Chicken Stock & Homemade Chicken Soup

We have worked on developing the perfect chicken stock for years, and this recipe is the result.  Make sure you have a oversized pot on-hand that's large enough to hold all ingredients; we recommend using a stock pot or a Dutch oven.

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Chicken cut up into pieces. Have your butcher do this or there are many videos online that demonstrate the technique
• Alternative: Buy separate parts so that together you have as a minimum 4 large pieces – skin on – and preferably 6 large pieces. (Not drumsticks or wings but actual quarters of the chicken)
• You will need 6 pieces because if you buy separate pieces, you need to replace the carcass of the chicken – which has a good amount of flavor – which you would have gotten from a whole bird
• Note: if you plan to make chicken soup as a meal after the stock, remove the breast meet from the bird and reserve
• 1 Large Yellow Onion, chopped coarsely
• 3 or 4 medium carrots chopped coarsely, no need to peel
• 4 or 5 celery stalks, preferably with the celery leaves
• Half a sprig of fresh parsley
• Half a spring of dill
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• Black peppercorns
• Optional: small parsnip, coarsely cut up
• Optional: 3 whole garlic cloves
• Water, preferably filtered
• Optional yet recommended: Chickens today have been bred to grow fast, be lean, and look good. As a result – in our opinion – very difficult to get the chicken stock taste that we remember from forty years ago.
  • To address this problem, we recommend using a good soup base. Our recommendation would be “Better Than Bouillon” Premium Roasted Chicken base available in most markets
  • If using, add 3 tablespoons

Method

1. Add all ingredients to the pot and cover with filtered water so that all ingredients are covered. If filtered water is not available normal tap water will work
2. Cover and bring to a vigorous boil
3. When the stock boils, turn the stove down to a low setting and move the cover ajar so steam can escape
4. Cook for a minimum of one and half hours. Our recommendation is three hours to maximize flavor development
5. Monitor the stock every 20 or so minutes and add fresh water to keep the ingredients covered (the stock will naturally reduce as it cooks)
6. At this point, the chicken will have fallen off the bones, the vegetables will be wilted, the parsley and dill cooked through.
7. Using another large pot or a bowl big enough to hold the stock, use a strainer, pour the soup through until all stock is passed through the strainer
8. Chef’s Note One: Some would save the chicken that is strained to use later in making chicken soup as a meal. We do not recommend this and feel that the “soup chicken” has lost all flavor and should be discarded
9. Chef’s Note two: the “soup chicken” is perfect for pets!
10. If you have issues with chicken fat, as the stock is cooling you can use a large spoon to remove the chicken fat that has gone to the top of the stock
11. Taste: taste the stock and add salt and pepper to your taste
12. Another option is to cool the stock overnight. The next morning, the chicken fat will have solidified and can easily be removed
13. Or, you can leave the fat as it does provide flavor and mouth umami to the stock. (We keep it)
14. At this point, you will have a flavor beautiful slightly gelatinous chicken stock for many uses
15. Note: Yield will vary depending on amount of chicken used, amount of water added while cooking. Using a 12 Quart stock pot, the chicken stock yield will be approximately 6 to 8 quarts