Making My Own Chicken Stock:
I have a big freezer to store extra food or basics for making meals. It’s a great thing to have when low on time or money. I like to cook … and my favorite cooking is basic down-to-earth/salt-of-the-earth kinds of food, which you can generally store for other meals when you’re broke or short on time. I can *do* more exotic things and sometimes I like to (fancy desserts, meals, etc – essentially anything from homemade macaroni & cheese to Baked Alaska).
My friends however like to come for my homemade tomato sauce (I currently have almost 100 qts I recently made), jams, chile, refried beans, spaghetti sauce, casseroles, and so on & so forth. I think I’m proudest though of my homemade turkey & chicken stocks.
Buying chicken broth (or turkey or beef) can be expensive … as well as full of sodium and other “preservatives” that really aren’t that good for you. Additionally, buying meat at the store can prove very expensive if you want it in bulk.
One of the best ways we’ve gotten around this is by investing in some quart size canning jars (although you don’t have to have those to do this – old pickle jars, jelly jars, plastic containers, etc work just fine). When we find a deal on whole chickens, turkey, or some good beef cut with a good bone in it, we will buy what we can afford at the time and freeze them if I don’t have time right then for later use. Otherwise, I’ll cook whatever it is it as soon as I’m home.
To do this, you simply need either a crockpot, slow cooker, or just a big deep pot to stick on the stove. Put the meat in the pot and cover with water. Some people will season it as it cooks. I do not, only because when I use it later in recipes, the flavors change, depending on what I’m making then. After putting it in a pot of water, cook until the meat is falling off the bone. I will generally simmer it at least 12-18 hours. You just have to watch and add water off-and-on as it boils/steams away.
What’s good about this is … it’s cooked very slowly so you can do other things at the same time. If you have a crockpot, you can do chicken or beef and go out even. (Now most crockpots won’t fit a turkey so if you’re doing that, you’ll need a large pot on the stove, so that means someone needs to supervise it, but “supervising” only means here “making sure the stove doesn’t catch the house on fire”.)
🙂
Anyway, boil till the meat falls off the bone. Let it cool. Peel all meat away and store for use in other recipes, like chicken pot pie or shredded chicken for sandwiches, tacos, and barbeque, etc. You can freeze it or cook it into something immediately. Leave some meat in the stock and then put the broth into the jars (or whatever containers you’re using), being careful not to burn yourself (she says, remembering from *way* too much experience). Leave enough room for expansion when it’s frozen (an inch or two). Let the jars cool and then freeze.
This way, when you need soup stock for a recipe, you don’t have to buy overly processed salty stock. It’s healthier and tastier … & best yet … *cheaper*.
Bouillon cubes and canned broths can’t match it. Period. Try it. I do it yearly with my Thanksgiving turkey carcass too. However … any meats will work.
Happy eating! Happy cooking!
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