Chicken Stock

Ta da!

So, I've been freezing chicken bones for a few months now with the thought of taking on my first batch of chicken stock.  I've seen my mom make stock probably 50 times in my life, so I wasn't too intimidated.  I called her to make sure I knew exactly how she did it, and double-checked with a recipe from The Joy of Cooking before I got started. 

Here are the ingredients I used:

Several chicken carcasses (I used about 5 or 6)
   *From what I've read, you should try not to mix raw and cooked bones.*
2 carrots, cut into large pieces
2 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
2 small turnips, cut into large pieces
1 large white onion with skin, coarsley chopped
10 black peppercorns
small handful fresh thyme 
several bay leaves


Place chicken bones in large stock pot (it's okay if they're still frozen).  Fill with just enough cold water to cover the bones. Slowly bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients.

Immediately after adding the veggies and spices

Simmer for several hours, periodically skimming fat and scum off the top. I let mine cook for 3 hours - until it tasted nice and flavorful. 

  Three hours later...

Carefully remove stock from heat and strain.  I removed the big pieces first, to make this process easier.  I don't have a chinoise, so I placed a pasta strainer on top of a fine mesh sieve and it worked just fine. 

Brandon, the lovely assistant, strains the hot stock

 Let the stock cool down a bit with the lid off the container, then cover and let chill completely in the refrigerator.  Skim off any fat that accumulates on top.  

The final product, cooling down

Once cooled, either use within a week, or freeze in individual containers, like I did.