Woznation

We’ve finally reached part III of woznation chicken – chicken stock! For this post I will go through how to make the stock using the leftover carcass of the woznation chicken from part I and part II. Alternatively, I have also made stock using chicken backs or turkey necks (we have a butcher down the street who practically throws these things away so I can get lots of poultry flavor without all the work of roasting the chicken and carving it up).  Making stock is pretty easy no matter what you use, I’ll talk you through it.

So we have our chicken from woznation chicken part II

I pick as much meat off the bone and then place the bones into a large stock pot.

Oh yeah, I also saved all the juices from the roasting pan and put that in there, too.  Thats what those dark juices are.  Yummmm:

So then I take off all the skin from my cut-up chicken and add it to the pot.  We’re not big skin eaters around here – so we just add that flavor to the stock.

Since we also dont eat the chicken right when its made, I go ahead and peel the chicken meat from the legs/thighs and save all the meat for future meals and/or ‘snacking chicken’  for the week.  And then throw the bones into the stock pot.

Boom.  White meat and dark meat.  All ready for the week.  And now all the bones are in the stock pot.

[Now, if I hadnt roasted a chicken and instead had raw chicken backs or turkey necks instead, I would put a little olive oil in the bottom of the stock pot and brown the backs or necks a bit (Dont worry about them being all the way cooked – they will boil for the next 4 hours).  After they had a bit of color (i.e. flavor)  I would continue with the stock in the following manner.]

So now I get some veggies and seasonings ready to throw in to add extra flavor.

I use about 4 ribs of celery, 4 carrots, an onion, 3 cloves of garlic, salt, whole peppercorns, and bay leaf.  I run a wet towel over the carrots and celery to get off any extra dirt and then rough chop them.

Then I quarter the onion, skin-on and all!  And smash about 3-4 garlic cloves.

Then I throw the veggies in the pot and add about a tablespoon each of salt and peppercorns and then 2-3 bay leaves.

Fill the pot up with water (approximately 3 ‘where else?’ glasses full…96 ounces total?).

Bring everything up to a boil and then reduce down to a low simmer.  Simmer for 4-5 hours.  If you are losing water too quickly, you can always add more water but you dont want to dilute your stock too much. Just make sure your simmer is very low.  You can stir the pot occasionally if you’re around, but I’ve also let this go while Ive been out running errands.  It doesnt need a babysitter.  After 4-5 hours you will have pretty much sucked out all the flavor from the chicken and vegetables.

And now you have some liquid gold!  All you need to do it strain out the bones and veggies!  I usually use a bit of cheese cloth in my strainer as well to catch as much of the grit as possible, but I was out this time.

Voila.  Chicken Stock!

All the fat in the chicken stock rises to the top and will solidify in the fridge overnight.  You can just take a spoon and scoop off the layer of fat and throw it away the next day.  Now you are all ready to make some homemade soup, risotto, shepards pie,  or anything else you want!