How to make chicken stock

How to make chicken stock

How to make chicken stock

8 December 2014

How to make chicken stock

Homemade chicken stock has to be one of the oldest, most basic and most frugal recipes in history. Yet it is an utter luxury — and rarity for most — to have a batch of homemade chicken stock in the fridge or freezer at home. Stock cubes are a quick and easy alternative, but they don't have the richness and complexity of flavour of a good, homemade stock.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

  • 1 chicken carcass
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot, roughly chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • bulb of garlic

Method

1
Put the chicken carcass, vegetables, herbs in a large pot, and fill with water until all the ingredients are just submerged
2
Bring to the boil, and then simmer, uncovered for 3 hours. Top up the water if necessary. Chicken stock should be simmered - not boiled. Boiling the stock emulsifies the fat, and created a cloudy, flat-tasting stock
3
Skim off any discoloured foam from the surface throughout cooking
4
Remove the carcass from the pot, use a slotted spoon to scoop out other bones and vegetables then strain the stock through a fine sieve
5
The stock can be used immediately, or refrigerated and kept for 3-4 days. Alternatively, freeze the chicken stock, and use within 4 months Instead of freezing - and then defrosting all the chicken stock in one block, freeze in silicon muffin moulds

Variations

To make a darker, stronger-flavoured stock, start by browning the bones before simmering them in water- also known as brown chicken stock. Use such darker varieties of stock for stews and casseroles.

Chicken stock can be flavoured to suit the dish it is being added to. For example half-way through the simmer, add a handful of dried Chinese mushroom or fungus to introduce savoury, umami flavours to the chicken broth. Or for an Asian-inspired chicken stock, experiment with infusions such as ginger, chilli and garlic.

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