Rainy Day Project: Chicken Stock

Today is dreary outside and I have no interest in leaving the house.  One of my projects for today is to make chicken stock.  My freezer has been keeping the left overs from my chicken butchering day for the past few months and I decided to help make some room by cooking some of them in my large stock pot.

I threw a couple of frozen bags of chicken bits into the pot and covered them with water.  After setting the pot on the stove to boil I added chopped celery, carrots, onions, garlic and bay leaves.  I also added a splash of white vinegar to help pull the minerals out of the bones for a richer stock.  When I make stock I let the mix simmer all day long, but after the first couple of hours I take the bones out to remove all the extra meat scraps from them, then return the bones to the stock pot.  Those little shreds of meat will go into soup or chicken salad so nothing goes to waste.

The stock simmered all day long and before bed I ran in through a strainer to remove all the bones and mushy veggies from the rich yellow liquid.  The liquid cooled in the fridge overnight so the fat was easier to skim from the top in the morning.  The next day I returned the liquid to the stove and simmered it down to concentrate it a little more.

Once the stock was cooked down enough I got out my pressure canner and  processed it in quart jars for long term storage.  This way I don't have to take up any more space in the freezer and the stock is ready to use at a moment's notice.  This batch made about 7 jars of lovely golden stock for my pantry.

This stock is so rich and hearty, that it could be a meal by itself.  It will get used to make risotto or rice pilaf in some dishes this spring and I'm sure I will be needing to make another batch before long.