Chicken Stock

A few weeks ago I bought some local natural raised chickens. They were whole and had never been frozen. (there were even quite a few feathers left on!) I cooked them up right away and cut off all the meat to use later in enchiladas or soup or something. I did my usual routine with the bones and skin - made stock.

For stock, you can use whatever you can get your hands on. Fryer chickens are sometimes really cheap at the local grocery store. You can bake them, cut off the meat and use the carcass. If you buy one of those rotisserie chickens from Costco, save the bones. I have also heard of people using chicken wings to make stock.

This is such an easy thing to make and great to have on hand. You know exactly what is in it, no strange additives, no mysterious ingredients.

Chicken Stock


Clean as much meat and fat from the bones as you can. Put the carcasses in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil (this is important as the boil will cause any fat to float to the top and you can skim it off). Boil the carcass for about 30 minutes. You can keep your stuff on the stove, but for convenience I prefer using my crock pot on high at this point. After the pot has boiled on the stove about 30 minutes, skim the top again and pour everything into your crock pot. Then add some carrots, celery, onion, a bay leaf or two and some salt and pepper. There is no set amount but you probably want at least 3 or 4 carrots and one big onion. All the veggies need to be cleaned and roughly chopped. They will get discarded later so they dont need to look great.
Simmer in your crock pot for about 3 hours. Pull out all the big pieces and pour the liquid thru a fine strainer. You can use it immediately or freeze it for use in later dishes.
2 carcasses covered with water should make about 2 1/2 quarts of stock.