Chicken stock is one of my all time favorite things. I keep it on hand as a base for soups, stews and sauces. I love the smell of my house on the mornings when it’s cooking. And amazingly my toddlers can slurp two bowls in one sitting, it’s that good! Even though I believe in the beneficial properties of bone broths, I don’t follow the popular notion that they need to be cooked for extended periods of time. Up to 72 hours? By then it’s not just my kids saying ‘eww, yuck’ at the smell but I myself couldn’t stay inside to endure the stink. There are no studies (or even posts from some geeky dudes with cool lab equipment) showing that longer cooking extracts more minerals or vitamins into broth, but there is some evidence that it doesn’t (source).
Three to five hours of simmering chicken bones/parts on stove top is more than enough to extract collagen. During cooking, collagen undergoes hydrolysis (chemical reaction in the presence of water) that converts it into gelatin. Gelatin is the most prominent nutrient when it comes to bone broth, and the one we know is actually present, since we don’t need lab gear to see our broth turn jello-like when cooled. This is a good article about the benefits of gelatin.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN STOCK
Ingredients
1 whole pasture-raised chicken
2-3 chicken feet, or 5-7 chicken wings
1 onion
1 carrot
1 lemon
1 celery stick with leaves
Salt to taste
Spices of your choice, like peppercorns, bay leaves, mustard seeds, cloves, coriander seeds, etc.
Enough cold filtered water to fill a pot
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a large stock pot, fill with cold water, bring to boil, turn down to simmer; remove scum with a spoon.
Simmer for 2.5 – 3 hours.
Cool slightly, remove the meat, toss the spent veggies and herbs; strain into two 1/2 gallons jars through a fine strainer.
Remove congealed fat off the top when the stock is cooled. Or not.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken preferably pasture-raised
- 5-7 chicken wings or 2-3 chicken feet
- 1 onion
- 1 lemon
- 1 celery rib with leaves
- salt to taste
- spices of your choice: peppercorns, bay leaves, mustard seeds, coriander seeds
- filtered water
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large stock pot, fill with cold water, bring to boil, turn down to simmer; remove scum with a spoon.
- Simmer for 2.5 – 3 hours.
- Cool slightly, remove the meat, toss the spent veggies and herbs; strain into two 1/2 gallons jars through a fine strainer.
- Remove congealed fat off the top when the stock is cooled. Or not.
4 comments
I have made this twice following your instructions exactly and it comes out great. The second time I made it I added some smashed garlic cloves. The fact that you only cook it 3 hours makes it a much more convenient thing to do. I really love your blog and plan on trying a lot more recipes.
Thank you so much for the review and the kind words, Jackie! Glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Hi Valeria, just curious why you toss the vegetables?
Hey Anya, you’ll know once you make it 🙂 – they get very mushy and discolored, since all their goodness releases into the broth, not something I want to eat. Every now and then I save the carrots, if they are not too soggy to add them to ‘olivie’ salad.