Clear, deeply flavoured homemade chicken stock is a pleasure to make, with endless possibilities. Once you understand the Do‘s and Don’t‘s you will see how easy the process can be and will try it at home.
My recommendations come from lessons learned in Culinary School, and I have applied and tested them all at home.
1. DON’T Boil the Stock. Boiling will cause all the impurities to become dissolved in the liquid, making it cloudy. Instead, simmer your stock. Skimming helps this as well, if you have removed most of the impurities, when it boils it is less likely to become cloudy.
2. DON’T Stir your stock. Similar to boiling, stirring will cause you to have a cloudy stock.
3. DO use good quality, fresh bones. Old bones which have discolored or have a funny smell will result in a stock with a funny taste, and after all your hard work…
4. DON’T use warm water. Only ever add cold water to cover your bones, or more cold water if you need more water. Cold water will allow the impurities to slowly rise to the surface so you can skim them.
5. DO wait until you have done a few good rounds of skimming before adding your mirepoix (vegetables) or bouquet garni (herbs and spices). Otherwise it is much harder to skim that foam!
6. DO cool it quickly. Because you have such a large volume of hot liquid, it can hold it’s heat for a long time. In order to make sure you have a stock that is safe to eat, try cooling it in a metal container or pot in a sink of cold or ice water. Stir it regularly and it will cool down quickly.
Ready to make some stock? This recipe for making chicken stock will give you clear, flavourful stock every time.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much! I love doing my own stock, but I tend to boil it first. NOTED!
Great tips. I love making my own stock too but I think I’ve been doing it incorrectly. Thanks for the explanation.
Newbie question: Do I need to remove the meat from the bones 1st? ALL of the meat or just what’s easily taken off?
Robert – that is a good question. The short answer is no you don’t have to. By leaving meat on the bones you will end up with a richer stock. In fact by adding meat you actually end up with a meat “broth” rather than a stock.
Thanks! So should I strain out everything solid when done?
Oh… another basic Q: what’s the ratio of water to chicken stuff (if I weight the bones/etc) to water?
btw, just finished winter squash with apples, bacon and kale from here. That’s a great place to put leafy greens, something I’m trying to eat more of.
But next time I’ll use less bacon
Robert – I don’t actually have an exact ratio of meat to water, just enough to cover and keep covered in your pot is what I do. Definitely strain everything solid out when you are done and before you cool it.
If you end up with a watery stock you can always reduce, if it is too strong it can be diluted but I have never had a problem when using a medium width stock pot and ~2-3 lbs chicken bones.