Chicken Stock

People choose to be more and more self sufficient for many reasons. One of the reasons we decided to change the way we live was the type and quality of food that we were taking in, as well as giving to our children. Which brings us to today's post. Making your own chicken stock. Not only is this a more affordable option, the scale as to how much better for you it is, is almost immeasurable.

Up until a couple of years ago I never would have thought twice about store bought chicken stock. I figure if the FDA says its good to go,then it must be. The problem with that is I have become a firm believer that just because something is "safe" that doesn't necessarily mean its good for you. Our normal brand of choice when it came to store bought chicken stock was a popular name brand instant bouillon cubes. You take a cube, throw it in a pot of boiling water and VOILA', chicken stock. Very easy, but you are paying for that ease, in more than one way.

Lets take a look at the back of the jar of cubes shall we? (Yes yes I know...I still have some in the house, sometimes I run out of homemade and have to suffer through a cube every now and then. I trust you loyal readers will forgive me =) ) First off the #1 ingredient listed is salt. Not a good start, each cube contains 33% of your daily intake for sodium. If we look further into the ingredients we start to see the things I consider to be the real problem. The words I don't recognize as food. Starting with Monosodium Glutamate(MSG), Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Silicon Dioxide, Tricalcium Phosphate, Alpha Tocopherol, BHA(its labeled as a preservative....must be too long to type out on the list), and to finish it off, Propyl Gallate.

I am afraid to google any of that. It may make me throw the jar out. What if I told you in about 5 hours, you could make your own chicken stock that included nothing else but chicken, celery, onion, carrots, pepper, and water? That's it! Not only does it taste better, it's better for you, and in the long run, cheaper to make as well. Considering most of the ingredients we are going to use are "scraps", that would have ended up in the trash or compost bin, there is almost no cost at all to make homemade chicken stock.

There is a little preparation that has to go in if you are going to make the "free" version. Every time you chop up some celery or onions there are always the leftover ends that go into the trash(or compost). Instead, save those. Put them in a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer. The ends of carrots as well. After roasting your next chicken when you have pulled all the meat off for supper and leftovers, take the whole set of bones, with what ever meat is left on them, and put that in a freezer bag as well. Once you have acquired all your ingredients its time to make your stock. If you wish to make this but havent had the prep time or enough ingredients its ok to use fresh. A whole chicken or even some legs or thighs bought from the store will work. No need to strip them. They will just go directly in the pot. Same with the veggies.


I like to make my chicken stock on Sunday afternoons. Those are usually our lazy, hang out, nothing going on days. You do need to devote some time to this. The work isn't hard but the stock has to simmer for hours so it does take up some time. The reward at the end makes it worth it though. Let's get started shall we?

Ingredients

1 Leftover whole chicken bones(or legs, wings, and thighs whatever you have)
2 About 3 or 4 stalks worth of celery
3 3 large carrots or a handful of baby carrots
4 Half a medium onion
5 5 Tbsp Black pepper(we like pepper - adjust to taste)


Method
Roughly chop all the celery, onion, and carrots into large pieces and place into stock pot. Take chicken(frozen or not) and place it in as well. Fill stock pot with water just until it covers all the ingredients. Then place on stove over medium high heat and bring to a boil. As the stock just begins to boil a foamy film will rise to the top. It has a grayish, dirty color to it. This is some of the impurities being boiled off spoon this foam out. Reduce heat and simmer the stock for 4-6 hours removing any impurities that float to the top. The longer it simmers the more flavorful the stock will be. Make sure to check it periodically and adjust the heat as necessary. You want simmering, just to the point where the bubbles are slow and just breaking the surface.

When the stock is complete it must be strained to remove all the solids. A fine wire mesh strainer will get the job done but something like cheese cloth is better. Strain the stock a few times.

Depending when you are planning to use it, you can place the stock in a container in the fridge for a few days or freeze it for several months. I usually freeze it in 1 cup or 2 cup sizes for the ease of pulling it out and putting right in a pot for a recipe. Bring frozen stock to a boil in a separate pot prior to using in your recipe. Here is 16 cups of fresh chicken stock ready for the freezer.

There you have it. Homemade chicken stock at almost no cost. With no chemical ingredients. Post a comment and let me know how it turns out.

Y'all keep it straight out there.