Making Stock

So today I went to a small market and bought Chicken bones for like a dollar. I Haven't weighed them yet but I'm guessing I've got about 2-4 pounds. I want to make my own stock from them.\

So I've made stock before but I used Turkey bones from leftover Thanksgiving. I basically used what I had in house when I made this, but for this chicken stock I'm going to the store. I'm actually going in about 10-20 minutes. I know I need to pick up carrots and celery, I already have onions. I have fresh parsley in the fridge. I have dried bay leaves, oregano, S&P.

What else do I need? / Should I pick up???

The main thing is roasting the chicken bones and simmering them for a couple of hours. Sweat the vegetables then add them for the last 30 mins. That way, you won't kill their freshness. I would say that you might consider adding garlic and fresh herbs to the stock. Pretty traditional stuff but it all depends on what you're using it for IMO.

I've never roasted bones before and I've been reading (I watched the whole Good Eats episode) it would make a darker stock. I don't care about color. And aside from Italian Wedding soup (which I had down pat thank you Grandma) I don't have a dish in mind. I was gonna just freeze it in my mason jars.

Basic chicken stock is just bones, mirepoix, and bouquet garni, which is parsley stems (you can use the leaves as well), pepper corns, thyme, and bay leaf.

It's honestly not rocket science. Just cover the bones with cold water, bring it to a simmer, and throw in the bouquet garni (it's traditionally all tied into a bundle, but you're going to strain it at the end so it doesn't really matter). Simmer it for a few hours and taste to tell when it's done. There are more sophisticated ways of clarifying it, but honestly just straining it, chilling it, and scooping off the fat once it's solidified is perfectly fine.

Roasting the bones first is more something you'd do with a beef or veal stock.

Don't overthink it. Just taste as you go, keep it at a low simmer, and don't rush things. You can always reduce it or add more water.

Yeah I know. I guess I was too drunk when I posted this thread because I know I need Carrots, Onion and Celery. I went to the store and got carrots and celery. Fuck I'm still drunk

I've made stock before and holy shit I'm still kinda hammed.

Well for what it's worth, does anyone crushh their garlic or just use it whole?

I don't use garlic in my basic stock, but for how long it's going to simmer leaving it whole wont make any difference.

Some people leave the skin on their onions, but i personally don't think that adds any good flavor.

Well it's now simmering. Gonna be about 4 hours or so until it's "done." I'll take a pic if anyone is interested.

Chicken bones, peppercorns, parsley, thyme, dried oregano, smashed garlic, bay leaves. I can't remember anything else at this point in time.

Oh by the way, I bought baby carrots instead of the large ones. But I took a whole bunch and put them on my cutting board and ran my knife over them a good amount. I figure the amount of them would make up for not using full sized.

OP, the classic recipe for stock is 8 lbs of bones & scraps, 1 lb of mirepoix, and the bouquet garni like mentioned.

Other aromatics like garlic, additional herbs, etc, could be used if you want. Personally I prefer to leave those out and make the stock with the meat and mirepoix only. That way it's more generic and can be used in a wider variety of dishes. If you add those herbs then it might not work well for some applications. For example, western herbs like bay or thyme would clash if you used in a Chinese dish.

Onion skins give no flavor; they are included for color.

Size/type of the carrots doesn't matter, only the weight matters. Baby carrots are OK, just use the same weight as you would the larger carrots.

Hey I'm OP and also Thanks for the detailed reply.

Well it's too late to take anything out, I started this about 8:00 and it came to a simmer at 9:18 (Yeah I was still a lil drunk that I took a Post-It and wrote the exact time.)

Well I thought my scale was broke but it's not, but I found that out after I started everything. I'm gonna say it's at least 4lbs of mostly chicken thigh bones. I'm comfortable saying that.

I used 2 onions, peeled most of the skin but I don't care about that. I think I used 5-6 stalks of celery cut into 1" pieces, and I said the baby carrots. Baby carrots I just grabbed a good 2 handfuls and a few more from the bag and chopped them up a bit.

I know I should have measured stuff but hey what can you do?

If you guys can stick around. I'm gonna go down and take a pic and post it. It smells great so I'm not worried at all, I'm just learning and experimenting.

Is it wrong to make stock in a pressure cooker?

This is maybe an hour in. I've skimmed a good amount at the beginning so just letting it sit now.

I have read mixed things about that. Some sources (like Modernist Cuisine) recommend it. Others (Julia Child - Mastering the art of French Cooking) says that it doesn't taste as good as using an open pot.

that being said, I can't tell any difference between them so yeah, I use the pressure cooker because it saves so much time. I go about 1.5 hours for poultry stocks, 3-4 hours for pork or beef. Fish stocks cook so fast that I always do those in an open pot.

Sounds like it will work out pretty well.

