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Easy chicken stock © David Loftus

easy chicken stock

dressings / sauces | serves 2
Stock is usually one of those things that even chefs don't have time for at home, but here is a really easy recipe for a good chicken stock. I find that I tend to make this after we've had our Sunday roast − I just throw the carcass in a pan with any root veg and herbs I happen to have. However, you'll probably get a cleaner-tasting stock if you use raw carcasses.

Place the chicken carcasses, garlic, vegetables, herbs and peppercorns in a large, deep-bottomed pan. Add the cold water and bring to the boil, skim, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Continue to simmer gently for 3-4 hours, skimming as necessary, then pass the stock through a fine sieve. Allow to cool for about half an hour, then refrigerate. Once the stock is cold it should look clear and slightly amber in colour. I usually divide it into small plastic containers at this point and freeze it. It will keep in the fridge for about 4 days and in the freezer for 2-3 months.

Try this: If you still think you can't be bothered to make stock, then use some good chicken bouillon, or simply buy it premade.


• from Jamie's Kitchen

ingredients

• Makes 4 litres/7 pints
• 2kg (4 and 1/2 lb) raw chicken carcasses, preferably free-range or organic, legs or wings chopped
• 1/2 head of garlic, unpeeled and bashed
• 5 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 medium leeks, roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 5 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 5 whole black peppercorns
• 6 litres (10 and 1/2 pints) cold water

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user comments

25 comments
1. peter Egan Thu 29 Oct 2009 @ 21:41 Global warming... come on, i hope you don't have a car, use a furnace or air conditioner, wear anything made of rubber, watch television.... I could go on for days, 3.5 hours of simmering stock is well worth it, I make stock once a week, chicken and brown veal, and my gas bill was 12$ last month. Besides factories don't pollute right???
2. Debbie Mon 05 Oct 2009 @ 15:02 It DOES need 4 hours. 1 and a half hours isn't enough time for the flavour to develop. Remember, you don't have to stand over the pot for 4 hours. you can do other things.
3. kate Sun 27 Sep 2009 @ 01:13 use chicken on the bone (any cut) and use left over giblets. potatoes, carrot, celery, squash, corn on the cob. yum.
4. Helen Mon 20 Jul 2009 @ 10:52 It doesn't need 4 hours - 1 1/2 - 2 hours is enough. That's a lot of veg too - one onion, carrot, celery stick and bayleaf usually enough for a small-medium carcass. Definitely worth home made than shop bought though.
5. zoe Tue 07 Jul 2009 @ 18:09 if you don't have an entire carcus, you can save the bones from chicken thighs and legs and use these instead. They will keep in the freezer while you build up enough

making a stock produces a much richer tasting dish than any supermarket stock, means you don't waste meat. You also don't have to use the highest quality veg, so can get rid of slightly older veg... very cheap!
6. Lara Sat 30 May 2009 @ 06:43 To the person concerned about gas use equating to global warming in the making of chicken stock, a fair comment, however i pondered your remark but then realised that the home made way probably does emit less carbon if you compare it to the purchased alternative.
The energy used to make it in the factory, the packaging, the transport used to get the ingredience to the factory, then the transport used to get the product to the wholesaler, then to the supermarket? Alot of energy used in this process. Probably better to make it, if you're concerned about global warming.
7. Waitsway Wed 06 May 2009 @ 05:14 I make 6lts of chicken stock each week and use it for most of my cooking.
I buy 6 or 7 raw chicken carcasses ($2.00), simmer for 2-3 hrs with 1/2 cup vinegar & 1/2 tbls of salt. I don't like wasting any meat that is left on the bones, so I remove and freeze the meat for my chicken soup. I put stock in fridge, next day I remove fat.
Everyone that has tried my chicken soup always asks me for the recipe, so if any readers want to try it, follow my recipe :-
4 cups home made chicken stock,1 carrot shredded,1 onion diced, 1stalk celery finely chopped, 1 large potatoe finely cubed, left over chicken from stock or 300gms chicken mince and 1 pack of 2 minute noodles.
Bring stock to boil, add all veges, simmer for 10 - 12 minutes, add left over chicken or chicken mince and noodles.
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy.
8. Jeff Mon 27 Apr 2009 @ 04:07 ok seriously, chicken stock is very easy to make. and takes the same time as what was orginally posted, brown stock takes longer.

what you need is a stock pot, a chinoi or china cap, chicken bones,


6 oz onions chopped, 3oz celery,3oz carrots. this makes a standard mirepoix.

you may also want a sachet de piece
black peppers, thyme, and bay leaves.

ok fill the stock pot with the chicken bones, fill it 2 inches above the bones with cold water. bring to a simmer and then add the mirepoix and the sachet. let it simmer for 4 hours skimming every so often. strain the chicken stock through a chinoi into another pot. set the strained stock in a tub of ice water and stir tell its temperetur reaches 90 degrees then through in a fridge or freezer.

