Chicken soup vs Chicken stock: Simple question

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Charlie,

If you have extracted flavor from simmering bones in water, you have made stock.

But these days, the terms are nearly interchangeable

Stock is something that I've been striving to perfect for the past couple of years. I think there are certain things one should know how to make (and strive to perfect): ceasar salad, spaghetti sauce, stock, chili, lefse, bread and chocolate chip cookies. (Okay, lefse only if your ancestors came from Norway <g>).

I have to say, my beef stock is better than Swanson's <g>. And the last batch of chicken stock I made was darned good...The nice thing about making your own is can make it so there is no additional sodium. When you look at the sodium content re: processed soups and broth, it is high. I often do "freezer meals" for my elderly parents who, out of necessity, eat a lot of processed food. I am shocked at how much sodium my heart-patient parents consume each day in processed foods.

Anyway, back to the last batch of chicken stock. I had roasted a chicken. I took the bones and what was in the bottom of the roaster, broke the larger bones (they are a lot harder to break then you would think--used the vice), tossed the bones back in the roaster, added some additional water, and let everything cook at 250 for about 8 hours. I did add a fresh bay leaf and a couple of stocks of celery. Dark, chickeny stock. It is more time consuming than stove top. I toss everything except the stock away. I chill the stock to remove any fat and then I'm ready to make soup. And do check to make sure there is still liquid in the roaster <g>.

For beef stock, I brown the marrow bones first on the stove top, and then toss them with water into the roaster. Sometimes I add a bit of vinegar (supposedly vinegar helps pull calcium out of the bones), sometimes not. The stock is ready when the bones are "tea coloured." I love the smell of beef stock...I wake up throughout the night and tiptoe down to take a peek...Again, I toss the bones, give the dogs the marrow, and save any meat that came off the bones for Beef Barley Soup. The problem I have is that I want to drink the stock as is--when I'm supposed to "save it" for stews, etc. It is more time consuming (I start the stock the night before, put the stock in the fridge, take off the fat in the afternoon, and then I can start my soup or stew). And, do check to make sure the roaster doesn't "cook dry."

I don't make broth very often. I prefer my homemade stock.
 
Thanks for the tip Pacanis. I'll look for it. ;)
Like I mentioned, I know how to make stock, and have done it. A good one is time intensive and sure involves more than boiling a piece of chicken in water. :ermm: All of us use shortcuts, and one of mine is canned chicken broth.
Watch someone pipe up and claim they make their own flour. :ROFLMAO:
I don't mill my own flour, but a friend does!
 
I too like to make my own. I had been making my own, and ran out to get a carton of beef stock. They changed the recipe and now includes MSG. I really didn't enjoy the headache that followed and will be making my own from here on out. I really wish I had a butcher close so that I could buy the bits and pieces and make some nice stock out of it.
 
I too like to make my own. I had been making my own, and ran out to get a carton of beef stock. They changed the recipe and now includes MSG. I really didn't enjoy the headache that followed and will be making my own from here on out. I really wish I had a butcher close so that I could buy the bits and pieces and make some nice stock out of it.

I get my bones from an abatoir (sp). Only downside is I get a 40 lb bag for $10. I can only get the bones when I have room in the freezer (and s/one to heave them into the freezer for me--I thunk the bag on the concrete step to break them apart to package them in smaller bags--) or if I know we are in for a cold spell! Last time I made beef stock, I had 3 roasters in the oven (the large one, the next size, and then yet the next size!). I only got 6 ice cube trays of stock at the end of the day. (And about 4-5 mugs full for me ... oops).
 
@cws

yummmmmmmm!!!

I'd enter an "Iron Challenge" on my beef stock. Close to throwing down that gantlet for the chicken stock. Made an amazing pork stock a couple of weeks ago. And, the last turkey stock I made was amazing--but I haven't repeated that one often enough to accept an "Iron Challenge," but the beef stock, I'm there.
 
Last night i made duck soup. Started with the left over carcass from Monday's roast duck. Got as much of the meat off the bones as I could. Broke up the carcass, including snapping the leg bones. Covered the bones with water and simmered for about 3 hours. Tossed in carrot, celery tops and a bulb of garlic. Simmered another hourish. Tossed the junk from the pot.

The soup I made with the stock turned out very nice, and rich.
 
Last night i made duck soup. Started with the left over carcass from Monday's roast duck. Got as much of the meat off the bones as I could. Broke up the carcass, including snapping the leg bones. Covered the bones with water and simmered for about 3 hours. Tossed in carrot, celery tops and a bulb of garlic. Simmered another hourish. Tossed the junk from the pot.

The soup I made with the stock turned out very nice, and rich.

Duck soup! I envy you.
 
Last night i made duck soup. Started with the left over carcass from Monday's roast duck. Got as much of the meat off the bones as I could. Broke up the carcass, including snapping the leg bones. Covered the bones with water and simmered for about 3 hours. Tossed in carrot, celery tops and a bulb of garlic. Simmered another hourish. Tossed the junk from the pot.

The soup I made with the stock turned out very nice, and rich.

