My chicken broth gelled!!!! :D

[knittinclothmama]

I've made chicken broth several times and it just came out watery and not very tasty. But the other day I put a whole chicken (organic, free range) in the crockpot on low for 8 hours and it made a wonderful broth. I put the broth in th fridge and when I took it out and scraped the fat off the top it was gelled so perfectly!!! I'm so happy!!! I froze it for now so it doesn't go bad but I can't wait to use it!!!

[pampered_mom]

Congratulations! How exciting!

[Nora'sMommy]

Did you do or use anything different this time. I've been having issues with mine not gelling. It's so frustrating!

[nicolelynn]

Originally Posted by Nora'sMommy

Did you do or use anything different this time. I've been having issues with mine not gelling. It's so frustrating!

Ditto.

And did you just put the whole darn chicken in or cut up the wings, neck, etc like the recipe suggests? I usually cut off the legs and the breast to eat and then use the rest for broth...but mine turns out weak.

[texaspeach]

congrats!! I was so excited when my stock turned out just right

The higher your ratio of bones to meat, the more the stock will gel. the collagen in the bones breaks down as you cook it and that's what makes the broth gel.

[Chicharronita]

I've only just gotten my broth to gel twice recently. The first time, I used boiled, peeled chicken feet (I know, yuck, but man, it made the tastiest broth), and the second time, I used a crock pot. In the second case, I think it worked because there wasn't too much water. If there's too much water, it will stay water-y!

[knittinclothmama]

Ya, I'm pretty excited!! DH thinks I'm crazy!!! I've always done my broth in a stock pot on the stove and I've tried it several ways, a whole chicken, just a carcass, etc.... I've also had trouble getting a roasted chicken cooked completely without the breasts drying out. So I tried it in the crockpot. I put the whole chicken in the crock, salt and peppered it in and out and stuffed it with onion, celery and carrots, NO water!! Turned it on low and cooked for 8 hours. My plan was to take the whole thing out and put it in the oven just so the skin got a little crispy but when I took it out the entire chicken fell apart, every bone!! It would be great to use the meat for enchiladas or tacos or whatever else but don't plan on getting it out whole! I strained the bones and extra stuff from the broth and it was super dark and clear, gelled really good and it had a nice layer of fat on the top after it was refrigerated!!! It was the easiest chicken and broth I ever made and smelled heavenly cooking all day!!!

[Chicharronita]

YUM! I'm so glad I just ate before reading that!

In fact, I used the meat from when I made broth in the crock pot to make another soup tonight: I sautéed some leeks, carrots and garlic in butter, then added some broth. After it was boiling for about 15 minutes and the veggies were all tender, I added the shredded chicken pieces, and let it get hot. Then I used a hand-held blender and puréed the soup until it slightly thickened, and added cream until it was very thick.

For my dd's bowl of soup, I cut up a slice of sprouted wheat bread and put it in the soup, mashing it all together until the bread fell apart in pieces and became very stew-y. She really enjoyed that. I like my soup with a squeeze of lemon juice and hot pepper sauce.

Originally Posted by knittinclothmama

I've made chicken broth several times and it just came out watery and not very tasty. But the other day I put a whole chicken (organic, free range) in the crockpot on low for 8 hours and it made a wonderful broth. I put the broth in th fridge and when I took it out and scraped the fat off the top it was gelled so perfectly!!! I'm so happy!!! I froze it for now so it doesn't go bad but I can't wait to use it!!!

Originally Posted by knittinclothmama

Ya, I'm pretty excited!! DH thinks I'm crazy!!! I've always done my broth in a stock pot on the stove and I've tried it several ways, a whole chicken, just a carcass, etc.... I've also had trouble getting a roasted chicken cooked completely without the breasts drying out. So I tried it in the crockpot. I put the whole chicken in the crock, salt and peppered it in and out and stuffed it with onion, celery and carrots, NO water!! Turned it on low and cooked for 8 hours. My plan was to take the whole thing out and put it in the oven just so the skin got a little crispy but when I took it out the entire chicken fell apart, every bone!! It would be great to use the meat for enchiladas or tacos or whatever else but don't plan on getting it out whole! I strained the bones and extra stuff from the broth and it was super dark and clear, gelled really good and it had a nice layer of fat on the top after it was refrigerated!!! It was the easiest chicken and broth I ever made and smelled heavenly cooking all day!!!

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by knittinclothmama

I've also had trouble getting a roasted chicken cooked completely without the breasts drying out.

This is actually why I like the roast chicken recipe in the NT cookbook so much. It's the only recipe I know of that has you cook the chicken upside down for the first hour and then breast side up the second hour. Since the chicken breasts aren't facing up the entire time they are less likely to get dry. If you still have problems (or if that's what you were doing anyway) you can also make a "tent" out of aluminum foil and place that over the breast area of the bird for about 1/2-3/4 of the cooking time and then remove at the last minute to allow the skin to get brown and crispy.

