Chicken stock!

[Siegal]

So I am making some and I wanted to hear the opinions of some of the more well seasoned cooks here.

I have a collection of wing tips, bones, and some fatty chicken backs i bought browning in my giant stock pot. Last time the backs were so fatty I spent like 2 hours rendering off the fat and saved it in the freezer for matzoh balls and what not. Will try today if they are fatty enough. After the bones brown I add a few whole carrots, onion, parsley, celery, bay leaf, peppercorns. How long should i let it simmer? Any special tips or tricks I should know of?

[Andy M.]

Simmer 4-6 hours, skimming off the scum that rises to the surface at the beginning. Strain off the bones and skim off as much fat as you can. Then you can bring it to a boil to reduce the stock and concentrate the flavors.

Once done, cool quickly with a water/ice bath and refrigerate. I use plastic bags of ice in the stock while the pan is in a water bath.

I package the stock in quart freezer bags and freeze.

[FrankZ]

If your stock has lots of fat in it you can ice it down then put it in the fridge overnight. The fat will rise and mostly solidify (chicken fat doesn't seem to get real solid for me). You can then remove it easy peasy lemon squeezy.

After that is done you can start the reducing stage.

Are you canning or freezing the results?

[Siegal]

I freeze it in 1 lb containers.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by FrankZ

If your stock has lots of fat in it you can ice it down then put it in the fridge overnight. The fat will rise and mostly solidify (chicken fat doesn't seem to get real solid for me). You can then remove it easy peasy lemon squeezy.

After that is done you can start the reducing stage.

Are you canning or freezing the results?

I find that I get a gelatin out of my stock and the fat is not easy to get off the gelatin. That's why I bought a gravy separator.

[FrankZ]

Originally Posted by taxlady

I find that I get a gelatin out of my stock and the fat is not easy to get off the gelatin. That's why I bought a gravy separator.

Once it is overnight fridge cold I can usually scoop the fat off down to the gelatin stock. The gently remove the last little layer.

Most gravy separators would, at least would seem, to be a pain when dealing with a large amount of stock. Unless I am missing something.

I don't sweat a tiny bit of the fat left, I can usually get that off during the reducing as it forms little sheets.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by FrankZ

Once it is overnight fridge cold I can usually scoop the fat off down to the gelatin stock. The gently remove the last little layer.

What sort of container do you put the stock into? I don't seem to get a very thick layer of fat and I really want to try to keep that chicken fat for roux or frying. If I scrape, I end up with fat in the stock and stock in the fat.

Most gravy separators would, at least would seem, to be a pain when dealing with a large amount of stock. Unless I am missing something.

I don't usually make large amounts of chicken stock. I make it more frequently and usually from bones from meals. Yes, I think a gravy separator would be a pain in the patooty for large amounts (unless you had a huge gravy separator). Mine holds a litre. I usually make stock often enough that it I don't get more than 2 litres or so at a time.

I don't sweat a tiny bit of the fat left, I can usually get that off during the reducing as it forms little sheets.

[PrincessFiona60]

I drop a paper towel (yes, clean) onto the top of my reduced, defatted stock to get the last bit of fat off.

[FrankZ]

Originally Posted by taxlady

What sort of container do you put the stock into? I don't seem to get a very thick layer of fat and I really want to try to keep that chicken fat for roux or frying. If I scrape, I end up with fat in the stock and stock in the fat.

When I make stock I use the 16QT stock pot. Once I pull the junk out I pour it through a cheese cloth into a smaller pot.

The last time I made stock I used a bunch of chicken backs and they were pretty fatty. 13ish pounds of backs, 1.5 pounds of feet and some wing tips. I ended up with about a 1.5l of fat.

Originally Posted by PrincessFiona60

I drop a paper towel (yes, clean) onto the top of my reduced, defatted stock to get the last bit of fat off.

There's an idea. I will try that. Do you leave it flat like a sheet?

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by FrankZ

There's an idea. I will try that. Do you leave it flat like a sheet?

Yes, it attracts the fat. If there is not much fat, just the corner of the paper towel dipped into the center of the fat works well, too.