Ingredients
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500g/ 1 pound Chicken necks
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500g/ 1 pound chicken thighs
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1 big Onions
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2 medium Carrot
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3 medium Potatoes
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3 stalks Celery ribCube the stems and keep the leaves for later
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4 cloves Garlic
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1 tbsp Allspice
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1 tbsp full peppercorn Pepper
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3 Bay leaves
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2 tbsp Kosher Salt
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about 1 gallon/ 4 liters water
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1 bunch Dillabout 6-7 springs
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1 bunch parsleyabout 6-7 springs
Directions
How do I get flavor into my chicken stock? this is the ultimate question when comparing restaurant stock and homemade one.
The taste of many dishes are determined by the quality of the chicken stock, it adds a great umami flavor and allow us to add so much less spices to our food.
So, what is the secret in making a good Chicken stock?
I would divide it into 2 parts
- ingredients
- Cooking
When it comes to ingredients I have seen many variations of chicken stock, some add merrow bone for the extra flavor and gelatin, some add a bit of dashi stock for increased umami taste however the base of the stock in most cases remains the same, which is chicken parts, root vegetables and herbs.
When it comes to the chicken parts we add into the soup, we have many options; wings, thighs, necks, full chicken, legs, a different combination of some of these chicken parts will produce a different taste of the chicken stock.
We are looking for a combination of chicken parts that will have a decent amount of bones and meat. The bones and cartilage-rich joints are in charge of the gelatin production in the chicken stock, that is very important if we want a rich body stock and not a watery stock with no character, the meat will determine the taste of the stock.
My personal favorite is necks and thighs, the thighs supply us with the Gelatin and the necks are just perfect, they hold so much flavor in them because of the multiple blood vessels and contain a decent amount of bones in addition.
when it comes to the vegetable in the chicken stock, i’m pretty old fashioned and use just the basics; onion, celery, carrot, garlic and potato (it adds starch ). The options in adding more vegetables are of course big and depends on your own personal taste, you can add: leeks, parsnip, parsley root et.
don’t bother in slicing the vegetables small, don’t even peel the onions (the shell adds color to the chicken stock), leave them in fairly big chunks, it will add just as much flavor as chopping them.
* This is not the case with the chicken parts, if you want to extract more flavor in a shorter time period cut the chicken parts in smaller bits. this way you can reduce some of the cooking time of the chicken stock.
Cooking the chicken stock
In every kitchen the chicken stock has a different cooking time, it is of course changing from one kitchen to another.
Generally saying i would determine that in order to develope a good flavor and aroma an hour and a half is sufficient time however if you really want the deep chicken stock flavor and rich body you need to cook it for at least 4 hours.
After 4 hours the gelatin proportion of the stock is in higher amount (you could really see that in the fridge when the stalk is becoming in a gel texture) and you could really get a good rich body to the chicken stock and have a great base for every purpose.
Steps
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1
Done
8 minutes
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Starting the stockPut a big pot over High heat and place the chicken parts, onions and celery stems in the pot. |
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2
Done
20 minutes
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boiling and skimmingFill the pot with water up to the top and wait for it to simmer. |
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3
Done
4 hours
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Adding Herbs and spices and cooking the chicken stock to perfectionAdd the garlic, Dill, Parsley sprigs, celery leaves, bay leaves, allspice, black peppercorn and salt. |
