Chicken/broth/stock questions--mainly, how do you keep it on hand for recipes if you don't eat a...

[melissel]

Please bear with me here--I know this seems like a silly, very basic question. We're doing a LOT more eating at home now, and I'm finding that things I thought of as lasting me a long time (e.g., a big box of organic broth from Costco) are disappearing MUCH more quickly than I'm used to. Right now I'm wondering about broth--chicken mostly, but maybe veggie too.

Do you buy broth? If you do, what kind do you buy? Is there some kind of natural chicken base you can buy? We eat a whole chicken maybe twice a month. I do make broth with the carcass, but we use that up pretty quickly in our other meals (soups, chili, risotto, etc.). Maybe I'm not using enough water when I make the broth? I'm never sure how diluted I should make it. How much broth would you think you end up with after boiling down a medium-sized chicken frame?

If there are good instructions on this somewhere, please point me in the right direction. It looks like I really need a "for Dummies" sort of guide I mean, I know HOW to make broth/stock, but I need to try to make it last longer than it has in the past for us, and I'm not sure if I'm getting proportions right, etc.

TIA!

[Chamomile Girl]

Hmmm...we also eat a chicken about twice a month and the resultant broth is enough for about two more meals. I use an 8qt stockpan full of water and I let it simmer, covered for 12 to 24 hours (depends on my schedule). We probably get about 6qts of broth at the end.

I hardly ever use it too...I've got a freezer full of it. I only really use it for soup (I use beer for chili). Risotto sounds like a lovely idea though.

[melissel]

Originally Posted by Chamomile Girl 

Hmmm...we also eat a chicken about twice a month and the resultant broth is enough for about two more meals. I use an 8qt stockpan full of water and I let it simmer, covered for 12 to 24 hours (depends on my schedule). We probably get about 6qts of broth at the end.

I hardly ever use it too...I've got a freezer full of it. I only really use it for soup (I use beer for chili). Risotto sounds like a lovely idea though.

Really?! Six quarts! I'm definitely not using enough water then Yeah, this month I made broccoli cheese soup a few times and white chicken chili and risotto and a couple of other things. I think I've used 8-10 quarts in the last three weeks *sigh*

[Llyra]

I make the broth-- I get about four quarts out of the carcass and bones of a five pound chicken. Once it's made, I strain it, and then I boil it down to about a quarter of that quantity, to concentrate it. Then I freeze it in ice cube trays, and then put the "ice cubes" in freezer bags. Then I take a few out, and reconstitute them by adding hot water before I use it to cook.

I find I have to make it every two weeks, at least. And we could definitely use more of it, if we had it.

I When I'm stuck with no broth, I use Better Than Bouillon, which is a pasty chicken base you buy in jars. They make an organic version of that, and the ingredients are fairly unobjectionable, to me.

http://www.superiortouch.com/retail/products/better-than-bouillon

[Arduinna]

I can my stock and get about 4 quarts of chicken stock per chicken carcass since I use the crock pot method and put one chicken carcass plus the aromatics per crock pot and let them go and then can them when they are done. But I think we eat more chickens than you, we sometimes do 2 per week but I'd say 4 per month at minimum. I still haven't finished using my turkey stock I canned after Thanksgiving.

[staceychev]

Like Arduinna, I use the crock pot method and get about the same amount. I can usually fill about 1-2 quart jars, and maybe four pint jars. I've been doing the ice cube tray method lately. I'll freeze about 1/3 to 1/2 in cubes, and then the rest will get used to make a soup that week. 

[annethcz]

Maybe I'm just lazy, but I only use the stock pots that I already have on hand to make chicken broth/stock.  I usually end up with 6-8 cups of stock when I make it (because that's what fits in my pot ;))

[chattyprincess]

I do not mean an insult in the least, I totally understand needing to use something in a pinch. Just be aware that natural flavors tends to be an easy catch all for lab created chemically altered flavorings. (including msg.)

I use a crock pot and get enough to make a whole huge soup plus fill a mason jar. I do not reduce mine and only use chicken necks and backs...

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by chattyprincess 

I do not mean an insult in the least, I totally understand needing to use something in a pinch. Just be aware that natural flavors tends to be an easy catch all for lab created chemically altered flavorings. (including msg.)

Yeah, but not everything in life can be perfect, ya know? We eat well, most of the time. 80% of our food is raised within fifteen miles of our home, at least 20% right here in our own gardens, and at least half of it is organic. The odd teaspoonful of bouillon isn't going to kill us, and isn't that big a deal in the wider scheme of things.

