Comments on: Simple Homemade Chicken Stock Using a Supermarket Rotisserie Chicken

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:19:31 +0000

Dear Friends, OOOPS! When using the stock recipe made with chicken bones in my previous post, ADD A QUART OF WATER OR TWO QUARTS DEPENDING UPON THE SIZE OF YOUR PRESSURE COOKER, WITH THE CHICKEN SKIN, BONES AND VEGETABLES. You must add water with your ingredients for this to work as stated! Never, never, never dry cook things in the pressure cookes, you must add water.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:31:23 +0000

Thought for the day! Buy a pressure cooker at a yard sale! Make sure you get the metal cap which fits over the steam vent. Put in chicken bones, chicken skin, vegetables, put metal cap over steam vent, heat on HIGH until the cap begins to jiggle. Lower heat to simmer (very low), the metal cap will jiggle occasionally but not constantly. Cook for an hour or hour and 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow steam to come down slowly, DO NOT REMOVE METAL CAP. When pressure is down, pour contents through collander (lined with cheesecloth if you want a clearer stock, I’m not fussy and hate to BUY CHEESECLOTH so I don’t bother with the cloth!) into a deep bowl. Put bowl in refrigerator to chill. The fat will rise to the top and seal the contents so that if you don’t get to the broth quickly it will stay good longer. Then flake the bones with a fork, they’ll dissolve into mush which is an excellent dog or cat food, animals like very much. You can make pressure cooker turkey carcase broth, but do not attempt to cook down turkey bones and do not feed turkey to dogs or cats as it has a chemical, I think it’s spelled “triptophan” which is dangerous for pets. You’re going to LOVE pressure cooker chicken broth! It’s a strong broth with lots of calcium. The pressure cooker is useful for meat broth but don’t try to cook down the bones, that only works with chicken bones. A pressure cooker is useful for quick cooking of potatoes, carrots, other hard vegetables. It’s great for stuffed cabbage or stuffed peppers. It’s handy to tenderize tough meat quickly, makes stew in a hurry. It’s also useful for pressure sealing jams and jellies for home canning. It’s my post, so you KNOW you’re getting a plug for buying your pressure cooker at a yard sale. Get one of the old ones, they’re heavier in weight and sturdier. Gasket shot? Get a new one at the hardware store. New pressure cookers are RUINOUSLY expensive, lightweight and flimsey. Save the environment and your money, buy used at a yard sale for $1. to $5.00. I’ve got three pressure cookers and they are great for saving energy (short cooking time), tenderizing tough meat, quick cooking vegetables, precooking dried beans and of course stock. NEVER FILL MORE THAN 3/4 FULL OF ANYTHING AND YOU’LL DO JUST FINE WITH YOUR PRESSURE COOKER ! daylilydiva

By: mick

mick — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:50:14 +0000

for those who keep leftover veggie peels and/or have commented that veggie stock isn’t as full flavored…

1) roast the veggies first as Miles said; and
2) when you use peeled potatoes for other meals, scrub the potatoes first and freeze/add the peels to stock minus bad parts, of course, and any sprouts. The minuscule amount of potato adds that extra heartiness to an all-veggie stock.

By: Hearty Baked Potato Soup: A Quick and Frugal Recipe for January ? Get Rich Slowly

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 17:01:05 +0000

[...] per generous serving, if you bought a bulk bag of russets and are using canned broth. In our house, the stock is usually homemade with vegetable trimmings and a chicken carcass, so I count that as free! If I have celery on hand, [...]

By: Catherine

Catherine — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 15:42:26 +0000

Do you have leftover strong coffee? Dump it into the stock for a fuller flavor, browner color. The flavor blends as well as wine.

By: Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge / $3.99 Rotisserie Chicken!

Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge / $3.99 Rotisserie Chicken! — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:57:23 +0000

[...] few weeks ago, J.D.’s wife, Kris, had a great post about making stock from a rotisserie chicken. Even though it’s summertime, I LOVE chicken soup! So I’ve been making stock and soup [...]

By: Amelinda

Amelinda — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:06:26 +0000

Ice Cube Trays.

To the people who asked about a good container for this, here is your answer - I would make stock, but as a single person I rarely had reason to use the entire container at once, so it would get freezerburnt, etc.

By making small, easy to handle frozen pieces of stock, I could use just as much as I needed. AND I would use it faster.

