Chicken Stock

There are so many reasons to make your own stock.  For me the main one is an intolerance to yeast extract.  Most foods that say MSG free will be loaded with yeast extract and it does the same job as MSG to enhance flavour.  You can buy stock that is free from both but it is very expensive and still doesn't taste as good as home made.

It is not hard to make and if you have a slow cooker that makes it even easier.

Ingredients:

1 x chicken (use good quality, free range or organic as any other will have hormones and loads of fat)

1 x onion peeled and chopped in half

10 peppercorns (or a good grind of pepper)

1/2 tsp of himalayan salt

2 bay leaves

(when not doing protocol I would include celery and carrot)

Method:

Cut any large chunks of fatty skin off chicken.  I find most are around the neck area.  Put enough water in pot to just cover the chicken.   Allow to simmer for around 8hrs in a slow cooker or if on stove top it will only take around 2 hrs.   

Be careful not to let it boil as this will make a cloudy stock.   

I usually wait until it has decreased by about 1-2inches in volume.

After it has finished cooking, remove all the chicken and veg and put aside, allow the stock to cool overnight. This brings the fat to the top and lets a sediment of small chicken to lay at the bottom.

Very carefully with a flat spoon skim the fat off the top.  In the photo below you can see on the side of the dish were the liquid has reduced.  

Once you have as much fat removed as possible fold a few sheets of paper towel and lay on top.  This helps get some more of the fat off.

Your stock should still have the sediment at the bottom and a minimum of fat floating on top by this stage.  Take care not to stir it up or you will have to wait for the sediment to settle again.

With a soup ladle carefully ladle the stock into containers or another pot

You should have lovely clear stock.  There will be some bits in there but this doesn't affect flavour at all.  Even if it has boiled and clouded up it will still be tasty!

Remove all flesh from the chicken and chop into smaller pieces.  I portion it up into just under 100gr servings and put into each container with the stock.  You can also just portion up and freeze for salads or soups later if you like.   From a small chicken this time I got 500gr of meat.

Be sure to freeze straight away and eat within 2mths or you can make up batches of soup and freeze for ease.  

I will do a bone broth next which is just as easy and tasty!!