When I am at home I often buy a whole chicken, I cut (fabricate) out the meat I will use for dinner and the meat I don’t use I save it in a freezer bag with a date on it and place in the freezer. After there is only the carcasses left, I will then take the carcasses wash it and cut into smaller pieces and also freeze it until I have at least 3-5 chicken carcasses.
Once I have all carcasses, I place into a crock pot. Add cold water to cover the bones (about 2) inches. Add the mirepoix (25%carrots, 25%celery, and 50%onoins), thyme, parsley stems and a bay leaf. On low heat, let it simmer for about 3-4hrs without lid (or if you use a lid, make sure the lid allows some of the air inside of the crock pot to escape, also keep in mind, it may take a little longer in a crock pot. I just put it on in the mornings; go to work and when I get home from work my stock is done.
Strain your stock through a fine strainer. The best way to remove all the fat is, by placing in your stock in the refrigerator. The fat will float to the top and you will be able to scrape off the fat. Once the fat has been removed I then pour the stock into ice cube trays and freeze.
After your stock has been frozen into little cubes, place the frozen chicken cubes into a plastic container (by doing this your stock will last longer and be ready to use if and when you need some chicken stock for a soup, sauces or anything else you need chicken stock for).
All this may seem like a lot of work, but if you pick a day to do this maybe a Sunday when you are off from work, it will be worth the trouble later on in the week when you are looking for that extra flavor. You also know what you are eating and not have to wonder if it is good for you or not. If you use your frozen chicken cubes as often as I did, you should only have to make stock about once or twice a month. Let me know if you have any questions about this
No comments:
Post a Comment