Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade cooking doesn’t have to be overwhelming or scary. It can actually be a way to decompress. When it comes to making homemade stock, broths and soups, I pick a cold or gray weekend day when I know I have time. I get it started in the morning and it keeps the kitchen warm throughout the day simmering on the stove.

What's The Difference Between Stock and Bone Broth?

Stock and bone broth are similar. The biggest difference I found on the internet is the cooking time. Stock can cook for anywhere between six to eight hours, where bone broth cooks from eight to 48 hours. This longer cooking process makes the broth more gelatinous due to the collagen cooking out of the bones. I guess because I typically cook my stock for around eight hours mine would be considered stock. I’ve been making homemade stock for almost 30 years. The stock I make today is from years of trial and error and I think it makes the best tasting soups and stews. When you start from scratch, you know exactly what you’re putting into your recipes and your body. Not to mention, once you get used to your own homemade stock or bone broth, you’ll never want to go back to store bought.

In order to keep this simple and so you don’t have to go out and purchase a stock pot, I’m going to give you a recipe that can be made in an eight-quart soup pot. Once you find you love having your own homemade stock in the freezer, you may want to invest in a stock pot and then double this recipe.

Money and Time Saving Tip

In my recipe I roast the chicken parts that I use to impart a richer flavor. If you make roast chicken without flavors from citrus, garlic and other potent spices, you can save the carcass in the freezer for a day when you will make stock. Many times in the winter, I’ll roast a chicken on Friday for dinner so I can make stock on Saturday. You’ll need to add to the carcass but it’s a great start.

Tools You’ll Need

8-quart soup pot

Roasting pan or sheet pan

Strainer

Cheese cloth

Containers for freezing 

Stock Recipe

2-3 pounds of chicken parts or carcasses- I buy chicken backs when I can find them, leg quarters and wings work well too.

1 tbsp olive oil

3 carrots, cut in large pieces

3 stalks celery, cut in large pieces

1 small onion, quartered

1-2 garlic cloves, whole

4-6 peppercorns

1-2 bay leaves

handful of parsley

Turn the oven to 425 to roast chicken pieces or carcasses. Roast until golden brown. In the meantime, heat the soup pot and add olive oil. Add in carrots, celery and onion, sauté for 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally until vegetables start to soften. Turn off heat, add in garlic cloves. When chicken is cooked, place chicken in the soup pot. 

Reserve the juice by pouring into a small cup and placing in the refrigerator to cool. We’ll separate the fat off the top and add the brown drippings back into the stock for more flavor.

Place the peppercorns and bay leaves in the pot. Pour 5-6 quarts of water over the chicken and vegetables. It should totally cover the chicken. If it doesn’t add more water. Bring to a slow simmer. (Be careful not to let the pot boil. Boiling will create a cloudy stock.)

Once the pot starts to simmer slowly, you’ll notice a scum start to form on the top. Use a ladle or strainer to skim it off the top and discard. You’ll do this a couple of times. Then add in the handful of parsley. Continue to simmer slowly. Don’t stir, but occasionally look and see if any more scum has formed. If it has, skim it off and discard.

Let the stock simmer until you see a beautiful golden color. After six or seven hours, taste and see if it is starting to taste like chicken. If you are happy with the taste, it is finished. If not, let it continue to simmer. If you want to cook it down even further to make a bone broth (more gelatinous) you can continue to simmer.  

Once your stock is finished, take a strainer and line it with cheesecloth. Place over another pot or a large bowl. Ladle the stock into the cheesecloth to help to clarify it. Once the stock is through the strainer and into a clean pot or bowl, I let it cool down a bit. Then you can place it into containers for freezing. You’re now ready to make delicious and nutritious homemade soups at a moment's notice.

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