Brown Chicken Stock

Brown Chicken Stock

Backstory

I haven’t been updating this site with the usual frequency lately because I’ve been going back and preparing some of the dishes I’ve already published. In fact, the other night I braised some chicken but found that I didn’t have enough white wine so I added more store-bought chicken stock because I had some leftover from my last post: Beer Braised Chuck Steak. I also cooked another Beer Can Chicken recently so I froze the leftover carcass not wanting to waste anything. With the weather changing, I’ve been encountering many recipes that use either chicken stock or broth and using store-bought versions can get expensive, which was a motivation for this post.

There’s also a couple of things that I’d like to review. Chicken stock is different from chicken broth. The difference is described very eloquintly by aghiowa of 3 Fat Chicks On A Diet. As she describes, it’s really intended to be use as an ingredient in other dishes, of which examples I’ve described above, among others. I’d also imagine that this would be covered fairly early on in a culinary education, as I described in the Teriyaki Sauce and Marinade recipe.

Recipe

I reviewed about a half-dozen chicken stock recipes, all with the same basic ingredients and cooking method. My fear with them is that after I strained the recipe I would be left with clear, chicken flavored water. This recipe appealed to me because it was the first one I encountered that roasted the parts beforehand in order to make the stock brown and I would be able to see the “fruit of my labor,” so to speak. It was adapted from one posted to All Recipes.

Ingredients

1 chicken carcass

1/4 cup olive oil

2 onions, sliced

5 stalks celery

1 carrot, diced

8 cups water

6 to 8 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

4 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

Ingredients Except The Chicken

Chicken Carcass

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Arrange the chicken bones on a baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until well browned.

After 45 Minutes In The Oven

2. Heat the olive oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions, celery and carrots; cook and stir until browned. If they scorch, just add a bit of water and scrape up all the bits.

Vegetables Added To The Stock Pot

3. Add the roasted chicken bones to the pot, and fill with enough water to cover the bones by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary, basil, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 2 hours. Add more water if needed.

After Simmering For Two Hours

4. Strain out all of the solids from the broth, drain off the fat, and refrigerate.The fat can also be removed after it has chilled. The stock will be thick. Use full strength for soups and gravies, or dilute with water for a milder flavor.

Final Thoughts

No Baptism Evaluation this time because this isn’t a finalized dish, just an ingredient to be used in one. In most cases, this recipe will produce more stock than will be necessary for one dish, so I recommend storing it in resealable plastic bags and freezing unused portions. It can be frozen up to six months. This recipe requires a significant investment in time that may not be practical for many, so I have provided an alternate recipe that can be made using a slow cooker (with much less supervision) here. I cannot make any representations as to its taste or quality because I have not attempted it, however.

Enjoy!