[knittinclothmama]

Originally Posted by pamered_mom

This is actually why I like the roast chicken recipe in the NT cookbook so much. It's the only recipe I know of that has you cook the chicken upside down for the first hour and then breast side up the second hour. Since the chicken breasts aren't facing up the entire time they are less likely to get dry. If you still have problems (or if that's what you were doing anyway) you can also make a "tent" out of aluminum foil and place that over the breast area of the bird for about 1/2-3/4 of the cooking time and then remove at the last minute to allow the skin to get brown and crispy.

I'll definitely have to try that since I know that my crock chicken isn't good for "roasted" chicken!! I hadn't even looked in the NT book for that!! Thanks!!

[kdmama33]

Sometimes my stock gels, sometimes it doesn't. It doesn't seem to make much difference as to what I do.

That crockpot chicken sounds good, though!

[moneca]

Originally Posted by pamered_mom

This is actually why I like the roast chicken recipe in the NT cookbook so much. It's the only recipe I know of that has you cook the chicken upside down for the first hour and then breast side up the second hour. Since the chicken breasts aren't facing up the entire time they are less likely to get dry. If you still have problems (or if that's what you were doing anyway) you can also make a "tent" out of aluminum foil and place that over the breast area of the bird for about 1/2-3/4 of the cooking time and then remove at the last minute to allow the skin to get brown and crispy.

I love this recipe too and notice all the gelatin in the bottom of the pan once it goes in the fridge. When I add the bones from a roasted chicken in with a new chicken carcass for broth I always get a beautiful broth that has a jello consistency when chilled. I also soak the roasted bones and new chicken in spring water with vinegar for 8 hours before cooking.

[bigknitwit]

Okay - let me get this straight: put the whole raw chicken in the crockpot, seasoned/stuffed however I want to. Cook chicken for 8ish hours. Remove meat from chicken (as chicken falls apart) and add water to the crockpot (which now has only the carcass). Splash the vinegar, Cook in crockpot for 24hours and voila! gelled stock? Let me know if this is right - I must try. I haven't had a gelled stocked in months...

The Joy of Cooking has a great way to roast chicken and other smaller poulty so you don't overcook the breast: (For a 4ish pound unstuffed bird) Place bird on it's side for 30ish minutes, then turn bird to other side for 30ish minutes, then put breast up for another 30ish minutes. Check temperatures of legs (175+) and breast (165+), and that's it. Makes the bird beautifully roasted and golden all over = yummy chicken!

[knittinclothmama]

All *I* did was the first part, chicken 8 hrs in the crock. When it was done there was about three inches of broth in the bottom of the crock, about 2-2.5 cups. I strained it and refrigerated it and it gelled. It was very rich and dark. You could do what you said and add water w/ vinegar and cook longer w/ the bones but I haven't tried that. What I did was really, really easy!!!!
Thanks for the Joy of Cooking recipe, sounds good!!

Originally Posted by bigknitwit

Okay - let me get this straight: put the whole raw chicken in the crockpot, seasoned/stuffed however I want to. Cook chicken for 8ish hours. Remove meat from chicken (as chicken falls apart) and add water to the crockpot (which now has only the carcass). Splash the vinegar, Cook in crockpot for 24hours and voila! gelled stock? Let me know if this is right - I must try. I haven't had a gelled stocked in months...

The Joy of Cooking has a great way to roast chicken and other smaller poulty so you don't overcook the breast: (For a 4ish pound unstuffed bird) Place bird on it's side for 30ish minutes, then turn bird to other side for 30ish minutes, then put breast up for another 30ish minutes. Check temperatures of legs (175+) and breast (165+), and that's it. Makes the bird beautifully roasted and golden all over = yummy chicken!

[Chicharronita]

If you do it this way, I think you're supposed to add some more meat-y bones (like necks) so the broth will have flavor. I know a lot of people cook the chicken twice like what you're describing; once for the meat, and the second time for broth. However, it's fine to make the broth on the first round, being sure to add vinegar and water right from the beginning.

Originally Posted by bigknitwit

Okay - let me get this straight: put the whole raw chicken in the crockpot, seasoned/stuffed however I want to. Cook chicken for 8ish hours. Remove meat from chicken (as chicken falls apart) and add water to the crockpot (which now has only the carcass). Splash the vinegar, Cook in crockpot for 24hours and voila! gelled stock? Let me know if this is right - I must try. I haven't had a gelled stocked in months...

[Juliensiss]

: I always tossed gelled broth. I thought it was spoiled, or had something wrong with it.:

[~*~MamaJava~*~]

what do you do with the gelatin? I'm new to this...I know chicken broth is great for lots of things - but I don't know anything about the gelatin. Help me out!

[saratc]

You use it just like broth -- for soups, gravies, etc. When it heats up, it's liquid again.