279747 Tue Sep 13 12:47:57 -0700 2005 12 31 Home Cooking 0 1484186 This weekend we picked up a 4lb whole chicken from Majestic Poultry in East L.A. This is a chicken shop where they do everything on site. Basically, in the morning, my chicken was clucking, so it’s super fresh and really cheap (The bird came out to a bit over $5.00!). However, much to the shagrin of my BF, when they say whole, they mean WHOLE WHOLE… As the bird still had it’s head and feet attached (The head I showed to him when we bought it, but he did jump when he pulled out the legs from the cavity at home… LOL!) . Nevertheless, he was a good sport and cut up the bird to make Alton’s Pan Fried Chicken (Which was SO yummy!!) But that wasn’t the end of our lovely bird! After all was said and done, I happily packed up the wings, the neck, the carcass and of course the feet with a plan to make Chicken Stock for which to make Matzoh ball soup! YUM!!! The problem is… I’ve never made Chicken Stock… (Sad I know…) And all the recipes I’ve seen call for using one whole chicken, not chicken scraps and parts like what I have. So, any ideas or hints on how to make the most of what I have would be extremely helpful. Should I supplement with Rib on Chicken Breasts? What combo of spices/veggies would you use? Any preparation or cooking methods I should be aware of! Thanks so much! I can’t wait for my first REAL chicken soup! :) --Dommy! Tue Sep 13 12:47:57 -0700 2005 0 Dommy! 1 1484190 You can make chicken stock with chicken bits too. I never use a whole chicken. The whole point is to recycle parts and save some money! You can parboil the chicken to skimm off the scum, or skip that step and just strain after your stock is done. Cover you chicken parts with cold water. Add in one medium size onion, cut in large chunks. Add in one carrot, cut large too, and a few ribs of celery. Bring the chicken to boil then turn down and simmer to for at least 30 minutes if not longer (I don't know how much chicken you have). You want to see the stock to have color and more 'opaque' than when you started with water. Strain out the bones and all the bits of veggies. Put in the fridge overnight to and skimm off the fat the next day. Tue Sep 13 12:55:39 -0700 2005 1484186 0 Wendy Lai 2 1484203 I always use bits and pieces of chicken to make stock. If I'm being extrav., I use a couple of whole legs (dark meat having more flavor). Whenever I make chicken wings for dinner (often), I save the wing tips and freeze to add to stock. I also ALWAYS try to get some chicken feet. You can buy them in Asian markets and some butchers have them, too - if they prep the chix themselves. Besides onion, garlic, carrot, celery, I also add parsley (flat leaf) and a bay leaf or 2 and a couple of pinches of thyme. I also throw a couple of tablespoons of peppercorns in. When I strain the stock, I always squeeze the chicken parts and veggies and press down so that any juice comes out - probably doesn't really do anything, but it makes me feel better. If you only have a small amount of chicken parts, you can also add a Knorr chicken bouillon cube to the stock. It's cheating, but it's pretty good, espec. in a pinch. Tue Sep 13 13:23:38 -0700 2005 1484190 0 oakjoan 2 1484259 When chicken breasts or thighs are on sale, I buy tons of them and de-bone them myself. Then I save the bones and skin for stock. If there isn't quite enough, I just freeze them in a bag until I have plenty. Incidentally, I always include chicken skin - it has lots of flavour and adds richness. You're skimming the fat off afterward anyway, so anyone paranoid about fat can relax. Tue Sep 13 20:13:12 -0700 2005 1484190 0 Nyleve 3 1484266 Forgot to mention - you want *some* fat on your broth if you're going to keep it for a while, as it helps to seal the air out. Also, if you're not counting calories too hard, it's nice to have that rendered fat if you're making a roux for gravy - adds quite a bit to the chickeny-ness. Tue Sep 13 21:17:30 -0700 2005 1484259 0 Will Owen 1 1484208 I tie the chicken carcass up with cheescloth first. When the stock is done, I take out the cheescloth, and get out all of the bits and pieces of chicken meat- easy to keep bones, skin and whatever out of the stock. Then I put the stock in the fridge, let cool, and skim the fat. Tue Sep 13 13:35:38 -0700 2005 1484186 0 macca 1 1484224 I agree with much of the sentiment and advice already posted, but I would add or revised as follows: - The scraps of chicken and the bones extract the best flavor and texture in the stock. Include the feet, the back, wing tips, necks, the head and any fat removed when cutting up the chicken. Unless you plan to eat it, adding legs and thighs are not as important as adding the bones. Breast meat will contribute negligibly to the stock. - Let the chicken parts simmer on very low in the pot for an hour or so, skimming the scum, before adding any vegetables or herbs. Then add celery, onion, carrots, turnip or parsnip, peppercorns, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of thyme and some sprigs of parsely (use the leftover stems) a bay leaf and 2 whole cloves. I think allowing the vegetables and herbs to cook too long will start to create some bitterness from the herbs and lose the fragrance from the vegetables. (I think this is key, and if you only follow one of my suggestions, let this be the one.) - Add a small to medium fresh tomato (I use a roma