Chicken Stock

[Astrid]

Older chooks are better if you can get them these days, also proper free range (as in home grown, not commercial). Flavour difference is huge.

[LionsandBears]

Oh yes - I should have said. I only use organic chicken. Don't know if it makes a big flavour difference.

[RhiChiChi]

Onyx - Thanks for that clarification. I'll keep that in mind after we have roast chook. I am sure I'd be able to get a rack/bones from a chicken shop or butcher...

Tashy - Well, I was putting in a whole chook and the veg etc... into a stock pot, so maybe 5 litres or more??

And I'll definately keep in mind about the organic/free range. I tend to buy free range anyway.

[LionsandBears]

I think that's probably too much water. When you say whole chook, do you mean whole with meat or whole as in bones without meat?

If it's just bones, break them up so they lie as flat as they can, with the vegies, then just cover with water. I recently used 3 x maryland pieces and ended up with about 1 litre of stock. The last lot I cheated and threw in pre-made vegie stock concentrate which had a heap of salt in it, so didn't need to add more.

May I hijack and just ask, how long can stock be kept in the fridge before being chucked? Is a week OK?

[RhiChiChi]

^^ yeah, whole shicken with skin, meat & bones....

I usually put whatever I don't use straight in the freezer in portions

[LionsandBears]

I just made chicken stock this weekend and this is what I did:

Roasted 1kg organic chicken necks ($3.50) for about 45mins

Threw into the slow cooker:

A bunch of herbs from the garden (thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, mint)
3-4 pimentos
5-6 peppercorns
1 x garlic clove
1 x fennel, quartered
1 x celery stick, chopped roughly
1 x parsnip, chopped roughly
big dash of apple cider vinegar (probably about 2 tablespoons. this bit is important - it draws the nutrients out of the bones)
roasted chicken necks
1 x tablespoon of premade vegie stock concentrate (I make this in the thermomix. It's a bunch of vegies & salt cooked high then pureed)
covered the lot with water. Probably about a litre or so.

cooked overnight for 12 hours on low.

Strained the liquid and boiled for 5-10 minutes to kill of possible bacteria.
Chucked the leftover meat & vegies in the bin.

I had just over a litre of stock.

I don't add salt as there's a lot of salt in the vegie stock I add. I also dont use onions, as I dont know what I'll use the stock for. If it's for chicken soup for someone feeling sick, I dont use onions as they can upset the tummies.