For example, I could pull out a single cube and cook my frozen vegetables in it, or a big handful to make a pot of soup for two.

By: Moon

Moon — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:22:29 +0000

I don’t know if that counts as REAL chicken stock, though. But, if it works for you…

I spent a whole weekend making beef stock for sauces. It’s just great. You can freeze it and use it for up to a year. It does take the whole weekend, though. It involves crushing or splitting bones and baking them and then slowly simmering the stock for a whole weekend. You start with 50 quarts and end up with about 10 quarts, but it so thick that you only need to use a couple of tablespoons to make your final sauce.

I think the name of the book I got it from was The Complete Saucier, but I don’t remember the author.

By: Marie

Marie — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:04:18 +0000

We make veggie stock all summer with trimmings from cooking, onion/garlic skins and leaves (we grow our own–it’s one of the easiest staples to grow, in my opinion). Since we have a large garden and also are part of a CSA (community supported agriculture), we do a lot of blanching and freezing for the winter. Once a week (when we get the CSA delivery) I’ll blanch the lightest/mildest veggies first (i.e. peas) (30 sec - 1 min in boiling water**, then straight into ice water or the freezer on a cookie sheet), gradually working up to the strongest/darkest (i.e. beet greens). Then I’ll add trimmings from dinner prep (plus any extras from the week before) to the pot of blanching water (and throw the ice water in too) and boil it until bedtime. Once strained, usually the next day, I’ll continue to boil the liquid down until it’s almost nothing in the pan (but don’t burn it–that’s bad!!). I have a stock ziploc in my freezer that I’ll add these batches to; when it’s full, I’ll thaw the bag out and mix it all together, and then refreeze the concentrated stock in ice-cube trays. Pop the cubes out into a freezer container or bag. When cooking, you mix a cube in with a cup or so of water to add as broth. It’s so concentrated that it doesn’t really freeze solid, but it takes up so much less space in the freezer.
**I usually use filtered water (like from a Brita/Pur) for my blanching/icing water, since I know I’m going to concentrate it, I figure if there’s any lead, etc. in the tap water I don’t want that concentrated in my stock!
–The only way I’ve found to really avoid freezer burn is to vacuum-seal; these machines aren’t exceptionally cheap but they preserve a lot of freshness in the freezer, and have lots of other household uses too.
–Also, one last tip to save on AC bills when making stock: a rice steamer (large–i.e. 10 cup) can be put out on a balcony or porch and will boil away for hours without adding any extra heat/humidity to the house/apartment, which is really great when concentrating stock.

By: Jess B.

Jess B. — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:23:13 +0000

Homemade stock from rotisserie tastes so much better that the salty stuff in the grocery store–no comparison! I usually make it the classic way you’ve described; you can also make a Chinese-style stock this way by adding about 3 slices of ginger and some chopped green onions to the mix. This works well for hot & sour soup, etc.

I have the same troubles as Patrick–ice crystals and bad freezing results. Any ideas out there for the perfect container?

By: Brian C.B.

Brian C.B. — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:54:04 +0000

1) Throw leftover chicken bones, etc., into your freezer until you have enough to make stock. Do the same with carrots, onion, celery, etc.
2) People, you do NOT boil stock. You raise the temperature to 190-200 degrees Fahrenheit (an instant read thermometer is your friend) and keep it there for hours. Eventually, all the collagen in the bones is leached out at this temperature. The stock, once strained, will be clear. There will be minimal or no skimming required because the constituent elements of the stock (fats, collagen, etc. won’t separate. This is true for beef stock, too, which is also why your grocery or butcher sells ox tail.) Do not use chicken livers or other viscera in a stock. The giblets should only be the neck. The stock is done when you can take a relatively thick bone and snap it with less resistance than a matchstick would give.

Keeps in the fridge a week, the freezer much longer. Use in soups (obviously) but also as a substitute for water when making rice or couscous.

By: brad

brad — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:36:48 +0000

Another good option is to check your local butcher (even the one in the supermarket); they will often sell chicken frames (bones with some meat left on them, perfect for making stock) for dirt cheap. You can also find fish frames (and fish heads) at most fishmongers; these are excellent for making stock. And if you eat shrimp, buy the shell-on variety and save the shells. Once you have a few cups’ worth of shells (I freeze the shells until I have enough ready), you can make a delicious light shrimp stock with them just by cooking them in water for 15-20 minutes!

