I’m going to start this by admitting that this is the VERY first time that I’ve ever made my own chicken broth. I’ve been meaning to for years… and it’s almost hypocritical of me not to, but for some reason I never got around to trying it.
So, don’t read this post as a “definitive guide” to making chicken broth, but rather a “here is my experience, you should try it too!” Also, because I know there are A LOT of you who have been doing this for years, I’d love it if you’d share your tips, tricks, and experiences in the comments so that we can all learn from each other :)
So what was my experience? OMG, so easy. Seriously, dump it all in the pot and let it go. Come back later and you have a magical golden liquid full of flavor and good for you nutrients. Why wouldn’t you want to do this?! Plus, I always get warm and fuzzy inside when I know that I’ve reduced my waste. By making broth you get to use every last bit of goodness in your chicken and vegetable scraps. I can’t wait to make some vegetable broth too!
A couple good tips I’ve already gotten from readers:
1) Save your vegetable scraps from other recipes in the freezer until you’re ready to make broth. Just make sure they’re well washed first to remove sand and dirt.
2) Theresa suggested making the broth in a slow cooker instead of on the stove top for even less baby sitting. Let it go all night and you’ll have an ultra-amazing broth by morning!
I can’t wait to hear everyone else’s tips!
Homemade Chicken Broth
How to: make chicken broth
Servings 12 cupsIngredients
- vegetable scraps
- chicken carcass
Instructions
- Pick the skin from the chicken carcass and make sure you’ve gotten all of the good meat off. Leave the cartilage as this will “melt” into the broth, adding flavor and nutrients. Yes, cartilage has nutrients. It’s like taking a joint supplement pill, but it tastes better.
- Make sure your vegetable scraps are clean by rinsing well with cool water. You can use the ends and stems of carrots, celery, herbs, onion skins, or any piece of a vegetable that you normally cut off and throw away. The vegetables WILL effect the flavor, so make sure you use vegetables that “go” together. I used celery, carrots, parsley stems, and onion skins.
- Add the chicken carcass and vegetable scraps to a large pot and cover with water (about 12 cups, depending on how big your chicken was and how many scraps you have). Bring up to a boil over med-high heat, then reduce to low and let simmer with a lid for 3-4 hours.
- After simmering, pour the broth through a colander into a large bowl or pot. Remove the colander and throw away all of the scraps. Cover the colander with a cheese cloth or another clean, lint-free cloth and pour the broth through once more to remove small particles.
- Divide the broth into smaller containers to help facilitate cooling. Refrigerate until cold and then transfer to the freezer, remembering to label and date each container.
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Notes
How to Make Chicken Broth – Step By Step Photos
So, I roasted a whole chicken in my slow cooker last weekend, and after it was cool enough to handle I picked the meat off and saved the bones and scraps until I was ready to make the broth.
The next day, after I had accumulated some vegetable scraps, I started the broth. First things first, make sure the vegetable scraps are CLEAN. Sand in broth is not good. I had celery tops and stems, carrot ends and peels, onion peels, and some parsley stems. Place them in a large pot along with your chicken carcass.
Cover the whole thing with fresh water. I used 12 cups. Bring the pot up to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce it to low and let simmer (with a lid) for 3-4 hours.
After you’ve simmered all of the goodness out of your scraps, it’s time to strain out the magical golden liquid. Place a colander over a large bowl and pour the whole pot through it. Discard the collected scraps.
After the first strain, this is what I had. It’s already golden and beautiful. And it smells delightful too.
You’ll want to strain a second time through a fine weave, lint-free cloth to remove any small particles that may have passed through the colander. I just laid my cloth out over the colander and poured through again.
It didn’t catch much, but I bet if I had simmered for longer everything would have broken down more and there would be more small particles.
You can season your broth at this point with salt and pepper, but I prefer to leave it unsalted and then just add salt later when cooking with the broth. Adding salt at the end of a recipe allows you to use less and achieve the same flavor punch. Also, it’s always a good idea to divide your broth (or any food) into smaller containers before refrigerating so they cool down faster. Always chill the broth before placing it in the freezer.
I put my broth in jars because they were sitting there on my counter, but I like to freeze sauces and liquids in quart sized freezer bags. You can freeze in glass jars, but make sure to leave room for the liquid to expand as it freezes, or else your container will burst.
I make mine in a pressure cooker- you cook it for a fraction of the time, but the flavour is more intense. I also add an onion- skin and all which gives good flavour, but also a lovely colour.
I always make stock in my crockpot (I’ll use semi-frozen bones or fresh, doesn’t matter — semi-frozen cuz it takes a little work getting them to fit into the pot!). Generally, I can make two batches in a day! I freeze mine in old yogurt containers, but I’m really loving the ice cube idea. It would save me a lot more space and defrosting time. I also use rock salt and whole peppers, bay leaves, and other spices and herbs but I don’t bother putting it in a little sachet. I’m straining the whole mess once it’s done. What’s the point to keeping the herbs separate, you know?
Definitely be careful on what veggies you include. Once, I saved a bunch of broccoli stalks I had no use for and put them all in the chicken broth and it was inedible (ditto when I did it with strained fruit skins and cabbage cores I just didn’t want to throw away — I got into this weird “why can’t everything go into my stock?!” mode). Sometimes veggie garbage is just that — garbage. It’ll make your stock taste like it and you’ll end up wasting a good carcass.
