salads. it goes a long way. love how juicy and tender the meat is! I have not gone back to packet sandwich meat for a few months now, couldnt believe I would eat that rubbish! Home cooked is always best!
I really enjoying cooking on Sundays! There is no substitute for home cooked.
I make my chicken or beef stock in the slowcooker. I save up my peels from carrots, celery offcuts, onion and garlic skins for the week in a container in the fridge. I save any bones from chicken in a snaplock bag in the freezer and do the same with beef/lamb/pork in another bag. When my bag is full I put it and the vege scraps in the slowcooker on low for 20-24 hours. The smell is amazing. I then strain and chill it in the fridge before skimming the fat off the top and separating it into smaller portions to freeze. This is hardly any effort but the taste is fantastic. I can't believe I used to buy all the junk the supermarket provides for flavour when I make my own out of scraps.
I make my chicken or beef stock in the slowcooker. I save up my peels from carrots, celery offcuts, onion and garlic skins for the week in a container in the fridge. I save any bones from chicken in a snaplock bag in the freezer and do the same with beef/lamb/pork in another bag. When my bag is full I put it and the vege scraps covered in water in the slowcooker on low for 20-24 hours. The smell is amazing. I then strain and chill it in the fridge before skimming the fat off the top and separating it into smaller portions to freeze. This is hardly any effort but the taste is fantastic. I can't believe I used to buy all the junk the supermarket provides for flavour when I make my own out of scraps.
I am Chinese and away from home and so stared to cook for myself and now, is more appreciative of all the soups that my mum used to make, which I have taken for granted : P After some research, I have come to realise the love of her efforts all these years in making Chinese soups for us. These soups are not only nutritious, it helps to nurture our “body constitutional types” as well.
Our bone broth is usually done by blanching pork/chicken bone & some meat in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then with the impurities skim away before use. Then, various vegetable ingredients are added and sometimes Chinese herbs- some are to reduce “heatiness”, some to improve blood circulation or “Chi flow” etc. For some ingredients, they are considered both a food and a medicine, such as Jujube dates and Wild Yam.
The one soup I have been making so often for this drier winter is made of pork bone and meat, cubed pumpkin, white fungus and a couple of Jujube dates and honey dates. Have been keeping cold at bay ; )
when i need stock in a hurry ive found that the maggie beer stocks are paleo/whole30 compliant – at $8-12 for a 500ml bag you have to really want it though!
Hi. I have been making homemade soup for years. Due to gut issues I was on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet as found in Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall.(started that in 1995) I went Paleo in 2010 after my son told me about it and we found Loren Cordain and Robb Wolf's books.
I has been a wonderful experience. It was miserable in the beginning but the relief and getting control of your life back was tremendous! My biggest “problem” now is convincing people that not only “sick” people like me with gut issues benefit from Paleo.
I always add a couple of tblsps of apple cider vinegar to the bones when they are cooking to help pull out the minerals I am told.
P.S. GRAIN BRAIN by Dr. David Permutter is one book that I think is a very important read for anyone. It is a game changer, as he puts it, explaining is detail the effects of wheat and gluten on the brain and in relation of Alzheimer's, epilepsy, autism, etc.
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Interesting point you made about the added ‘colouring'.
Btw, What exactly is defined by ‘vegetable fat' listed in the ingredients? I remember thinking that when I saw the ingredients in the Continental Chicken Stock Pot in the supermarket.
Also interesting to note that the vegetable and beef stock pots didn't have ‘vegetable fat' listed as an ingredient, yet the chicken one did