Chicken Stock for 1

[Rocky Road]

I am about to roast off a whole chicken using Thomas Keller's approach which always seems to come out very well for me. I happen to only be cooking for myself at this time, so the chicken will be used for a variety of meals during the upcoming week.

My question is--- can I use the carcass of this one chicken to make some chicken stock? I've actually never tried to make chicken stock so I don't know if the carcass from one bird is enough? How much water would you suggest? I don't need a lot of stock, but it would be nice to make enough for a few bowls of soup and to have some left over to cook with.

Also, if it can be made, how long with it last in the fridge?

Sorry, I tried to search using "chicken stock" and "chicken broth" but nothing seemed to address what I want to know. There's lots of Google hit, but all seem to be making very large vats of stock and I'm not sure I can do that with one carcass (plus that is just too much for me anyway).

Any help is appreciated.

[Sinicle]

I do it all the time. I do break up the bones and cover with the smallest amount of water possible. Cover and simmer for many (5-6) hours. Rarely have to add water. I cook salt-free for my wife so this is not an issue. Yes, it is cloudy, but very tasty. I usually do not use it for soup, but rather for gravies, rice,etc. It feezes very well.

I should add this is for a carcass after most of the meant has been removed for the meal.

[Rocky Road]

All, I reduced it for about a half hour, tasting every five minutes are so. I nailed it. When I felt the taste was were I wanted I took it off the heat. I did add a little salt during the reduction, just a pinch or so, and that really rounded it out nicely I think.

What a fun Sunday this was! It looks like I made about 3 or 4 large canning jars worth (I haven't transferred it yet so I'm guessing there), which is going to be perfect for me to have a few bowls of soup and freeze the rest for other cooking apps.

Thanks to all for the advice.

[Discerning1]

Bravo!

[MAH]

I know I'm late to the party, but I make chicken stock with a leftover roast chicken carcass (1) all the time. Anytime we have a roast chicken or a store-bought rotisserie chicken, I save the carcass for stock. Into the slow cooker it goes with a large onion chopped roughly, a carrot, a couple of celery ribs and a few peppercorns. I simmer on the low setting for 8 hrs and it's perfect. Last week I decided to experiment and reupped for a second 8 hour cycle on low because it was actually slightly less than a whole carcass and I wanted to concentrate the flavor. The resulting 16-hr stock was to die for -- very rich brown, almost like veal stock. The flavor was awesome, and after straining the consistency and clarity were spot on. I think from now on I'll do 2 slow cooker cycles. Not quick, but it's no effort at all, and I freeze the liquid gold that results.

[darklyglimmer]

Interesting! I love making stock in the slow cooker. We almost never roast or buy whole chickens, so I use a whole chicken - just plop it in there, fill it up with water, and let it go for 8-10 hours. The meat -- contrary to what almost everybody in the world says -- is fine for casseroles or stews after that amount of time; maybe next time, after I pull the meat, I'll send the bird through another cycle.

[Rocky Road]

It's a little weak and flat at the moment. I threw some black peppercorns in there from the beginning but only a little salt, figuring I could salt as I go. I just add a little more salt.

Any ideas?

[Caitlin McGrath]

Don't add more salt yet. Once the stock has simmered and is strained, you can reduce it, which will help concentrate the flavor. (It will also concentrate the salt, which is why I recommend waiting before adding more.)

[JoanN]

I find it problematic to salt stock to early. In fact, I don't salt stock at all as I'm making it. I never know until I taste the stock how much I'm going to reduce it. And until I know how I'm going to use it, I don't know how much salt it's going to need. If it's flat, just keep boiling it down. You may end up with only a pint of stock. So be it. Consider it a lesson learned.

[Rocky Road]

Guys, thanks....that is what I had thought but wasnt sure. Strain and reduce. Got it. Will do.

[onceadaylily]

Do you have any veggies you can toss in (if you haven't already)? Celery, carrot, onions, garlic cloves, parsnips are my usual suspects, along with bay leaf and fresh parsley. A splash of soy sauce can add a nicer depth. Have you broken the bones? Cook it down, down, down, and if you have to add a little boullion, I won't tell.

