Chicken Stock

 

I’ve created a monster.  For years I would tell my husband to try the self check-outs at the grocery store, because he would always complain about having to go through the till to simply buy 1 onion.  I finally showed him how easy it was and now that’s all he will use.  Which also means if I only want 1 onion, I get a bag, because everything needs to have a barcode on it, so its easy for him to just scan.

For this recipe, which I got from Smitten Kitchen (https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/11/perfect-uncluttered-chicken-stock/).  The only thing I do different, is the amount of chicken wings, and I add more water, enough to fill the crock pot to the very rim.

I buy my chicken wings from Costco, they come in large flat packs.  I divide the pack into two separate bags, freezing one for a later date to make more stock and one for the stock I make when I buy the chicken wings.

I could go on and on about how chicken wings are best for making chicken stock, but if you Google it, you can read all about it on various sites.

Now, I asked my loving husband for 1 large yellow onion, and because I have created a monster, I received a bag of small little yellow onions, so while I would normally use only 1 large yellow onion, this time I had to use 3 to get the same amount of onion.

I also only use 1 garlic clove, but my husband buys 3 heads of garlic, because they come in a package together, with the every popular bar code for scanning.  Someone really needs to tell me what to do with all the garlic I have left over, I have no clue what else to use it for.

And lastly, 1 tsp of salt.

Put your chopped up onion, smashed/crushed garlic and salt in your crock pot, mine is 7.5 quarts, so it’s pretty big.  Then I dump the chicken wings on top (which usually amounts to about 2.3 lbs.  and then fill with water.  Right to the rim.  Put the lid on and cook.

There are two ways to do this in a crock pot, on low for 10 to 12 hours, or on high for 6 hours.  I’m lucky because I work from home, so when I get up in the morning, before I start working I dump everything in the crock pot, put the lid on and turn it up to high.  When my workday is done, so is the chicken stock.  If you work outside the home, you can set it for low and let it cook all day while you’re at work.  Or you could also set it up before you go to bed at night and when you get up in the morning, it will be done.

You definitely need to strain the stock through several layers of cheese cloth.  This is definitely a must.  Also, don’t bother thinking you can eat the chicken wings after they’ve just been cooked for 6 to 12 hours.  They’ve done all they can do, let them die in peace.

I place a fine mesh strainer and place this over my mixer bowl from my stand mixer, then I line this with several layers of cheese cloth and slowly ladle the stock from the crock pot into the strainer.  Once it gets full of chicken wings and onions, I dump those out and reset it as you want to catch any sort of sediment that is in the stock, to get a nice clear stock.

You can let the stock chill out in the fridge to get rid of any fat that is on top, but I have found that I don’t really get a lot of fat on top, so while it’s still warm, I portion it out into 1 quart containers, place the lids on top and then put them in the fridge to chill out, before placing them in the freezer.

These will last several months in the freezer, but they don’t really last that long, as we use them for everything from gravies to soup and sauces, as well as stuffing.

I used to buy chicken broth in the containers and in a pinch I would still do that, if I had to, but I’ve been making this stock now for several months and I like to keep this on hand as it is far better than anything you can buy.

If you want to add more garlic to this you can.  As Smitten Kitchen says, you can add peppercorns, or whatever you want, but this really is just a starting off point.

I like to think of it as a no fail recipe, as you can’t really screw this up.  I like these kinds of recipes.

 

 

Chicken Stock

(Makes 4 to 5 quarts)

 

2.2 to 2.4 lbs. chicken wings (half a flat pack from Costco)

1 large yellow onion

1 garlic clove

1 tsp. salt

Water

 

1. In a large crock pot, add in your chopped onion, smashed garlic, 1 tsp. salt and chicken wings.
2. Add in water to fill the crock pot to the rim.
3. Cover and turn to low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 6 hours.
4. Once finished, strain stock through a cheese cloth lined fine mesh strainer, divide stock between 4 to 5 – 1 quart containers, allow to cool in the fridge and then freeze for up to 3 months.