There has to be a Marx Brothers joke in there somewhere!:LOL:
 
In my experience, I've found that the key to a great stock is connective tissue and a high ratio of said tissue to water. While the strict definition says bones, you don't just want dry bones - but also the connective tissue that tends to be all over the bones (which binds the meat to the bones). As many know, low and slow heat turns the collagen in the connective tissue and bones into gelatin - which is why cold stock looks like Jello. In addition, having bits of meat all over the bones lends the stock flavor.

To let my stocks serve as the base for various cuisines, I keep it simple with bones/tissue, salt, and water... no herbs or aromatics (something that I have evolved to over years of making stock - I used to do the traditional French method with a bouquet garni, mirepoix, yadda yadda) . I generally use 8-10 pounds of bones/tissue per gallon of water, along with a scant tablespoon of Morton Kosher salt. Some people like white stocks, but I always rub the bones/tissue down with a bit of canola oil and roast in a 450ºF oven until they're brown and yummy. Then I deglaze into my stock-pot.

In a pinch I will use low-sodium Swanson Chicken Broth when the broth isn't the focus of the dish, but it's definitely a broth and not a stock. It has decent flavor, but none of that rich mouth-feel of a good homemade stock (it's even still liquid after a night in the fridge). I've never had a good packaged beef or pork stock. I even went so far as to buy a dozen or so brands one weekend for a taste test session.
 
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When I make stock, like yesterday, if it isn't saved meat it goes in the pot. All those boinging things. The giblets (other than liver).

I stuck the neck of the duck on the roaster rack after my second turn of the duck (starting the third hour of roasting) to get it all nice and roasted as well. It was tempting to pull the meat off the neck as I love neck meat, but I sacrificed for the good of the stock.
 
Actually, I prefer a mix of roasted and raw parts when making a stock. I seldom roast a chicken whole. I usually either half or quarter it so it cooks more evenly. That leaves me the backbone, wing tips and bagged parts as raw parts to add the the roasted bones I have been saving in the freezer.

When I can fill a 20-quart pot, I spend the day making stock.
 
I have read so many variations on which is broth, and which is stock, from so-called expert chef's, not to mention publications that should be reputable authorities, that I use the common sense approach. Stock means something that you keep on hand to do things with. In electronics, stock means resistors, micro-chips, solder, etc. In the auto industry, it means mufflers, shock absorbers, engine parts, etc. So in the kitchen, or pantry, stock means to me a liquid made from water, meat, and bones, or vegetables. It is a component that is kept simple so that it is the basic ingredient from which other things are made, similar to how a mother sauce is the basic sauce that the derivative sauces are made. A chicken stock to me would be chicken parts boiled in water with salt to taste. It is strained and preserved either by bottling or freezing. A great stock should have extracted enough collagen from the meat connecting tissues, cartilage, and bones to gel when cooled to room temp, and the hardened fat should be removed after chilling. The stock can be used to make broths, consume, soups, sauces, gravies, and aspics.

I have made successful stocks from poultry, meat bones, ground beef, or ground pork, etc. As long as I can obtain sufficient flavor and texture from the stuff I put in the water, I'm happy. Oh, and to get best results from bones, they should be broken, or split, and cooked with something slightly acidic, like celery, to extract all of the nutrients, and collagen from the bones/tissues. In many Asian countries, stocks made from bones, cartillage, and connecting tissues are prized above all others, for their nutritional value, flavor, and texture qualities. I feel the same way.:D

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
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So I decided to make some stock.

14# of chicken backs.
1.5# wing tips
1.5# feet

All simmering in a 20QT pot. The smells wonderfully.
 
Isn't it funny how a 'simple question' leads to pages of answers? :LOL:

Here is my method. I buy a bag of leg quarters when they are on sale--10 pounds for $4 or $5. I put them in my big pressure cooker, and add a couple big onions, 5 or 6 stalks of celery and 3 or 4 big carrots. I leave the onions whole, and cut the rest of the veggies into chunks--no need to dice.

I bring the pressure cooker up to pressure and cook for 10 or 15 minutes, cool it down in the sink, and take the onions and the leg quarters out. The meat is thoroughly cooked, and I pick it out to save for other recipes. The bones, skin, etc. go back into the pressure cooker for another 45 minutes or so, or until the bones are crumbly.

The stock is clear and full of gelatin, and absolutely delicious. No skimming, no cooking for hours, so you save energy.

I pull the onions out, because the bones and veggies go to the dogs, and I understand that onions are not too good for them. I don't feed them too much at a time, because it can lead to digestive upsets. Sometimes I put the leftover stuff flat in a ziplock in the freezer, then I can give the dogs a 'chickensicle' by breaking off bits.
 
:ROFLMAO: Kayelle, the KA has a grain mill attachment. You know it is only a matter of time. :LOL:

Oh that man of yours and his "attachment" to Lucille. :brows:


Kayelle, you know it is true!

If the current stock tastes as good as it smells, it is going to be unbelievable. In fact, it will be so good that I am giving it a magical name of VooDoo Stock. (Anyone who could peek in the pot while it was cooking will understand why!)

BTW, chicken feet SWELL up when in a pot. Just saying! :ermm:
 
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