tomato). I think this helps to keep the broth clear (or so I've been told). Maybe the acid in the tomato helps, too. -If you plan to eat some boiled chicken, or have it for a soup, I would add the meat (legs, thighs, breast, bones still attached) with the vegetables. - Do not allow the broth to boil rigorously. After bring to boil, lower so that there is one bubble every 10 seconds or so. - The total cook time should be 2-2.5 hours. Allow the stock to cool a little, but not completely, before removing the large parts out of the pot and straining the remainder. - Let the stock settle some so that you can remove the fat from top and drain off the good stuff and leave the murky stuff behind. You can also use a cheeseclothe, but you should strain while the stock is still warm (if it is cold, the collagen that provides the body and flavor to the stock may be trapped in the clothe. Tue Sep 13 15:30:52 -0700 2005 1484186 0 DCarbonaro 1 1484235 I typically save both what I didn't cook and what I can salvage from the rest and freeze it, then make a batch of stock when I have a pot full. I know this is SOOOO middle-American, but I most often use the crockpot, since I'm usually doing several other things during the process and I'm a truly lousy multi-tasker. I can also do a batch overnight and strain it off in the morning. (My wife calls this my "shrine" to Our Lady Of the Perpetual Broth.) For straining, I have a lot of polo shirt backs and fronts - I'm partial to white cotton mesh shirts, which when ripped and stained beyond wearing in public (or, ahem, outgrown) provide the perfect fabric for straining broth. I take a clean cloth, rinse it in cold water and wring it out, then fold it into two layers in a wire strainer. The cool dampness intercepts a lot of the fat. As for straining out collagen, I've never noticed that; my broth always jells very well. Hot tips: barbecue or jerk chicken makes broth with some interesting flavors that can put a nice spin on soups and sauces. I made some jerk seasoning one time with a LOT of allspice and some home-grown Scotch bonnet peppers, and used the broth from those jerk chicken bones to make a cream of spinach soup that my wife still goes on about. I've also heard that the secret to a good Chinese-style chicken broth is a chunk of pork skin added to the pot. It does help... Tue Sep 13 16:56:14 -0700 2005 1484186 0 Will Owen 1 1484249 A while back I asked the same question because I realized I was spending a fortune on organic chix broth for soups and not using my leftover organic carcasses so DUH! Now my freezer always has at least a quart of broth I made at home. I'd also never made it before. I got much advice and realized, this is not rocket science! I plop what chicken parts I have in my dutch oven, add a carrot or two, an onion, some garlic cloves, some celery, rosemary, thyme - really whatever I have at the time - cover the entire thing with water and bring to a simmer, then put it on lowest of the low and leave it alone. Oh, and I add a tsp of vinegar per pound of bird - someone gave me the tip that this helps extract calcium from the bones and makes a healthier broth. I can now sort of 'smell' when it's done but more than that - I taste it and if it's not flavorful enough, keep cooking. There have been several times when the broth didn't taste rich enough for me so I put it in the fridge overnight and started re-cooking the next day. I have cooked for as long 4 or 5 hours to wonderful success. The first time I made this, I used 1 large turkey carcass - little meat. The broth was fine but the next time I used two small chicken carcasses with no breast meat but all of the meat on the legs and wings still attached. This broth was so much more rich and wonderful. Now if I have one carcass, I freeze it in a plastic bag and wait for the next one, then I make the broth so there is more meat attached. Good luck! Super easy and you won't ever go back to the canned or boxed stuff! Tue Sep 13 18:42:31 -0700 2005 1484186 0 krissywats 1 1484255 I add parsley, turnips, leeks,parsnips, an onion, carrots, and dill, which gives the stock a special flavor. You can strain the broth or serve the veggies, diced. Tue Sep 13 19:43:24 -0700 2005 1484186 0 Eileen 1 1484276 Hi Dommy, I'll add that some markets will sell chicken backs for really cheap, and they add alot of flavor and gelatinous richness to your stock. Talk to your local market and see if they'll save a big bag of them for you. I'm not a big fan of using breast meat for stock especially since it's relatively expensive. It doesn't add as much flavor as the darker meat, skin or bones IMO. I make my stock in a goodly sized pot and get a yield of about 18 quarts or so. After straining through a fine mesh chinois, I'll boil this down to almost half the volume so it doesn't take up as much room in my freezer. I freeze them in paper quart containers like you'd use for ice cream (So Cal source: Smart & Final) which stack nicely in my freezer. Tue Sep 13 22:42:28 -0700 2005 1484186 0 Professor Salt 2 1484445 I freeze the condensed broth in ice cube trays, then store in plastic bags. Handy when you need a smaller amount. Thu Sep 15 06:22:47 -0700 2005 1484276 0 Sharuf 1 1484491 No one mentioned - after you chill the strained broth and are taking the fat off, the layer under the fat is gelatin and you want that for the flavor. Thu Sep 15 12:37:15 -0700 2005 1484186 0 yayadave