when i first made homemade chicken stock i could not believe how easy it was. although the process is long, the actual ‘work’ time is short, it makes your home smell incredible for the entire day, and the health benefits are great.
ingredients:
- 3 lbs of chicken parts, roughly the bones/carcass of (2) 3-4lb chickens
- gizzards and livers (optional)
- 2-4 chicken feet (optional)
- 1 onion, quartered with skin and roots
- 3-4 carrots, unpeeled with tops
- 1 garlic bulb, cut in half through the center of the cloves
- ½ of a bunch of celery, leaves and butt included
- fresh herbs, several stems of each such as thyme, rosemary, sage
- 1 tbsp of black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- fresh parsley, several whole stems with leaves
place all the ingredients, except the parsley, in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. this allows the vinegar to start extracting calcium and brings the water to room temperature. it is thought that gradual heating brings out flavor.
bring it to a boil.
skim off any scum that rises to the top. reduce to a simmer and cover for 6-8 hours. add the parsley about 10 minutes before you take it off the heat. strain the broth through a mesh colander. press down on the veggies, meat, bones, etc to extract any remaining juices. let it cool before letting it chill in the fridge overnight.
skim any fat that has come to the surface.
pour into different sized containers and freeze. this is helpful in the future when recipes require different amounts of stock.
the benefits:
i have based my recipe off “broth is beautiful” by sally fallon, which is a very informative article that tells of the many benefits of making your own stock. among them it says homemade stock has minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur in a form that can be easily absorbed by the body. it also contains chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine which are known to help arthritis and joint pain, as well as, gelatin that has been shown to treat many different kinds of ailments including diabetes, cancer, and at the very least aids in digestion. back in the day when meat was a luxury item, or even scarce, every part of the animal was used in some way or other. fur and feathers were used for warmth, the meat for nourishment, and the bones were made into stock, but…
“when homemade stocks were pushed out by cheap substitutes, an important source of minerals disappeared…thickening effects of gelatin could be mimicked with emulsifiers but the health benefits were lost.”
i am not sure what the process is for the producers who make boxed and canned stock, but i wouldn’t be surprised if they took short cuts, and that the nutritional value of theirs not matching making your own.
Looks luscious. So great to sip on when you have a cold. One variation is to brown some of the veggies first – onions, carrots, eg. , and maybe some of the chicken parts.
One concern – they say you’re not supposed to cover entirely, anything simmering. Provides happy home for serious bacteria to develop in warm, damp place with no air. I don’t know this, especially if you’ve boiled thoroughly first, but I always set the lid a little off, just to be safe.
Wonderful looking recipe.
LikeLike
interesting. i have never heard that about covering a simmering pot. i wouldn’t think bacteria could live in a simmering/boiling environment? but it is worthy of researching for sure. i have heard that once it is off heat to let it cool before putting in containers or storing in the fridge. i did add this note to my process above since i do it naturally, but didn’t specify.
as far as the browning of chicken and veggies first, i will give that a try next time. i have only heard to do it with red meats in order to cause the ‘maillard reaction’ which creates flavor and color. i am not sure why it is specified to do with only red meats other than what i found on wikipedia that says : “the browning reactions that occur when meat is roasted or seared are complicated, and occur mostly by maillard browning[2] with contributions from other chemical reactions, including the breakdown of the tetrapyrrole rings of the muscle protein myoglobin,” and “myoglobin forms pigments responsible for making meat red.” perhaps this reaction just doesn’t happen with white meats such as chicken? though, i can’t see why it would hurt?
LikeLike
About the simmering. I haven’t researched this personally, but two foodies, Lynn Rosetto Kasper and Andrew Zimmern, are adamant about not simmering covered.
Re browning, I have no idea what chemical processes are involved but browning seems to bring out the flavor of everything. You do wind up with those little black specks floating around, though, if you have blackened areas on the veggies/meat….
I love your blog!
LikeLike
Sounds wonderful. Makes me wish for a freezer with room for broth. Very interesting dialog too about simmering and browning.
LikeLike
[…] 1 cup chicken stock […]
LikeLike
I too took Sally Fallon’s bone broth advice. I love my bone broths–nutritious and delicious! Yours looks fantastic.
LikeLike
[…] cups chicken stock (can be made with vegetable […]
LikeLike