Introduction: How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock: Recipe for Chicken Stock Accented With Fresh Rosemary and Thyme.

How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock: Recipe for Chicken Stock Accented with Fresh Rosemary and Thyme. In this video, I will show you my hybrid method for making a deep and rich homemade chicken stock.

I love homemade chicken stock. Its rich, flavorful, and so much better than the stuff in the store. Chicken stock is a pantry staple and used in so many recipes. Whether you are making a comforting bowl of chicken soup or creating a tasty sauce, chicken stock is indispensable in the kitchen.

It wasn't all that long ago that the only way to get chicken stock was to make it yourself. Nowadays, it’s all too easy to pick some up at the supermarket on the way home. Although convenient, store bought chicken stock is expensive and lacks in flavor. So much so that I often think of my homemade chicken stock as a secret ingredient.

People think I am crazy when I say that I make homemade chicken stock. They say things like, “doesn't it take all day to make that?” or “I don’t have the time for stuff like that.” So then I explain to them that using the pressure cooker method, you can get chicken stock in under 2 hours. Now, some would argue that the pressure cooker method will not produce the same depth of flavour as a slow 12 hour simmered stock, and they are correct. I believe that by using a hybrid pressure cooker/simmer method, we can significantly reduce the time without sacrificing the richness or the flavor. But for arguments sake, lets make it the slow way, the fast way, and then my way.

First, we start with the ingredients. I created this recipe to work with 1 pound of chicken, so all you need to do is double or triple this recipe to make even more chicken stock.

Ingredients per 1 pound of chicken:

1 pound of chicken bones and meat
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 pinch of fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
5-10 peppercorns
5 cups of water

Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit on broil. Place all of the ingredients, except for the water, in a parchment lined roasting pan. Place the roasting pan into the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, carefully stir to expose all of the bits that are unbrowned. Repeat this 3 more times for a total of 1 hour. This step is going to brown and caramelize the chicken and vegetables, helping us develop a rich flavor in the final product. It also makes your house smell like roast chicken, yum.

Step 2:
Transfer all of the ingredients from the roasting tray to your pressure cooker or canner and add the water. I used a pressure canner in this video, but a pressure cooker will work fine. As all pressure canners or cookers are different, you need to consult your manual for appropriate timing. These instructions are for the Presto 22 quart pressure canner that I used in the video. Place the pressure canner on the stovetop on medium high heat and latch the lid. When a steady stream of steam escapes from the stove pipe, cover with the weight. Allow the pressure canner to come up to 15 psi and then turn the heat down to medium. You may need to adjust the heat depending on your stove to keep it at a consistent 15 psi. Set a timer for 20 minutes and take a break. This step is going to extract all of the flavors from the bones, meat, and vegetables.

Step 3:
When the timer goes off, turn off the heat, and let it sit until the pressure lock releases. At this point, you can open the lid and you have stock. Like I said, this is a perfectly good stock and you can stop here, but if you want something even better then continue on. Turn the heat back on the stovetop to medium low and simmer uncovered for 4 hours.

Step 4:
Strain the chicken broth with a fine screen strainer or cheesecloth. You should allow the chicken stock to cool on a cold stovetop until it’s cool enough to place in the fridge. Leave the chicken stock in the fridge overnight. The next day, all of the chicken fat will solidify on the surface. You can remove it for a fat free chicken stock or leave it, your call.

Step 5:
Transfer the cooled chicken stock to storage containers and keep in the fridge for 1 week or freeze for 3 months. If you want to can your newly created chicken stock, check out my video on canning here.

If you still wish to use the long and slow method, perform the step 2 and 3 modification shown below:

Step 2 and 3 modification:
Transfer all of the ingredients from the roasting tray to your slow cooker. Set heat to low and let simmer for 12 hours.

I hope you enjoy this homemade chicken stock and feel free to let me know what you used it for in the comments below.
For more tips and projects visit my blog http://www.getforked.ca.


Also check out my video on how to can chicken stock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un7cp0g8FYQ

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