[melissel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Llyra 

Originally Posted by chattyprincess 

I do not mean an insult in the least, I totally understand needing to use something in a pinch. Just be aware that natural flavors tends to be an easy catch all for lab created chemically altered flavorings. (including msg.)

Yeah, but not everything in life can be perfect, ya know? We eat well, most of the time. 80% of our food is raised within fifteen miles of our home, at least 20% right here in our own gardens, and at least half of it is organic. The odd teaspoonful of bouillon isn't going to kill us, and isn't that big a deal in the wider scheme of things.

ITA with both of you. We don't eat lot of processed foods (though I wish we could eat more locally--just cannot afford it here--$5 for a dozen eggs?!), but now that we're eating at home more, I'm scrutinizing ingredients more and finding "natural flavors" in SO MANY THINGS I thought I could rely on, including organic foods. I've had some intense reactions to MSG before (shaking, sweating, dizziness), so it concerns me in the things we do eat. Fortunately, I managed to look up the ingredients of the broth I was using before I bought this last box at Costco (different brand, supposedly organic but included the ever-present natural flavors), and there were no hidden MSG clues in the ingredients, so I think I've decided to be more careful about making mine at home and using the boxed as a backup when I run out. At the same time, I discovered natural flavors in the ingredients of the "all natural" ham I was buying at Costco, and everyone loves that ham so much, I decided I would keep buying it for the few mornings a month we use it at breakfast *sigh* I can't make ham myself at home, and I can make broth, so I guess that's my tradeoff!

I have last-night's roasted chicken in my fridge right now I have a creamy chicken veggie soup recipe waiting for it, and I'll see if I can't get some backup broth from it as well. And I guess I'll just have to put roasted chicken on the menu one more time per month! I don't have an inexpensive source for necks and backs, but I'll keep looking and see what I can find.

Thank you, everyone, for your input!

[chattyprincess]

Originally Posted by Llyra 

Originally Posted by chattyprincess 

I do not mean an insult in the least, I totally understand needing to use something in a pinch. Just be aware that natural flavors tends to be an easy catch all for lab created chemically altered flavorings. (including msg.)

Yeah, but not everything in life can be perfect, ya know? We eat well, most of the time. 80% of our food is raised within fifteen miles of our home, at least 20% right here in our own gardens, and at least half of it is organic. The odd teaspoonful of bouillon isn't going to kill us, and isn't that big a deal in the wider scheme of things.

Wow.  as I said i did not mean this an insult, I am not attacking whatever % you eat orgainc, local etc. I never EVER in a million years understood natural flavoring part of the ingredient label until I read someones comment on this very forum.

some people (myself included!) LITERALLY DO NOT KNOW THIS INFORMATION and it takes someone pointing it out to understand it. A teaspoonfull of bouillon is not going to kill anyone, neither is eating the random mcdonalds. I never said that. I was trying to educate the op and all the other lurkers in this forum. Its a shame that we have to know this type of thing but really looking at a label and understanding it is imperitive in this day and age.

[HollyBearsMom]

When chicken is on deep discount I make Ina Garten's recipe.  It makes the most favorful stock. The only thing I do differntly is add a TBS or two of ACV and I reserve the fat for frying chicken livers!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stock-recipe/index.html

Otherwise I do as the other posters and use my crock pot. Set it in the AM and at the end of the day the stock is ready Not srue how many quarts my crock pot holds but it is pretty big.  I put in water right up to the top.

[Arduinna]

I've cooked Ina's before also, but I prefer the roasted chicken carcass method. Mostly because I prefer the taste of brown stock and also because I think it's a waste of good meat when I can get great flavor from just the bones.

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

When chicken is on deep discount I make Ina Garten's recipe.  It makes the most favorful stock. The only thing I do differntly is add a TBS or two of ACV and I reserve the fat for frying chicken livers!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stock-recipe/index.html

Otherwise I do as the other posters and use my crock pot. Set it in the AM and at the end of the day the stock is ready Not srue how many quarts my crock pot holds but it is pretty big.  I put in water right up to the top.

do you use the meat?  I've never used that recipe because I hate the idea of tossing all the meat.
 

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by chattyprincess 

Originally Posted by Llyra 

Originally Posted by chattyprincess 

I do not mean an insult in the least, I totally understand needing to use something in a pinch. Just be aware that natural flavors tends to be an easy catch all for lab created chemically altered flavorings. (including msg.)

Yeah, but not everything in life can be perfect, ya know? We eat well, most of the time. 80% of our food is raised within fifteen miles of our home, at least 20% right here in our own gardens, and at least half of it is organic. The odd teaspoonful of bouillon isn't going to kill us, and isn't that big a deal in the wider scheme of things.

