I know it’s getting into spring and who wants to think about hot soup or stock when the weather turns warm? But, making your own chicken stock is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your family. Broth is a highly nourishing food and should be eaten all the time, not just when your sick. A good batch of broth is good enough to drink by the glass – you don’t even have to wait to make it into soup. It’s economical and full of nutrition. Also, making a rich, flavorful stock is somewhat of a lost art form in today’s modern world.
Stock is so nutritious because it contains minerals from cartilage, bone, marrow and vegetables in an electrolyte form, which makes them very easy to absorb and be used by your body. Throughout the centuries, stock has been a remedy for what ails you and modern studies have shown that stock does indeed help prevent and heal infection. Also, properly made stock with good ingredients should contain a high level of gelatin, which is an important digestion aid. Gelatin isn’t a complete protein, but it contain the amino acids arginine and glycine, which help the body metabolize the protein you eat.
When it comes to recipes, you really can just throw your ingredients in a pot and let it cook. However, there are a few tips that make it easier.
Stock Making Tips
1. Keep a ziploc bag or a container in your freezer and add all of your celery, onion, and carrot scraps in there. I keep one container for the veggie scraps and one container for chicken bones and scraps. Then, when I’ve collected enough for a batch of stock, I typically don’t have to buy anything, except maybe some fresh parsley.
2. Always remember to let the bones soak in filtered water and some apple cider vinegar for at least one hour before starting your broth. The vinegar helps leach minerals from the bones and make them more accessible in the broth.
3. When you bring your stock to a boil, always skim off any foam that rises to the top. These are impurities that you need to get rid of.
4. Once it has boiled out the impurities, reduce the heat and simmer for as long as possible. I like to do a minimum of 8 hours, but if you can get up to 24 hours, that’s even better.
5. After the stock has cooled, a layer of fat will rise to the top. DON’T throw this away! It’s good for you. Skim it off and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. You can use it in all sorts of things from frying food to mashed potatoes and more.
As many of you know, I rarely follow recipes when I’m in the kitchen. That is one thing that has been hard for me to change when I’m cooking – I am constantly reminding myself that I have to slow down and measure. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve created in excitement to post on the blog, only to realize I never wrote down the recipe. I am getting much better at that!
Here is the basic recipe from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions. Pretty much all chicken stock recipes are going to be the same. This is the one I recommend.
Nourishing Traditions Chicken Stock
1 whole free-range chicken or 2-3 pounds of bony chicken parts (necks, backs, breastbones, wings, or other chix scraps)
gizzards from one chicken (optional)
feet from one chicken (optional)
1 gallon cold filtered water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
3 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
1 bunch parsley
If you are using the whole chicken, cut off the wings and remove the neck, fat glands and gizzards from the cavity. By all means, use the chicken feet if you can find them. They are full of gelatin. If you can find it, use a whole chicken, with the head intact. You can sometimes find these in Oriental markets, but make sure you look for farm-raised, free-range birds for the best nutrition.
Cut the chicken parts into pieces – if you’re using a whole chicken, cut off the wings and the neck and cut those down. Put the chicken and/or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel stock pot and cover with the water, vinegar and veggies (minus the parsley). Let the mixture stand for 30-60 minutes. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the top. Once you have that all skimmed, reduce the heat and cook (covered) for 6 hours to 24 hours. The longer the better – it will yield a much richer stock. About 10 minutes before the stock is done, add the parsley. The parsley is important because it adds mineral ions to the broth.
Let the broth cool slightly and then remove the chicken pieces with a slotted spoon or tongs. If you used a whole chicken, make sure you save the meat for casseroles or soup. The skin and small bones will be soft enough that you can feed them to your cat or dog without any harm. Strain the stock into another bowl and stick it in the fridge until the broth congeals and the fat rises to the top. Skim off the fat and reserve it for future projects.
