benefits of making chicken stock at home?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

Sure, and you can make wine with grape concentrate. [beatoff.gif]

22

LOL. NO. I had other things distracting me too. My comment was made in reference to me saying that there would be 15 different answers about the difference in stock/broth.

It took you 31 minutes to type those 2 sentences?

That is funny though.









It seems once again Woddy, that you spend a lot of time and effort jerking-off. I guess for you that’s a good enough hobby.

23

Damn, seems I was too slow to respond to Frankie’s latest insult. He’s deleted it.

24

It’s still there. I just condensed my post.

25

Whole Foods. Chicken backs are a buck each. Typically 2 per package. Try it. 2 of the backs and typical aromatics. About 1 gallon of water. I use my pressure cooker and reduce until I like the base flavor. No salt and no acid until the finished product.

If no pressure cooker slow and low and skim the scum.

For aromatics; onion with skins, celery,carrot, pepper corns, bay leaf, thyme and parsley.

26

Yes, Frances, and I’ll tell you publicly what I already told you privately. My close friends from high school and my ex-wife call me Woody. You are neither and if all it takes to get you to stoop is a commentary on homemade stock v. broth with gelatin, then I worry about you.

27

Chris, what do you do to portion before freezing?

28

Bob and Francis…done. Take it elsewhere.

29

A few things. Ice cube trays. And Henja gave me some of his Nalgene containers. Think Tupperware on steroids.

30

I
Make stock all the time…all you need is left ovr bone or meat…adjust your liquid for the content.use fresh od roasted new…but left overs work the best…be sure you break the bones

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31

Not Chris, but I freeze stock in 3 cup portions.

32

I will at times start with box stock and add left over bones to get texture… Then make the stock. Better thAn starting with water…

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33

I package stock in 2 cup portions in ziploc sandwich bags and freeze them flat on trays (with a bit of newspaper or paper towel between the bags so they don’t stick together. This way I can slice off a hunk if I need less than the whole 2C. They store well if you are careful when freezing them.

34

Charlie, for routine tasks I will use canned chicken broth.

BUT it’s fairly frequent that I am making soup for a crowd where the texture and flavor are a significant part of the impression that the soup makes. A few years ago I made a version of cock-a-leeky soup for a Robert Burns birthday party and I wanted a really unctuous broth. So I followed a Thomas Keller recipe which called for a pound of chicken feet, among other ingredients. Everyone commented on the rich mouth-feel of that broth.

So when it’s important, do buy a chicken just to dismember it and boil it.

When I needed a rich broth for risotto or Italian soups I would often buy a couple of packages of turkey wings. You get good flavor and bones for the gelatin that way.

I won’t assume that you are that deep into the Chinese tradition of cooking but today in Chinese kitchens they do something that used to be done in European castle kitchens, enriching the broth – you boil a chicken until you get broth, and then boil a second chicken in the broth from the first chicken, and so on until you get something wonderfully rich. I don’t think that’s done even in the fanciest restaurants of America or Europe today but it’s done in Asia.

35

For those of you that use swansons, try the knorr cubes

36

We use grilled chicken to make our stock, adds all the carmelization and maillard reaction flavors too. Get about a quart of broth per carcass and freeze it. Can make 2X or 3X by reusing it for the next carcass off the bbq…

37

I make stock using a whole raw chicken. I will remove the breast meat, first however, and use that for other dishes.
Rinse, rinse, rinse. Then cover with cold water. Bring to a light and slow simmer, skimming frequently. Add onion, leeks, peppercorns, carrots and celery. Low and slow; do not let the stock come to a rolling boil as it will increase the chance of impurities.
Using a raw chicken, or better yet, thighs, wings, backs and necks, rather than a roasted or cooked chicken, makes for a cleaner, lighter stock.
I use cold water, rinse, and skim. Skimming the coagulated blood is critical.
Daniel Humm in his EMP cookbook starts with backs and necks and uses ice cubes to start the stock.
I think Thomas Keller’s recipe for stock also uses raw chicken to start.

I have not tried the “breaking of the bones” technique.
I will only use the carcass of a roasted bird for soup as I find the flavor can be a bit strong and can overpower a dish when a lighter, cleaner chicken stock will better fit.

And as for the original question, yes, the homemade stock tastes much better that any store bought version. If you use thigh meat or a whole chicken, you can use the meat for chicken salad.

38

Pressure-Cooked Chicken Stock
Published: March 8, 2011

Adapted from “Modernist Cuisine”


Book Review: Cook From It? First, Try Lifting It (March 9, 2011)
Time: About 2 hours

1 1/2 pounds chicken wings, chopped
1tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup peeled, thinly sliced onions (1 small onion)
1/2 cup peeled, thinly sliced carrots (1 small carrot)
1/2 cup trimmed, thinly sliced leeks (1 small leek)
2teaspoons thinly sliced garlic (1 large clove)
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, ground
2teaspoons parsley leaves and stems (about 1 sprig)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns.

  1. Put chopped wings in a pot and cover with about 4 cups cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn off heat and drain chicken.

  2. Pour oil into a pressure cooker over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, leeks and garlic, and sauté until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add blanched wings, ground chicken, parsley and peppercorns; cover with about 4 cups of cold water and seal pressure cooker. Set pressure gauge at 1 bar or 15 pounds per square inch, turn heat to high and when steam starts to escape, turn to low and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool before removing lid. Strain through a fine sieve, discarding solids. Refrigerate and skim off any fat.

Yield: Almost 4 cups.

Note: For a brown stock, roast chopped wings and ground thigh meat for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees before pressure cooking.

this makes a really good stock but if you are after a clear stock don’t use this…

39

It is so easy and cheap to roast chicken there is no reason to not do it.

The other advantage to making your own stock beside flavor and concentration control, is the ability to change aromatic/spice components for different types of fare. You can’t make a dashi or Pho with a standard french mirepoix.

40

Hmmmm…
You’re the chef, but that’s a new definition to me.

My definition - one shared by many - is that broth is made with meat (or mostly meat), while stock is made with bones (or mostly bones). Thus stock has a richer mouthfeel than broth due to gelatin from the bones - see Mel’s photo in post #17.

Collagen, the main component of connective tissue, converts to gelatin during cooking. Collagen is most abundant in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, and bone. That’s why chicken feet produce such a rich stock.

And Charlie - any real butcher should be able and willing to sell you chicken bones, though you’re not likely to see them on display. Just ask.