And, honestly, if you are in the habit of working strictly with bones, then an 'improved' broth is not a bad way to go. Use canned broth instead of water, all of the skin, bones, and parts that you can lay your hands on, and all of the vegetables and herbs listed above, simmer for an hour, then strain, pressing the vegetables.

Good luck.

[Rocky Road]

Its been simmering for a few hours. I just strained and mashed the veggies and that added a lot of flavor. Its reducing now. This is fun. I think its going to be good.

[onceadaylily]

Your words reminded me of the first time *I* ever made stock. I didn't even have the internet, just four cookbooks, a good mood, a glass of wine, and Fats Domino singing about how he was going to be a wheel someday. I think that was the best stock I ever made. It is fun.

[rezpeni]

Always add a healthy pinch of salt when I start which will help extract the flavor from all the ingredients. I know some people say they dont salt when they make theirs cause they dont know how they will use it, but I can't conceive of any use for stock that would not require salt. Using unsalted stock with ingredients you have already salted along the way ie making a braise will pull salt away from those veggies, meats, etc. and throw your dish out of wack. Salting early and salting late does make a difference in taste.

[Discerning1]

I always keep a load of chicken wings in the freezer to supplement my stock, as well as necks and backs.

[Rocky Road]

I am going to start doing this too. I always buy whole chicken, but I only roast it whole on occasion. I will start a freeze bag of raw backs and the like.

[scubadoo97]

It's easy to build a large bag of chicken parts for stock. I like to spatchcock chickens for grilling or smoking and the backs, wing tips, neck, gizzard and heart all go in to a freezer bag along with any other trimmings. When I bone out thighs the bones and attached meat go in that bag as well as any trimmings from BSCB. A good ratio for stock is 1 lb of bird to 1-1.5 qt of water. If you have a pressure cooker you can have stock in 1 hour. Cool and bag for freezing. It won't take long to have plenty of stock stocked in your freezer.

[JoanN]

If you decide that stock is something you want to keep on hand, buying a whole chicken and cutting it into the parts you need is absolutely the way to go. I practically never buy chicken parts. Even if I only need breasts I'll buy a whole chicken, save the rest of the parts separately, and either they get used in an appropriate dish or get tossed into the pot at stock making/freezer cleaning time.

I, too, am more often than not cooking for one. Rather than roast a whole chicken, I sometimes prepare a spatchcoked chicken (a chicken with the back removed and flattened). So even if there's nothing else in the freezer, there is usually a chicken back or two. If making stock or broth is important to you, you will learn to have your cake and eat it, too.

[ipsedixit]

If you are planning on doing this long term, good chicken stock requires chicken feet. Absolutely essential.

Good luck and enjoy.

[tcamp]

Why?

I'm curious. I've been making chicken stock for 20 years and have never used chicken feet. What difference do they make?

I can easily buy them and am tempted but will need to explain their presence in the fridge to hungry teens.

[scubadoo97]

Feet provide a lot of collagen This gives a great mouth feel when the stock is used.

[tcamp]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[JoanN]

Contrary opinion here. The flavor of a stock comes from the meat; the gelatinous quality of the stock comes from bones and feet. The carcass of a cooked chicken has little flavor to offer to begin with. Keep that carcass whole, put it in a large pot, and cover it with water and the proportion of flavorful meat to water is going to make a very pale excuse for a stock.

I’d supplement that carcass with whatever cheap bits of chicken you can find such as backs, necks, or wings and I’d break up the carcass so all of the chicken could be covered with a lot less water.

[ipsedixit]

Well, Rocky Road said he was was using a "whole chicken" which I am assuming would include "whatever cheap bits of chicken you can find such as backs, necks, or wings".

I agree, however, that using just bones will result in a thin flavorless stock.

[LisaPA]

Gotta disagree with most of this. I make stock from the carcass of roast chicken all the time and it has plenty of flavor. If I want broth, then I add meat.

I would agree, however, that adding water to the top of the pot is just going to mean you need to cook it down more so that it doesn't taste like vaguely chickeny water. Break up the carcass and just cover with water so the bones are submerged.

