Chicken Stock from Scratch?

[jjhunter]

'elp! 'elp! Some assistance much appreciated

I'm setting aside some time today to batch prepare most of my household's meals for the week, and would love to actual use the leftover chicken bones to make stock instead of tossing them out. Does anyone have any experience making stock from such bones? and/or a reliable recipe they might point me to?

ETA: success! Details here: Adventures in homemade chicken stock (FOR SCIENCE)

Comments

[weaverbird]

Yay for using the bones! Thrifty and tasty - a win/win.

This is my everyday chicken stock:

Bones
Giblets and neck, if available
Large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1-2 stalks of celery, chopped (leaves a plus)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
A thumb of ginger root, peeled and chopped
6-8 black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
2-4 whole allspice
A sprinkle of hot red pepper flakes (optional)
A bay leaf or two
Water to barely cover everything

Note: the finer the vegetables are chopped, the more surface area is exposed and more flavour is extracted in the cooking.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for an hour or two.
Strain, squeezing hard to get all the broth. Discard solids.
Return broth to rinsed stockpot
Bring to boil, reduce heat
Simmer until reduced by half or so. This intensifies the flavour beautifully.
Cool, skim and discard fat.
Refrigerate for use within 2-3 days, or freeze for longer storage.