You do have far more veggies than you would normally need. The 1 lb of mirepoix that's used for 8 lbs of bones is really only one onion, one big carrot, and 2 sticks of celery (rough approximation). Since you have about half that much meat you'd need half an onion, one regular size carrot and one stick of celery.

....so what you've got will end up being more like a 50/50 chicken and veggie stock.....and there's nothing wrong with that.

Oh, as for roasting the bones. It is an optional step. For any type of stock you can make it "white" (un-roasted), or "dark", in which the bones (and sometimes the mirepoix) are roasted. Roasting the bones gives a different flavor and a darker color. Both types are very common. White (un-roasted) stocks are milder and a bit more generic in their application. Because they lack the roasted flavor they're better for milder dishes. Dark stocks have a stronger "roasted' sort of flavor to them, so they're good when you want that taste.

Ahh so I over did it. Oh well. I'm ok with a 50/50 I guess.

Could I maybe just add some bouillon to it a bit later if I want a bit more chicken flavor?

I mean I guess that could defeat the purpose of me making it but again, I'm cool with whatever comes out of this.

>>add some bouillon to it a bit later if I want a bit more chicken flavor?

Sure, that would work.

One of the keys to good stock that many people overlook is the texture. IMHO that's just as important--if not more important--than the flavor. A good stock will contain a lot of gelatin from the bones and scraps. When you put it in the fridge it should set up solid. That gelatin is what provides body to the dishes you cook with the stock--it's what thickens the stews and sauces and gives a pleasant mouthfeel to your soups. And that's one thing you don't get with bullion.

I made turkey stock from Thanksgiving leftovers once and it came out pretty tasty (I used it making a turkey pot pie.)

And I also made just a straight up vegetable stock using the ends of onions, peppers, mushroom stems, basicallly anything that would have gone in the trash. I kept them ina Ziploc freezer bag and froze them until I made it.

I know the fat is going to congeal at the top, isn't that "schmaltz"?

Hours from now (probably tomorrow) shouldn't I break that off and save it in a Tupperware container?

salt is incredibly important to your final product. like, a lot more than you'd expect. if it gels up but you think it "doesn't taste like anything/it's watery" add salt until it will suddenly taste amazing.


so folks don't salt their stock on purpose, but just know that it is the essential component to bring out the savory flavor

Oh this is a fact I know for sure. I wait a while before I add any because I want things to meld together and then salt and taste. Can always add, can't take it away!!!

>I know the fat is going to congeal at the top, isn't that "schmaltz"?

I'm not really sure what you're referring to. Schmaltz is rendered fat from poultry. So if you were making chicken or turkey stock then yeah, that's schmaltz. If you're making vegetable stock then there shouldn't be any fat floating on top.

>Hours from now (probably tomorrow) shouldn't I break that off and save it in a Tupperware container?

Yeah, you can save it if you want. Personally I don't think that turkey fat is all that tasty so I wouldn't bother to save it. Goose or duck fat though? That stuff is god-tier.

Yeah, salt is important but I wouldn't salt the stock itself, I'd salt the finished dish that the stock will be used in.

The problem lies when you go to make a sauce: if the stock is salted in advance then it will be far too salty once you've reduced it down.

This nigga knows.

In the future OP, it's more cost efficient for you to buy whole chickens and part them out yourself. Since you'd have to collect an assload of wings to do much with them, I keep the carcass (ribcage, spine, etc), wings, and any sort of organ meat/neck that come with it. Slap it in a ziploc and throw it in the freezer. When I have two I go on and make stock. You get the additional benefit of a lil meat/skin ontop of the bones. Also don't worry too much about ratios of veggies and such-- it's just adding flavor to it however you want. As long as you cook it for long enough and have enough bones, you're not going to fuck it up.

Well I started out making chicken stock... I just might have added a few too many veggies.

I added some bouillon and ground pepper and it's tasting better. I'm not giving up.

Ah, OK, I had no idea if you were OP. I got confused by the mention of turkey and veggies there.

So yeah, if you're making chicken stock then yes the fat which floats on top will be schmaltz. Personally I don't find it worth saving but you're welcome to do so if you want.

IMHO: chicken and turkey fat doesn't taste of much (unless you have a wild bird) and isn't worth keeping around unless you're going super-frugal and don't want to waste a thing. OTOH fat from goose, duck, and game birds is fucking delicious.

Oh it's all good, I got sidetracked and started to ramble.

I'm probably not going to save it, I don't want more shit clogging up my fridge to be honest.

It's still simmering now and it's tasting better, gonna give it maybe an hour or so more and then if it's still not what I want I've either got to do some serious damage control or have to admit defeat. Such a shame I'm being 1-uped by too many fucking veggies.

>too many veggies
Dude, stop listening to people saying you ruined it. It's fucking fine, it'll just have a more complex flavor and that's okay. Quit being a little faggot.