Do make risotto with your new stock. It’s one of my favourite stock-made meals!
Can’t wait to try this. I’ll be fixing a turkey for a family get-together soon, what do you think of using a turkey instead of chicken? What, if anything, would I need to do differently?
This is wonderful. The idea to freeze the broth in ice cube trays works great. If you make your own veg or chicken broth, be sure not to put in veggies that can give you gas (think little tummies!) such as broccoli. I made veggie broth and put to many bell peppers -along with carrots, celery, etc. in to simmer for a couple hours. My family was bloated for days before I figured out what was causing it!
After the stock cools, I freeze it in ice cube trays in a tray where I know each cube is 1 ounce, and then put in a ziplock bag after frozen. Makes it very easy to use for recipes calling for smaller amounts.
Also, label the bags! I always think I’ll remember what I froze, but then I get beef stock confused w/ chicken stock, or (horrors) chicken stock ice cubes confused with frozen coffee ice cubes…
After the stock cools, I freeze it in ice cube trays in a tray where I know each cube is 1 ounce, and then put in a ziplock bag after frozen. Makes it very easy to use for recipes calling for smaller amounts.
Also, label the bags! I always think I’ll remember what I froze, but then I get beef stock confused w/ chicken stock, or (horrors) chicken stock ice cubes confused with frozen coffee ice cubes…
I just buy the cheapest raw chicken available at the grocery store and go with Bittman’s chicken stock recipe from “How to Cook Everything” (basic = carrots, celery, onions, bay leaf, fresh pepper (I leave the salt out too)- he includes and explains quite a few variations). That big red book has never steered me wrong :)
Sometimes, but only sometimes, I reduce it and freeze in ice cube trays. Most of the time I don’t because I go through it so fast anyway. I use it instead of water in just about everything except desserts…
I am planning on making stock in my crockpot because I have some bones and skin left over from a rotisserie chicken I bought a couple of months ago. The bones and skin are in a freezer bag in my freezer. Should I take these out first and thaw them in the fridge or can I just make stock from them straight from the freezer? Thanks – I’m a newbie at making stock!
I seriously just purchase a whole chicken for about $3, throw it in the crockpot full of water, set for 4 hrs. The meat falls off the bone, pull skin out and bones. Ta-da!! Youre dine.
The first time I made my own chicken broth I swore I would never go back to bouillon cubes. And I haven’t. :) It is just soooo much more flavorful and wholesome! I’ve tried both the crock-pot and stove-top methods and they each have their merits. To save a step I’ll sometimes pick up a rotisserie chicken from Costco (which I have found is comparable in price to a raw chicken at most of my local grocery stores). I’ll pick off the meat once it has cooled a little (I freeze it to use in pot pies or taquitos), then put the carcass in a stock pot with onion, celery, carrot, and a little sachet of parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and a bay leaf. I do add a tablespoon of salt at this point, but it usually still needs more salt when I use it in other recipes. I cover it with water (about 14 cups in my pot)and let it simmer for at least an hour and a half. If I am using an uncooked chicken I’ll put it in my 6 quart crock-pot, lightly seasoned with salt, then let it cook for about 5-6 hours on Low. After I remove the meat I’ll put the bones back in and add water till the crock is about 2/3 full and let it go on Low for several hours – overnight would probably be fine. The rotisserie stove-top version has more of a complex flavor from the veggies and herbs. The crock-pot version is more “chickeny” because I don’t usually add anything else. You can always mix and match flavors and methods to suit your preferences. I always keep some broth on hand in the freezer.
When I make scratch-made matzo ball soup I sometimes cook an extra chicken so that there’s more meat and then I just use the broth. Also, that fat at the top of the broth? It’s called schmaltz and is *excellent* for use in making matzo balls and dumplings. Just skim it off and dump straight into a batter.
Here’s my own method, which does involve a whole fresh or frozen chicken. http://nontraditionalunifood.blogspot.com/2012/08/home-made-chicken-stock-and-chicken.html
I freeze all the chicken bones/scraps/skins from whole chickens, legs, breasts, whatever I cook. I also freeze the cooking liquid from the bottom of the crockpot. A couple uncooked pieces of chicken are good for flavor, like wings, necks, or backbones. All of that goes into the stock pot with 2 onions, a couple stalks of celery, a couple carrots. The stockpot should be completely full of scraps and veggies before you fill it with water! Bring to a boil and simmer on low for at least 3 hours, skimming off any foam and fat. Then strain through cheesecloth, cool, divide, and freeze. I should point out that I have a 16 quart stockpot so I only have to make stock once or twice a year.
If you keep your broth to a low boil, it will be clearer- boiling makes broth/stock cloudy. Also, roasting your bones or carcass brings out a richer flavor. You can even smear some tomato paste on beef bones prior to roasting to add an extra sumpin-sumpin!
Making broth or stock is so wonderful- better flavor and you save so much money by using up what normally would have been thrown away! I add a sachet d’epices (cheesecloth tied up with thyme, parsley stems, bay leaf, and cracked peppercorn) when there is just an hour or two left of simmering to pack some extra flavor!