This post is part of Monday Mania | Real Food 101 | Kitchen Tip Tuesdays | Real Food 101 | Fat Tuesday | Hearth and Soul Hop with Premeditated Leftovers |
Delicious Obsessions was founded by Jessica Espinoza in 2010. Jessica is passionate about real food, natural living, and more. She helps people see how to eat nourishing food, without breaking the bank. Her motto is "baby steps" -- making small, lasting changes, one at a time, is the best way to ensure long-term success. This website contains "affiliate links" where appropriate, on which, I may earn a small commission or referral fee on your purchase. This has no effect on your price. The monies earned help maintain and support this website's hosting, maintenance, and the development of free content. The content shared on this site is for informational and educational purposes only. Statements/products discussed have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease or illness. Please consult your own health care practitioner before making changes to your current diet or before beginning any herbal or vitamin supplement regimen or exercise program.
Nice post. I hadn’t heard about using vinegar to soak the bones beforehand, so I will have to try that. I did learn from Mark Bittman that you can squish your cooked veggies through a strainer at the end to give more flavour to the broth. It’s “dirty broth”, but it works well. I always get frustrated with skimming off the foam and not taking out the veggies at the same time, but find that easier when I bring it to a boil slower. –Renee
Thanks Renee! I’m glad you liked it. I had never heard of the vinegar step either until I read Nourishing Traditions. Makes sense though! Thanks for the tip about smushing the veggies. I like that idea. I don’t care of the broth is “dirty”. The more nutrition in there, the better! Skimming is also a little hard, but I try to keep the veggie pieces big enough that they don’t float too much. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I used to get frustrated with skimming foam too, because the veggies would get in the way. Now I wait until after I skim to add the veggies. It’s so much easier!
Jen – BRILLIANT!!!! Seriously. A major “duh” on my part! I love that idea. Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
Jessica,
LOL! I know… I felt pretty “duh” myself, when this idea finally occurred to me.
I usually simmer my stock for 24 hours, so there is plenty of time for the veggies to do their thing and flavor the stock, even when I add them a bit later.
Your articles are for when it absoteluly, positively, needs to be understood overnight.
[...] Chicken Stock – How To and Nourishing Tradition's Recipe … [...]
I am very bad at making chicken stock. The twice I tried it was disgusting. Don’t think I remember any foam though so maybe I need to pay more attention & skim the impurities off.
Really? I can’t imagine what went wrong. Stock is usually so forgiving. Just throw all the stuff in a pot and cook. Don’t give up! Use my tips to save your scraps in a bag in the freezer, or try making it using NT’s recipe. Stock is so good for you and it’s so affordable. It’s pretty much made with all the stuff you’d throw away anyways!
[...] quart chicken stock (homemade if [...]
Thanks for linking your
great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next
week!
Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com
on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured
there!
http://realfoodforager.com/2011/12/fat-tuesday-december-6-2011/
This is an easy and tasty recipe to use for stew, pasta, and more! You might also like to check other chicken broth recipes at http://www.chickenbrothrecipes.com.
Thanks for sharing!
Another idea… if you get a roasted chicken from the grocery store or a BBQ place, save your bones and bits, and toss those in the crockpot with your veggies. I did that yesterday from a Costco chicken and I now have a quart and a half of stock in the fridge ready to go!
Yep! I do that quite often. I know that Costco chickens aren’t the best quality chickens, but we have to make do with what we have! I usually get 3-4 batches of broth from one set of bones. I guess I should go update that post!
Totally newbie in the kitchen here…i have been experimenting with doing a whole chicken in crock pot (so far they both came out really bland). So, here is my newbie question…how can i use the jelly like stuff I get left with after cooking the bird? Thanks! Love your posts!
Hi Jennifer – Thanks for stopping by! Congrats on experimenting! That’s the best way to learn things — I do A LOT of experimenting in my kitchen, that’s for sure!
Regarding the jelly like stuff, most likely, that’s broth and once it cools, it sets up like Jello. That’s because broth contains high amounts of gelatin which is good for all sorts of things in the body. I usually use that for gravy. If you pour off the liquid before it cools, then you can bottle it and freeze it too. Hope that helps!
[...] the bones for making homemade chicken stock! So easy, delicious, and [...]