Crockpot Chicken Stock

Yesterday I finally got around to roasting a chicken, and just the day before I had used my last quart of chicken stock. Good timing I suppose! Anyway, we picked the bird almost clean last night and dumped it in my crock pot.

Here's the exact recipe I used:

• chicken bones from roaster
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 bay leaf

I threw all that in my big crock pot, and covered it all with water and went to bed. The next morning it looked like this. 

I turned off my crock pot to let it cool, and had some coffee and got my kids started on their school work. It probably sat for about an hour.  Then I got some cheese cloth and started straining while I got my mason jars boiling in another pot to sterilize them. I set up my cheese cloth in a mason jar so it would hold still while I poured the stock through. 

Lots of directions you'll find on the internet say you need to skim the fat off the top after it cools. I'm not patient enough to wait for it to cool that long, so I use a gravy strainer. The fat rises to the top pretty quickly and I can get a move onto the next step.

Storage choices! You can freeze the stock just fine in zip lock baggies. I don't like to freeze mine for two reasons. One, ziplock baggies aren't very eco-friendly. I'm supposed to be the green momma, so I try to avoid this process unless I'm stressed for time. I also don't like to freeze them because I have to actually think ahead of time and thaw it out when I need stock to use. For you though, I did one, and stuck it in the freezer. You're welcome. :)

For those who like to can, stocks need a pressure canner. Water bath canning doesn't get hot enough to safely store it. Freeze your stocks if you don't have a pressure canner. If you do, chicken stock needs to boil with 15 pounds of pressure for 20/25 minutes.

While I canned I made my kids some to die for chicken noodle soup. Really hit the spot since they've both been under the weather this week.  I was able to put two quarts in storage, and I froze 5 cups of stock. Had I not made soup or frozen any this recipe probably would have yielded 4 quarts.

How I make Chicken Stock

I promised a few weeks ago that I'd go over the way I make chicken broth.  Most recipes I've found online call for a huge amount of chicken bones.  I don't have space to store bones, so I make it as needed and when I have a few bones available.

Start off with some chicken bones.  I think cooked bones are recommended by most, but I've found I get a more flavorful stock if I use raw.  This picture is actually a mix of both.  This came from one 3 dollar organic package of thighs and legs from whole foods.  I typically buy bone in because I don't want to pay for someone's processing.

Throw said bones in a pot full of plain water. Add some carrots and celery.  A bay leaf, or any other herb that you prefer.  Sometimes I just throw in rosemary and salt.  Keep it simple.  Remember your not making chicken soup, your making stock, which is just an ingredient for cooking.  Plain is better here so you can tweak the recipes you use the stock for better.

After about three hours covered at a gentle boil,  you'll have a stock that looks like this.  That's when I uncover it for about 30 minutes and bring the temperature up to a rapid boil.  After that I strain it through cheesecloth and a strainer.

I put them in clean freezer safe canning jars, and store them in the fridge overnight.  As they cool the fat rises to the top, and I can skim it off easily.  Then they're ready for the freezer, where they can be stored for up to three months.  This particular batch made 5 half pints.  If you've never made chicken stock I highly suggest you try.  It's so easy, you can't mess it up.  You've just saved yourself bucks because your using things you would have normally tossed in the trash.