I wasn’t kidding when I said this chicken stock is the best stock you will ever make. It doesn’t have any fancy ingredients in it but it will produce a wonderful, full flavored stock that you can use in a multitude of recipes. Looking at the photo , the large jar of stock, on the left, shows the stock after it has been refrigerated and the fat has come to the top. The smaller jar, on the right, shows the stock after the fat has been skimmed and it has been heated. Isn’t it gorgeous?
Because I am on a low iodine diet, I had to use salt with no iodine it it. When I’m not on a low iodine diet, I use table salt. I prefer table salt to Kosher salt but I know a lot of cooks prefer Kosher salt over table salt. Use whatever you prefer. It will still be delicious.
The difference between stock and broth is stock is made from bony chicken parts and broth is made from chicken meat, like breasts. Making a good stock takes a lot longer than making a broth. Chicken stock tends to have a fuller mouth feel and richer flavor, due to the gelatin released by long-simmering bones. You will also notice that the chicken stock made from roasted chicken pieces has a much richer color than broth made from chicken meat that hasn’t been roasted.
I discovered that I could make the same stock, in a pressure cooker, in a fraction of the time. Instead of simmering for 6 hours, I cooked it for 1 hour. It took about 1/2 hour for the steam to get to the right level and another half hour for the steam to come down on it’s own. Two hours vs. six. Another advantage of using a pressure cooker is that you end up with a super clear stock.
You can also make this stock in a slow cooker. This will take longer but you don’t need to “babysit” the pot. You could even cook it overnight.
The recipe below is the basic recipe. I have done it with chicken wings, chicken parts, and a whole chicken. It depends on what I want to make with the stock. I usually make it with a whole chicken. Then I divide the meat and stock into meal size containers for the freezer. When I want to make a meal using one of the containers, I add cut up carrots and celery to the meat and stock mixture, season it to taste, simmer it for about 1/2 hour and then add cooked pasta, rice or dumplings.
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds chicken wings
- 4 Large carrots - scrubbed but no need to peel
- 4 Celery Stalks - scrubbed
- 2 Onions - cut in half
- 2 Tablespoons oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475
- Put chicken on a foil lined baking sheet or other shallow pan. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. For a low iodine diet, use Kosher salt or table salt with no iodine.
- Roast for 45 minutes and then add the onion, cut side down, to the roasting pan and roast 15 additional minutes.
- To a large heavy-bottomed pot, add the carrots, celery, roasted chicken wings, onion and the juices from the pan. Add about a tablespoon of salt. Cover with 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer, uncovered, on low for 6 hours, skimming any impurities that float to the top. Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer.
- At this point you may freeze your stock in individual containers or refrigerate it for about 5 days.
- You may also make this in a pressure cooker or a slow cooker.
- Pressure cooker directions - After roasting the chicken put all of the ingredients in a pressure cooker. Do not fill your pressure cooker more than 2/3 full. You may have to adjust the water and add less to stay below the 2/3 line. Bring the steam up, cook for 1 hour, let steam go down on it's own. When you can take the lid off the pot, strain the broth and store or use.
- Slow cooker directions - After roasting the chicken put all of the ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover with water. Cook on low for 8 hours or overnight.
LOVE this! I have unknowingly. been making a hybrid chicken broth/stock with my left over whole roasted chicken carc- ass.! it has meat and bones. i lack time, talent, and motivation to pick that sucker clean like it has been enjoyed by a school of piranhas. my aunt renee could, she had mad skills. you have informed my process so much with this, i have not even been close to cooking this soulful and traditional base long enough. my hybrid stock/broth has been nearly clear. i can’t wait to toss my bone/ meat carc-ass into my slow cooker , let it take care of itself., and the reap the nourishing benefits and effortless benefits of this process. thanks for this great information. everything is better when it is handed down, especially from nanna!
xo
ellen
Ellen, picking the “carc-ass” is my least favorite job in the whole world! Every bit of meat that gets by me causes me anxiety. I can hear my grandmother telling me about the starving children in Africa. One way to get around that issue is to use chicken wings and then poach breasts in the resulting stock. xoxo backatcha! I miss your face!!
Right? I call it Depression Picking! My mom’s entire family are scavengers; never wasting a single shred of meat. It used to cause me a bit of panic too but now, I just take joy in remembering all of them: the ones that have passed and the ones that are still around. I tell my kids and husband and we laugh and remember. A roasted chicken does not pass thru my kitchen with me thinking of the women in my family. Every time I wash out a bag to reuse it brings me back! And dang it, if I didn’t need one of those colorful, sometimes dangerous, bread ties out of the old maxwell house coffee tin in the bottom drawer at the farm. This drawer was also the comfortable home of the tin foil too good to throw away, old zip lock bags that the garden veggies were frozen in, and the saved Wonder Bread bags! Those polk a dotted bags also doubled as great gear for keeping your feet dry in the snow. (Please note, I have not even mentioned the “tupperware” drawer. That is for another conversation. I try to not be wasteful, but those women were in another league. Now I will make my broth/stock in a crock pot, and use chicken wings and I will think of YOU dear friend!
Thank you for your wisdom! Miss your fact too!
XO-
Ellen
Too funny! I could write a very similar post. I like calling it Depression Picking. The Wonder Bread bags were the best! We rarely bought bread because my grandmother always made our bread. How I loved that soft Wonder Bread and would beg my mom to buy it for us.
Stay sweet!! xoxox