Chicken Bone Broth
It took almost a decade for Ina Garten to convince me I needed to make my own chicken stock, but resistance was futile and I am now a complete convert. Homemade chicken stock truly does make a huge difference! About four times a year, I make this recipe on a lazy Sunday when I know I’ll be home to keep an eye on the pot’s bubbling and burbling.
The active prep time for this recipe is all of about 10 minutes (really, you’re just throwing everything into the biggest pot you can muster). Heck, you can leave the skin on your onions and garlic, and don’t even bother peeling your root vegetables! Also, don’t bother buying expensive chicken parts! I tend to ask the butcher to give me any “soup bones” or scraps he has like chicken backs, necks, or feet (which are delicious in stock) or whatever tends to be on sale like wings, thighs, or drumsticks.
After about 4 hours, your entire home will smell like a warmhug from Ina herself (which I would love, by the way!). My kids will come walking in after a long afternoon out with my husband and say “I smell chicken!”. I sometimes wonder if these smells will become a comforting core memory from childhood, like the smell of my mother's simmering pot of spaghetti sauce still conjures in me. Or, maybe my son will remember how much he loved to look at the bone remnants; trying to figure out what part of the chicken that particular bone came from. Either way, homemade chicken stock is as memorable as it is delicious!
Once the stock has had a chance to cool overnight, I scoop out the now gelatinous goodness into containers of different size (for easy use of the right-sized portions in future recipes!) and freeze for the next three months or so (during the winter months it never really lasts that long!). I particularly love small Tupperware or even ice cube trays to add a last-minute homemade kiss to chicken piccata, or rice pilaf.
Ingredients
10 lbs chicken parts (drumettes, wings, backs, necks, feet)
3 large sweet onions, quartered and left unpeeled
6 carrots,
6 celery stalks
4 large parsnips, halved and left unpeeled
15 sprigs fresh parsley
20 sprigs fresh dill
20 springs fresh thyme
2 heads of garlic, halved and left unpeeled
3 tbsp diamond crystal Kosher salt
2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
Prep the vegetables
1. Quarter onions and halve garlic heads, leaving both unpeeled.
2. Trim celery, halve unpeeled carrots and unpeeled parsnips.
3. Bundle herbs with butcher's twine or cheesecloth for easy retrieval.
4. Ask your butcher for "soup bones" if they have them! Discarded necks, backs, and feet make great stock! In a pinch ask for wings, drumettes, or whole chicken parts.
Simmer and prep the broth
5. Place all ingredients, including salt and peppercorns into one very large stockpot (at least 16 quarts) or two smaller ones works too! Leave at least an inch of room for simmering, and cover all ingredients with cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce down to low, and let simmer (uncovered) for 4-5 hours. Check on the simmering stock occasionally, and skim off any "scum" (it looks like white protein-ish bubbles).
6. Let the simmered stock cool, and remove any large chicken and vegetable pieces to discard.
7. Strain the remaining liquid with a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth and transfer cooled stock into varying sized Tupperware containers. Freeze, and store for up to three months!
Enjoy!
