13 Lbs. boiled chicken!!

[caiatransplant]

Hi again, all. Made another huge pot of chicken stock and now have pretty close to 13 lbs. of boiled chicken. Anyone have suggestions as to what to do with it?

Thanx,
PAT

[ganeden]

Fry it up with lots of garlic and shallots and pepper. While it may not have much flavor, it has a gread deal of protein, and is extremely low in fat. By adding flavor via herbs and spices, the soup chicken can become a base for all sorts of things, including just a meal by itself. Grind it and it fills ravioli or kreplach. Ad chunks of fat and stuff a sausage casing, and add another level of flavor. Others say feed it to a dog, but frankly, there's too much good stuff in soup chicken to be dog food.

[c oliver]

I think there's plenty of info out there that says chicken that has been cooked and cooked has lost its protein also. Again, to each his/her own but when I spend time cooking something I want to use the best possible ingredients. And IMO chicken that's been cooked that long isn't the best.

[letsindulge]

Wow...that's extravagant using whole chickens for stock! I only do that if I'm going to use the meat in the same dish. Otherwise I save up backs, necks, carcasses, and wing tips for stock.

[mcf]

I do both.

[c oliver]

I can get feet, necks and backs at my Latino market super cheap and that's what I use. The only time I use a whole chicken, the stock was the secondary product. The chicken meat was what I was going for and, as I and others have mentioned, removing when it's done and returning the rest to the pot was effective. But if 'all' I'm making is stock, then, no, I will only use the other things.

[mcf]

Ina Garten's stock recipe calls for three whole chickens, and throwing them out when done. :-)

[c oliver]

Well, those Hamptons people march to a different drummer :)

[mcf]

Oh, yes, and in Great Style! Fortunately, if you drive past/through the Hamptons, you get to the down to earth beachiness of Montauk. :-)

[RealMenJulienne]

Don't waste it. Shred it up cold and drizzle with a sauce of sesame oil, soy sauce, chopped scallions and minced garlic. It's good over plain steamed rice.

[c oliver]

Since we don't know how long OP cooked her stock, we don't know in what condition the chicken is. If it's like mine, that meat has no taste left. Might as well just put the "a sauce of sesame oil, soy sauce, chopped scallions and minced garlic" over the rice. I'm also guessing that when it's cooked the way I do it, then there's no nutritional value to it either.

[RealMenJulienne]

Unless you whiz it up in a centrifuge, you really don't know the nutritional value, bland flavor notwithstanding. My hunch is that there's plenty of nutrients left in the meat, so better to rescue the flavor rather than waste it.

[c oliver]

After growing up in the South where foods were cooked to death, I was taught that the foods lost most everything when cooked forever. As for rescuing the flavor, my chicken after eight or ten hours of cooking has NO flavor and a dry, nothingness texture. YMMV.

[Lillipop]

The texture of a piece of stringy tasteless flesh:(

[c oliver]

It's just different for me. People talk aboutnot wanting to "waste" the chicken. But the chicken has insansely flavored the the stock. And the end result is 'meat' that has no texture and no flavor (IMO of course). But for some reason, the fact that something still exists, some people think that they should make another meal from it. I don't get it but I know that attitude exists. ???

[c oliver]

I guess also that I don't consider it 'wasted.' It gave its all. Let me give an example. A couple of times a year, I make a couple of gallons for broth for pho bo. I use cow's feet, onions, ginger, star anise, cloves, cinnamon sticks. When the broth is done -about three hours - I strain it and throw out what made it into the broth. I didn't waste it. I used it all up. To me, the chicken in stock is the same thing. It may have mass, but IMO, it has little else.

[Kemal]

Blend with some mayo/olive oil and spices you like to make some kind of paste/ pate ?

[treb]

Complete the stock, by adding veggies, shreaded chicken, herbs etc, into a chicken soup and freeze. Also, make some comforting chicken pot pies and chicken salad.

[ipsedixit]

I wonder if you can mix it into scrapple.

[LP808]

"eggs Benedict" subbing the chicken for the ham

Quesadillas

Chicken and waffles (PA Dutch style - mixing it with gravy)

Chicken chilaquiles

[Robin Joy]

Classic chicken stock calls for raw carcasses, giving a high proportion of bone to flesh. A good compromise is to simmer whole chicken(s) or parts gently for an hour, along with the usual other ingredients, take the chicken out, remove the flesh and return the bones to the pot for another three hours or so. The chicken meat will be fine for sandwiches or salad etc.

[c oliver]

I was curious about the term "classic" so checked MTAOFC. She used giblets and stock or canned beef bouillon or chicken broth. So I guess there's no one "classic."

[Robin Joy]

Love Martha, c o, but I think I'll stick with the French on this one. The Roux brothers for instance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABP9qy...

Not natural presenters perhaps, but they've held 3 Michelin stars here in the UK continuously since 1985. No canned anything involved.

Chicken features about 4 minutes in. I must get a pressure cooker!

[c oliver]

Er, I was referring to Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

[Robin Joy]

Sorry. Stupid Brit!

Love Julia, c o, but I think I'll stick with the French on this one. The Roux brothers for instance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABP9qy...

Not natural presenters perhaps, but they've held 3 Michelin stars here in the UK continuously since 1985. No canned anything involved.

Chicken features about 4 minutes in. I must get a pressure cooker!

[c oliver]

I figure since her co-authors were French and half-French that that counts for something :) But, honestly, my point is that it's something that's open to interpretation. I wouldn't use chicken giblets OR carrots and celery but to each his/her own.

[Robin Joy]

You are of course quite right about the interpretation. I don't suppose any dish really has a definitive recipe.

I totally agree with you about the giblets. However, if you ever find yourself in London let me know, and I'll take you to lunch at Le Gavroche (Roux brothers' joint). You might change your mind about the carrots and celery.