Wow.  as I said i did not mean this an insult, I am not attacking whatever % you eat orgainc, local etc. I never EVER in a million years understood natural flavoring part of the ingredient label until I read someones comment on this very forum.

some people (myself included!) LITERALLY DO NOT KNOW THIS INFORMATION and it takes someone pointing it out to understand it. A teaspoonfull of bouillon is not going to kill anyone, neither is eating the random mcdonalds. I never said that. I was trying to educate the op and all the other lurkers in this forum. Its a shame that we have to know this type of thing but really looking at a label and understanding it is imperitive in this day and age.

Hey, it's okay! I took no offense, at all. And I know exactly what you mean-- it took people here on MDC sharing this kind of information, when I first started coming on here, for me to learn all this stuff. I do avoid MSG, when my disease is active (I have ulcerative colitis), but when it's in remission, I can eat more widely, and I've learned to relax about the occasional convenience food. I just wanted to offer another perspective! And the OP did ask about packaged chicken base.

[Chicky2]

I also make stock all.the.time.  We butcher our own meats so we have gobs and gobs of bones.  We were butchering wild pigs onetime and my sister and I caught someone taking a load of ribs to the fence to DUMP.  We ran over and got them and bagged 'em up, lol.  I admit when there are 60 pigs to butcher you get tired, but I just cannot ever, ever, ever turn down stock bones!

I make chicken, pig, rabbit, goat, lamb, beef, deer, guinea, and duck stocks.  I always load up my biggest stock pot, and get it simmering.  I add whey (into cheese making lately so lots to spare) or acv.  If it's red meat, I roast the bones first, if it's lighter meat I just stick the bones in the pot.  I simmer for at least 24 hrs, cool, strain, simmer and reduce until I have only a few inches of stock in the bottom of the pan (my stock pots are 30 gallons, btw).  Cool again, scoop out into blobs on a cookie sheet, flash freeze, and pop into bags.  Oh, I forgot...I keep a plastic tub in the freezer for all my aromatic veggie scraps (onion tops, celery leaves, carrot tops/peels, etc). and dump that into the stock pot each time I make stock.  I try to make stock twice monthly, as you can see it's in HUGE quantities.  I use it in everything from soups to casseroles to stir fries to making grains.

[melissel]

Originally Posted by Arduinna 

I've cooked Ina's before also, but I prefer the roasted chicken carcass method. Mostly because I prefer the taste of brown stock and also because I think it's a waste of good meat when I can get great flavor from just the bones.

I was thinking the same thing--by "discard the solids," she can't mean all the meat too, right? How could one bring oneself to discard three chickens worth of meat?

It's funny, I actually prefer stock from the raw chickens myself, though I still make broth/stock from the roasted chickens because I can't bear to waste the carcass. If I could just figure out how to properly bone a chicken so I could use the parts for meals and the raw carcass for broth, I'd be so happy. I watched an Alton Brown episode on it, but whenever I try to take joints apart in real life I end up making a gigantic mess *sigh* Think I could get him to come over some day and show me in person?

[Chicky2]

I don't know about Alton, but if you are ever in my neck of the woods I'll show ya.  I de joint every kind of beast out there, lol.

[HollyBearsMom]

Oh no, I never throw away the meat.  Makes great chicken salad, chicken pot pie, etc.  I always interpreted the "solids" as garlic, onion, herbs, etc. not the chicken itself.

[melissel]

Originally Posted by Chicky2 

I don't know about Alton, but if you are ever in my neck of the woods I'll show ya.  I de joint every kind of beast out there, lol.

I wish! Texas is a bit far from NJ, but if I'm ever around, I'll let you know

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

Oh no, I never throw away the meat.  Makes great chicken salad, chicken pot pie, etc.  I always interpreted the "solids" as garlic, onion, herbs, etc. not the chicken itself.

Oh, whew! I mean, I know the things Ina makes are often indulgences, but that was going a bit far, even for her

So if you have moment, at what point do you take out the meat? How hard is it to separate out or remove from the carcass? When I'm boiling down a carcass, there's not usually a ton of meat left, so it's pretty easy to pick out the meat bits and discard the bones. Does it get very complicated if you have a lot more meat on the bones?

ETA: This whole discussion has inspired me to try to bone my next thawed chicken and see how I do! I just realized that I cut down a bunch of chicken wings last week for baked buffalo wings and I did OK. If I mess the whole bird up, worst-case scenario, I throw the wreck in a pot and go for stock

ETA again: Why is it called boning a chicken and not DEboning a chicken? I've never understood that. My inner 11-year-old boy (or 36-year-old man, in my DH's case) giggles every time I have to refer to "boning" a chicken