[greygarious]

JoanN is spot on - using just a carcass is virtuous but it's a lot of work and power usage for a sub-par result. If you are determined to use just the carcass. break it up as much as possible and simmer covered in water (you'll need to add more as it cooks down), until the bones are bare and whitish-gray. Strain out the carcass and vegetables, then boil down the stock until you like the taste. You won't have much at the end - maybe around a quart gepending on the size of the bird and how bare the carcass was, going into the pot. Note that the color will be on the dull, grayish side compared to making it with raw chicken parts. You'd do better if you supplement the carcass with a pound or more of raw chicken wings or backs.

[Rocky Road]

LOL...I just put the chicken in the oven to roast and came back to these responses! So, keeping it raw is out for now. However, I will try to break the carcass up and use less water. That seems to the general overall consensus. Are you saying, I should throw a leg and maybe a wing in with the carcass? Everything will be cooked, I don't have any raw pieces in the freezer.

My main goal here was to finally "go all the way" with the chicken, using the picked upon carcass as much as possible so I feel like I squeezed all I could get out of it.

[Discerning1]

It will be good, no matter what. Good luck!

[greygarious]

It will help SOME if you put any cooked meat you are willing to spare into the stockpot, but still not as good as adding raw. If I roast a chicken I save the carcass, any skin that wasn't crisp enough to be delectable, and the wings, and later add raw chicken for stockmaking. When roasting I include the neck, gizzards, and heart in the bottom of the roasting pan, but I chop and sautee the liver for inclusion in the stuffing. If not stuffing, I freeze it for the next time livers are the entree. The cooked neck can then go into the stock pot but the cooked heart and gizzard are a matter of preference - I give them to the pets. The organs can make the stock a bit minerally. If you cook the bejeezus out of the bones, you will be able to crush them into paste with your fingers after you strain them out. If you have a dog or cat, that's a safe treat for them. Avoid giving them any cooked bones that aren't soft enough to crush. How's that for "going all the way"?

[Rocky Road]

:-) I threw some smaller pieces of one thigh meat and drumettes meat and bone in there with the carcass, plus I deboned the ribs from the breasts and threw those in there with some meat. I also put the neck in there but the other innards I discarded (I dont have pets) and I also thought they would make it minerally. Ok...so, I'm not going "all the way" just yet, but I think I'm getting better. I'll tell you what, the stock smells awesome. It's been simmering now for about 45 mins and the house smells great. I cant wait to try it.

[rezpeni]

Gotta say I disagree with the idea that you should break it up. If you do this especially breaking the bones and exposing the bone marrow to the water you are going to end up with a muddy cloudy stock in my opnion better to keep the carcas as whole as possible. One thing I recommend is investing in a pressure cooker. This will cut down on the stock making time to only 1 hour which is a godsend. After one hour the bones will be so britle you can break them easily in your hands, but dont do this of course until you have carefully ladeled out all the stock!

[greygarious]

If you disarticulate the carcass you expose cartilege (good) but are not exposing marrow. I don't know anyone who hacks through leg and thigh bones when breaking up a chicken carcass for stock. You just break the rib cage and back - not a lot of marrow in those thin bones.

[rezpeni]

I don't know about that one, in the back especially once you break that into peices in the spine there is certainly a fair amount of stuff in there. To me when you start breaking it up you are just inviting little bits of blood and skin and funk to get into the stock. Keeping the bird whole as possible and using the pressure cooker which is my prefered method these days the bird completely gives up the ghost there is nothing left to extract. I know everyone has their own tricks and methods.

[ipsedixit]

Taking each of your questions one at a time.

"can I use the carcass of this one chicken to make some chicken stock?" Yes.

"I've actually never tried to make chicken stock so I don't know if the carcass from one bird is enough?" One bird is enough.

"How much water would you suggest?" This will vary and is really not that critical. My stock answer (no pun intended) is to use your largest stock pot and put in your carcass and fill up to the top, leaving about 1/4 inch of room. If you want to be precise and anal about it, anywhere between 4 to 5 quarts of water for one bird seems about right (but this will vary, again, depending on the size of your bird.) Don't sweat this detail.

"Also, if it can be made, how long with it last in the fridge?" In the fridge, at least 4 days, max maybe up to a week. if you need for it to last longer, freeze it. If you're adverse to freezing, you can bring the stock to a boil every 3 or 4 days and then cool and refridge, but you can only do this a couple of times before you start altering the consistency and body of your stock.

Good luck.

[Rocky Road]

Wow! That's excellent! Thanks for the answers, I'm excited to try it.