Cooking from Scratch: Chicken Broth

I found my go-to recipe for Chicken Broth at Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  This is an excellent recipe and can be frozen.  I have stopped keeping store-bought broth on hand now that I have homemade chicken broth in the freezer.

To make your own chicken stock/broth, you need:

a large kettle or crockpot

a chicken or turkey carcass {bones, skin & any tiny meat pieces leftover}

a whole onion

2-3 stalks of celery

2-3 carrots

1-2 bay leaves

4-5 garlic cloves

sea salt

black pepper

white vinegar

water

a strainer, preferably with fine mesh

Making your own chicken stock:

(1) Place the chicken carcass – bones, skin {if desired} and any meat still attached to the bone (small pieces are fine, but you should take all the large pieces off the bones before you make stock) into a large stockpot or crockpot. 

(2) Toss in one onion, cut into sections, carrots and celery. 

(3) Add the water, enough to fill the crockpot or stockpot.

(4) Add in the garlic, bay leaf and sea salt.  Be liberal with the sea salt. 

(5) Add a splash of vinegar – this works to really help break down the bones & get them to release their nutrients.

(6) Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 12-18 hours.  I do this overnight.  If you are cooking on the stove, cook on low/simmer, for 4-8 hours.

   

(7) Strain the broth through a large strainer or colander to remove the bones, skin and veggies.  Some folks puree their stock in the blender with the veggies … I haven’t tried that just yet.

(8) Place the broth into freezer safe containers.  Allowing the broth to cool down quite a bit, then, transfer the broth to the fridge for a few hours.  At this point, you can either toss your bones, or you can repeat the cycle, boiling them a second time.  This broth is less strong, but you can easily up the veggies as though you were making veggie broth, and you have a second batch!

(9) If you wish, after the broth cools, the fat will rise to the surface.  Simply take a spoon and scoop the fat off the top.  Then, transfer your broth to the freezer, or use with a day or two.