Weekend Cooking: Easy Chicken Stock
This has become a staple in my home.
When it comes to making some things, a pre-made stock or broth is fine. You want something quick and easy, just pull the box out and use it as you need to. Use it for gravy. Use it for cooking rice (cooking rice in stock or broth instead of water is a very easy way to add some awesome flavor). Use it for whatever you need to.
Hell, store-bought chicken stock is an easy way to make things like last week’s white beans and rice.
But there are some things you want your own stock for. I make and freeze large batches and use it over weeks before making the next pot. It’s a very easy way of controlling ingredients and flavors you want in things like easy homemade bowls of ramen. The only consideration to make is storage.
The most necessary ingredient for the stock is the bones. Your goal is to draw out all the flavor and nutrients in order to make a rich and flavorful liquid. You can talk to a butcher, you can cook some whole chickens yourself at home, or you can buy rotisserie chickens from your local grocery store and use the already cooked meat and bones as you need to.
I do the last one.
We go through rotisserie chickens weekly. They are easy for meals on their own, but I also like to make chicken salad for sandwiches with them (that recipe may come next week). All you need to do is save the bones, freeze them, and pull them out to make your stock after you have at least 2-3 birds’ worth.
Next, it’s a matter of flavors and aromatics. Onions, carrots, garlic, spices, you name it. Because I tend to use this for ramen more often than not, I like to add ginger as an aromatic in the liquid, too. But it’s really up to you. I’ll add a couple of variations in the recipe below.
Maximize your cooking time so you can draw out all the flavors you can. That will make for the best stock (and whatever dish you want to use it for).
Basic Rotisserie Chicken Stock
2-3 (minimum) rotisserie chicken carcasses (they don’t have to be perfectly clean - that’s just more flavor for you)
2 gallons water
2 yellow onions, quartered
4 stalks celery, cut into chunks
20 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional aromatics (really, just experiment with some of the following):
3 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs rosemary
2 ginger roots, roughly cut
1 bunch green onions, roughly cut
Add water to a large stockpot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add the chicken carcasses and boil for 10 minutes.
Reduce to heat to low and cook, uncovered, for three hours. Add vegetables after one hour and aromatics 30 minutes after that.
Skim for impurities every 30 minutes or so.
Remove from heat and strain out the vegetables, bones, and any scraps of meat.
When it reaches room temperature, strain the liquid through cheesecloth a few times and store. I freeze mine in Ziplock bags, but you can keep in plastic containers, recycled milk jugs, etc.