By: MVP

MVP — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 01:39:31 +0000

Good post. My husband makes his own rotisserie chicken on our grill. Then, once we’ve removed most of the meat for meals, I use the remaining pieces to make chicken stock (thanks for the recipe, I always just made it up as I went along!). I agree with everyone that this is much healthier and more economical than buying it at the store.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:26:21 +0000

I do this with the rotissarie turkey from the supermarket. I freeze the bones until I have a few, roast them in my oven, then make stock.
Yummy:-)

By: Andrea >> Become a Consultant

Andrea >> Become a Consultant — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:27:12 +0000

I like to do this, too. But be careful about food safety. Carve up your chicken and serve it. Don’t leave the chicken on the table during the meal. It’s already travelled from the grocery store. Make the stock on the second night. Cooked chicken is only good for two days.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 21:42:17 +0000

Any suggestions on decent, cheap freezer containers? We make stock, but it gets freezer burnt after a few months (nasty ice crystals form inside our gladware.)

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:22:52 +0000

If you add a tablespoon or two of vinegar, it will leech the calcium out of the chicken bones into the broth. Makes it healthier and doesn’t effect the flavor at all. I love to make my own broth.

Jennifer

By: Lady Tawodi » Blog Archive » Recipe: Homemade Chicken Stock

Lady Tawodi » Blog Archive » Recipe: Homemade Chicken Stock — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:36:18 +0000

[...] of GetRichSlowly. I’m all about the DIY techniques and recipes, naturally. Ingredients: 1 chicken carcass with [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:25:56 +0000

Making beef, vegetable or seafood stock is much the same process as making chicken stock. Just substitute fish bones(white fish bones are best, or shellfish such as shrimp,crab, lobster, etc make EXCELLENT stock) for seafood stock and beef bones for beef stock.

Another great way to add flavor to stock is to roast the bones and vegetables before making the stock. Just roast the bones in a 400 degree oven until they begin to caramelize then add your mirepoix and roast until they begin the caramelize then brush them with tomato paste. This is key and will add richness and flavor to the final stock. Roast until tomato paste is caramelized as well. DO NOT BURN.

Remove bones and vegetables and put them in the stock pot. Add red wine to the roasting pan while it is hot, it also helps to put it over some heat. While the wine is reducing scrape all the good caramelized bits off the bottom of the pan(called fond.) When the wine is reduced until almost dry add it to the pot with the bones and vegetable. Cover with COLD water and heat as usual. Add, herbs spices, etc. This can be done for dark beef, chicken, lamb stock and can be used to add more flavor to shellfish stock.

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:18:10 +0000

usually making my own stock is the only way I can figure on having cheap, additive free soup without having to pay a bundle for it… this is the only way to go when making soup!

By: Mia

Mia — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:08:08 +0000

I love to make my own stocks! The overly salted grocery store stuff is way to expensive and not very flavorful either.

Here’s my recipe:

Once I have a gallon freezer bag full of veggie leftovers I use my crockpot and simmer with 1 and 1/2 gallons of water for 6-8 hours. For beef or chicken stock, I add 1 to 2 C of meat leftovers. I like using leftover tomatoes or tomato sauces/paste for the beef.

I then freeze the strained stock in 1/2 cup portions using a muffin tin, then pop them out and store in a freezer bag. It keeps safely for 6 months in the freezer.

By: John

John — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 16:32:17 +0000

No need to limit yourself to chicken, either (although to my palate, chicken is the best for adding flavor to darned near anything!) - beef stock is also handy to have. I’ve tried making vegetable stock a time or two as well, but it wasn’t as satisfying as stock made with meat and bones.

The recipes and I use are from Mark Bittman’s “How To Cook Everything”, subtitled “Simple Recipes For Great Food”. This book contains not only 1500 recipes, but the basics about.. well, everything. From equipment to what to know about buying various foods, this book seems to have it all.

The vegetable stock recipe was very straightforward - just roast the veggies beforehand to bring out their flavor, simmer, strain, and you’re done. If I’m able to find the time later today, I’ll dig out the book and post it.

By: Myles

Myles — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:22:28 +0000

Toss the mirepoix in olive oil and then broil in the oven for a bit until just beginning to brown. This will give your stock an extra dimension of flavor and earthy fullness. This will also darken the stock so don’t do it if clear stock is needed for presentation.