that is how all chefs make there chicken stocks.
9. cygneto Sat 04 Apr 2009 @ 18:58 Buying chicken stock ( or any other stock for that matter) is for those same folks that buy bottled water.
The carcass's and fond of roast chickens, ducks, turkeys and leftover bits are grist for the mill.
If one debones a bird the raw bones and such can be saved in the freezer until
one has enough for a good sized pot of stock. Don't toss the fat. save it.
Chicken fat isn't as good as duck or goose fat but it's good.
Either way you will end up with a stock that is way better than anything you can
buy in any form except maybe hiring someone to make it for you.
Perhaps Jamie will come to your house. :-)

10. Emma Sat 28 Feb 2009 @ 15:50 Oh come on people! Buy a slow cooker and chuck it in there overnight - easy! Takes too long! For goodness' sake! You can do other stuff while it cooks; you don;t have to watch it. home-made soup from home-made stock is the best thing EVER. Just do it!
11. alan Thu 05 Feb 2009 @ 11:45 To answer questions to some of you out there, there is not ment to be any meat on the carcass from the start, however if there is that's not a problem , the stock will still taste great, although the leftover meat may not, perhaps giving it to a cat or dog (no bones) is the best way . bones in the bin . a cooked leftover carcass from last nights dinner will make great stock too. suggest using several carcasses stoged in the freezer untill you're ready to make a big pot .(also good to save on global warming as mentioned by someone before)
12. Linda Sat 24 Jan 2009 @ 16:27 6 liters of water seem a lot. Is this correct?
13. Laurie Mon 05 Jan 2009 @ 21:20 If you use a raw chicken, what do you do with the chicken once it's been used for stock? Can you just eat it? Obviously, I'd check to make sure it's cooked thoroughly, but I was wondering if it would taste good. I never made stock before, but I'd like to try it and have the least amount of waste as possible.
14. Megawati Mon 05 Jan 2009 @ 08:51 Can I ask what do you do with the chicken meat (from the legs or wings) if we only use the stock? Any idea becauase I don't like to waste the chicken meat. Thanks my friends
15. Casey Tue 23 Dec 2008 @ 21:32 I have just made this stock with my leftover chicken from Jamie's Perfect Roast Chicken recipe.

I have never made stock before but I wanted to use up the left over chicken - found this recipe, and it was really easy! Just chopped up the veg, put it all into the pan with the chicken and left it to cook.

It taste's great - I will be freezing it to use in recipes in the future. Feeling very pleased with myself so thanks Jamie!

16. fiona Mon 08 Dec 2008 @ 16:51 what is skimming?
17. Laraine Anne Barker Tue 16 Sep 2008 @ 19:25 Simmer for 3-4 hours! Kiumars is right. It uses up too much gas/electricity. Hasn't Jamie ever heard of pressure cookers? Nothing cooks stock like a pressure cooker. I like my stock to set like a jelly. If it doesn't, as far as I'm concerned there's still too much goodness left in the bones. Once the stock is refrigerated, the fat rises to the top in a solid lump and can be lifted off. You don't have to be fussy; the stock does need a little fat. The watery stock you buy in supermarkets just doesn't seem like stock to me. I made soup twice this winter, but it's something I seldom do these days; all the vegetable chopping and the sheer weight of the pressure cooker are too hard on my hands and, because of my increasing clumsiness, take far too long.
18. Kiumars Tue 09 Sep 2008 @ 02:16 simmer gently for 3-4 hours?
How much Gas is going to be used in 4 hrs? Global warming!
19. jacob sellon Mon 08 Sep 2008 @ 09:24 these ones take too long to make
buy the supermarket ones there great
20. Clementina Sun 01 Jun 2008 @ 16:29 I use chicken stock for Spanish Rice!
21. Kirstin Sun 01 Jun 2008 @ 00:05 This is so awesome, super easy and really tasty. I will never buy the cubes again.
If you must buy cubes, get the kind without MSG which not too many people know about. It should be in the refrigerated section and it does expire without preservatives but it's a lot healthier.
22. Wayside Tue 20 May 2008 @ 08:43 I made this but cooked it in the slow cooker , I never ever buy ready made its too salty. I always make veg and chicken stock and freeze in ice cube trays that way you can use as much or as little as needed it only takes a short time to make
23. Lindsey Wed 14 May 2008 @ 20:21 Chicken stock is used as an ingredient. It can be used in soups, casseroles, pies etc. Some recipes will call for a stock cube to be dissolved in water then added to the dish, but fresh stock is so much nicer, and healthier!
24. mags Sun 24 Feb 2008 @ 19:01 what do you do with the stock? is it the same as soup, or does it need to go through another stage to become soup?
25. kimsmith Wed 23 Jan 2008 @ 16:54 This is the first time i have made chicken stock, and it was so easy to follow, i am never buying premade ever again! good one Jamie

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