making chicken stock from carcass..

[lucysmam]

instruct me please

[LimeFlower]

Flatten the carcass so it takes up less space in the pot,add some chopped:
carrots
leek or onion
celery or celeriac
a few peppercorns
bay leaf
Cook slowly(it's fantastic from slow cooker)

If there's too much sediment strain the liquid through the sieve into another pot(not over the sink as I've done it

[lucysmam]

haha, dp once sieved a cuppa soup into the sink when i was pg to remove the croutons

ty for the instructions, will do that in morning

[MoreBeta]

I do what *LimeFlower does except I roast the carcass first in a big meat tray then add water after an hour or so. I also add parsley thyme, garlic clove.

Slow cook in oven about 100 degrees C, skim of fat and scum regularly for several hours.

Strain off the liquid and freeze in portions once cool.

[lucysmam]

I daren't roast it....oven door fell off yesterday so am trying to keep use to a minimum.....will make a note of that way too though ty

[MoreBeta]

Your oven door fell off? How did that happen? Aggressive cleaning?

[lucysmam]

lol, nope, although it is desperate for a clean..... it's been looking wonky for a while and came off in my hands yesterday when i went to take the bits i store in there out. one of the hinges had dropped a bit, sorted now

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

Another one advocating roasting the bones, garlic cloves and vegetables etc in a hot oven for about 20 mins before making stock. Add a star anise to your stock pot if you want it to have an extra savoury quality.

[LimeFlower]

Never heard about roasting the bones,will have to try that.Sunday roast anyone ? Second helping ?

Only joking,imagine taking it out of the oven as a main course.

I make stock from the carcass after it's been roasted,should I still roast the bones or not?

[MoreBeta]

I save left over chicken carcasses either raw or after a roast dinner and freeze. Then I have a big stock making day once I have accumulated several carcasses.

I thaw and then roast to quite brown finish in the oven in a big meat tray along with the veg and herbs. Then once it is quite browned I add boiling water. It makes the stock brown then I freeze that and take out in portions to make gravy, sauces, etc.

I tend to make beef stock with left over from roast rather than bones and lamb stock I make from leftover roast lamb leg bones plus trimmings. I roast all of them again as per chicken.

[LimeFlower]

Thanks for the tip,will try to roast the chicken.As for beef I bought some oxtail to try but didn't like it too much.

[21mealspluscake]

I've started reducing stock down quite a lot by simmering for longer, then I fill ice cube bags to freeze. Easy access to small amounts and easy to dilute for larger quantities.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

BTW... if you own a pressure cooker, stock-making takes no time at all - 15/20 mins. All the flavour stays in the pot, no evaporation, no kitchen full of chickeny steam... :)

[thestylethatdecadesforgot]

Ooh, can I ask a question about the carcass: I have read when making stock that the carcass needs to have no meat on it at all. So I asked the butcher to give me some carcass and when it arrived (they deliver) it was covered in meat and slime, was mostly leggy bits I think and I ended up chucking it as there were no discernible bones. What does everyone else do? I can roast a whole chicken but even then I don't get all the meat off it so I've never made stock.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I don't bother about getting all the meat off, any scraps from plates go in too (I usually make it straight after roast dinner).

The other way I do it is to cook chicken wings in the slow cooker, with the other stock ingredients added. Then get the wings out, try and keep them whole, put them in an oven tray with some salt and chopped herbs, or marinade, whatever, approx 20 mins on highish heat in the oven and you've got delicious wings to nibble and a pot full of stock.

[lucysmam]

good idea 21meals will do that next time, have a freezer full of 1L frozen blocks here.......well, four blocks but still ......

i didn't bother scraping the meat off that was left....picked it off and ate it after pouring stock through culinder (sp?) might not be a bad way to cook a whole bird tbh

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

@thestlyle ... I roast the whole chicken, serve up all the usable meat over a couple of meals, save the bones with all the scraps of meat and fat etc attached and then roast it all up so that the bones brown and the meaty bits are fairly crispy and toasted before boiling with veg, herbs etc. Result is a nicely flavoured pale but cloudy stock. There's a different method for making clear stock ... maybe that's the one that requires meatless bones?

[FlouncingMintyy]

I did this recently for the first time ever and I have to tell you I will not be doing it again . Just too much time and effort when you can get Knorr chicken stock cubes which make 10x tastier stock.

[LimeFlower]

Cogito it doesn't bother me if it's cloudy,heard that cooking the stock on a low heat keeps it clear.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Mine's always cloudy but it tastes masses better than any stock cube, they are way too salty for me.

[MoreBeta]

Dont worry about meat on the bones. Its better that way in my view.

[JollyRedGiant]

After we've had a roast chicken, I just put the carcass in a pot with some water and boil it for a couple of hours. I had never considered there might be an alternative way to do it.

MN is so enlightening.