If you buy your chicken as whole carcasses to cut up yourself, save any bones you have left over to use in stock. Keep the bones well wrapped in the freezer until you have enough to make batch of stock.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Ingredients:
- 4 - 5 Pounds Raw Chicken Bones
- 2 Medium Carrots, peeled and cut into 2" pieces
- 1 Celery Stalk, cut into 2" pieces, leaves removed
- 1 Large Yellow Onion, peeled and quartered
- 3 Cloves Garlic, peeled
- 1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns
- 1 Small Bunch Parsley (with stems), washed
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Cold Water, to cover
Preparation:
Place all of the ingredients, except for the water and chicken, into a large pot. Place the chicken bones on top of the other ingredients. Fill the pot with cold water until it just covers the chicken.Over high heat, slowly bring the water to a boil. Reduce the temperature to a simmer. Using a large spoon or ladle, skim off the foam as it appears at the top of your stock. Continue this until there is very little foam on top, about an hour.
Continue to simmer the chicken stock until it develops a rich, chicken flavor, about three hours. Do not cover the pot or add water as the stock simmers.
Remove the pot from heat. Pour the stock through a mesh strainer into another container. If the pot is too heavy, use a ladle to remove some of the stock first (strain this also). Cool the strained stock as quickly as possible. An ice bath will cool the stock faster than your refrigerator. Fill your kitchen sink with ice and water. Place the container in the ice bath and stir constantly until the temperature is reduced to 70 degrees. Refrigerate.
As it cools, your stock may develop a layer of fat on the top. Leave this on until you are ready to first use the stock. This will protect it from exposure to the air. When ready to use, just spoon off the fat.
Chicken stock will keep for about a week refrigerated. It also freezes well. If freezing, transfer stock to smaller containers, so you only have to defrost what you need.
