Making stock is a weekly happening at our house, and my family loves eating the yummy, nourishing, foods you can make with stock.
However, they do NOT love the smell of stock cooking on our stove all day.
So we compromise.
I make stock, but I make sure the stove vent stays on, and they plug their noses when they pass through the kitchen. 🙂
All kinds of stock simmer on my stove, but the most frequent visitor is the chicken variety.
Chicken stock is such a key ingredient in a real food kitchen.
As the famous French chef Auguste Escoffier said ~
“Indeed, stock is everything in cooking…without it nothing can be done.”
Making it is a very basic operation. All you need are some bones, vegetable scraps, and a little time.
The ingredients can change with whatever you have in your fridge. This time I used onion, carrots, celery, and a chicken carcass left over from last night’s roasted chicken. *All of my ingredients are organic, which I definitely advise.
Coarsely chop the vegetables Just grab whatever you have in the fridge or garden. They are simply helping provide flavor and nutrients into the stock.
Place in a large pot with the chicken carcass, 1-1 1/2 gallons of water, and a splash of apple cider vinegar.Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour to help the calcium leach from the bones into the water.
Bring to a boil on high heat. See all that yucky looking scum that rose to the top? You need to skim it all off with a spoon. It’s as yucky as it looks.
After scum has been removed, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer on low all day or night. (Anywhere from 6-12 hours) You want it to be barely bubbling, or it will boil down too much.
Once it has cooked down, it will look something like this.
Strain and cool.
Stock will keep about a week in the fridge, and almost indefinitely in your freezer.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 1 small onion
- 1 celery heart
- 1 chicken carcass
- Splash of raw apple cider vinegar
- 1- 1½ gallons of filtered water
Instructions
- Chop vegetables
- Place vegetables, water, chicken carcass, and vinegar in pot
- Let sit 30-60 minutes, then bring to a boil over high heat
- Skim off all scum, and reduce heat to a low simmer
- Simmer 6-12 hours
- Strain, and cool
Notes