Enough from me.

[c oliver]

It's a date :)

[ipsedixit]

Pot pie

[Cherylptw]

I don't see where it's posted how long the chicken was cooked....OP, it would help to know if it cooked all day or just an hour. If it only cooked an hour or so, it still has plenty of flavor and can be used in all types of dishes

[c oliver]

Good point. Question: if it only cooked for an hour, is it stock or broth? But perhaps that's a different thread.

[hannaone]

Depends on the method used.

Making stock for Korean soups we boil the chicken about an hour or so, remove the chicken and strip the meat off, then return the skin, bones and wing tips to the pot and continue cooking.

[c oliver]

Agreed. As I mentioned upthread, one time I did a whole chicken til it got to 160, removed the meat and returned to the SC for hours and hours.

[sandylc]

Yes, this. About an hour with the meat, then remove the meat and throw the rest back in for the long haul.

[Lillipop]

That is how I was taught to make chicken stock too. That was the way my late mother taught us to do it. Use the chicken meat for a pot pie.....chicken ala king or whatev's.

[Cherylptw]

IMO, stock gets cooked for at least 3 hours, anything less is broth....Ina Garten cooks hers for four hours and adds mirepoix and other seasonings... When making the stock, I, as well, will simmer the meat for an hour, hour & a half then remove meat from bones and return the scraps to the pot and boil the H out of it for stock.

Cool, refrigerate, remove fat and it's good to go...

[C. Hamster]

If its made with bones, it's stock. No matter how long it's cooked for.

[c oliver]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-an...

[Cherylptw]

To you, it's stock, to me it's broth

[c oliver]

I guess OP hasn't seen this yet. It was pretty easy to know that this was no long meal worthy. Just tasted a bite and nope, no chicken flavor or texture. Dogs are in canine heaven for a while!

[Querencia]

I find that chicken cooked long enough to make stock is pretty played out already. But if you do have to use it and have that much of it, Mr Freezer Is Your Friend. Unless you've got twelve children or a pack of hounds, you can't use 13 pounds all at once.

[Tara57]

chicken and dumplings

[hotoynoodle]

blech. it's given up its ghost. give it to the dog. why slop it over with mayo or salsa if it's lifeless?

btw, i no longer use meaty bits for stock or broth. i use backs, heads and feet for chicken broth. they cook down to almost nothing, lots of excellent minerals from the bones and nice texture from the collageny-y bits.

[c oliver]

As seems to be the case these days, I'm with you. And as I wrote above, I use no seasoning or vegetables. That way I can go in any taste direction I choose. Oh, and did I mention dirt cheap?!?!?

[ButterYum]

No seasoning or veggies? I can't imagine. Doesn't sound appetizing at all.

I make chicken stock often, using carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay, parsley, S&P, and anything else I have on hand. It is very versatile and can be used "to go in any taste direction".

[c oliver]

I don't think I'd like an Asian dish with all flavors. Or Mexican. Or risotto where I want the arborio and other ingredients to shine. I learned this from Sam and it's held me in good stead for a few years now. YMMV.

[sandylc]

Salt is never used in stock making. Garlic is REALLY iffy.

[kengk]

I guess I should go throw those tubs of chicken stock in my freezer away then. Or is there another good word I can use for my stock that was cooked with a little salt. Chicken Soup Base?

[mcf]

I have to agree; that much seasoning ahead of time limits the recipes you can use it in. I think it's so much wiser to make a very rich, salt and herb free stock so it can be used in many ways without altering the seasoning of the dish itself. I make mine with veggies, though.

[Lillipop]

Really? Why is salt prohibited and garlic iffy?

[sandylc]

Because you want to be able to reduce the stock without making it too salty. Because you want a versitile stock that can be used in any dish, including those that garlic isn't appropriate for.

[c oliver]

Thanks for stating my minimalist philosophy better than I could.

[Lillipop]

Really? Many stock recipes call for the addition of a minimum of salt and whole garlic cloves.But I have never done 13 pounds of whole chickens to produce chicken stock that is frozen for later use.

[sandylc]

Classic chicken stock does not have garlic or salt. Plenty of people these days are adding them, to be sure. If it works with what you're using the stock for, go for it.

[Ruthie789]

Can make a large chicken pot pie or two. Freeze for later use.

[pine time]

Yes, portion in maybe 2 cup containers, freeze, and use for many a recipes. Since the flavor may have suffered, use highly spiced dishes.

[Ruthie789]

poultry seasoning might be good to use

[ButterYum]

chicken chili

[c oliver]

Feed it to the dog! After all those hours, I find it has no taste or texture.

[bagelman01]

I make a big pot of chicken soup every week (using 9 lbs of chicken) and yes the mahority of he chicken is used to feed our three odgs, BUT if your soup chicken ha no taste, you are #1 cooking your soup way to long, ad #2 not using enough chicken in the soup.

I start with cold water and using mediu heat bring t a boil (about 1 hour), then reduce to a simmer for a second hour.

I then remove all the chicken and vegetables and strain the soup. The meat has plenty of taste.

Besides the dogs, chicken salad and some cut up in the soup, my wife and kids love when I make chicken croquettes with the soup chicken

[c oliver]

OP and I are talking about stock not soup. My stock can easily go 8, 10 or more hours. At that point, the chicken has 'given its all.'

[nomnomnoms]

If you're making stock, you're boiling it with onions... Not exactly dog safe!

[c oliver]

Nope. No onions or anything else as you'll see down thread.

[LizGW]

Chicken salad?

[juliejulez]

Enchiladas
Use in pasta bakes or added to pasta dishes
"pull" it and mix with bbq sauce or buffalo sauce for sandwiches
Use in curries
Use in wraps
Chicken salads