ISO help/advice on adjusting saltiness of homemade chicken stock

[Katie H]

Since it was only the two of us for Thanksgiving, instead of cooking a turkey I opted to sub a really large chicken. Turned out great and we didn't have leftovers for the rest of our lives.

Move on to what I wanted to do with the carcass. I used it, along with some bones from some chicken thighs, to make some stock. Put my usual suspects in and cooked it yesterday. I guess I must've put in too much salt and it tastes a bit salty to me. Although, I have to admit I'm not much of a salt person. My dad, a doctor, always told me that if I had to be put on a salt-free diet, I wouldn't know the difference.

I have removed all the solids and am chilling the stock so the fat comes to the top. Can anyone suggest what I can do to reduce the saltiness of the stock?

 

[Badjak]

Potatoes...
Throw some in your stock, let them cook, then remove them. They seem to take up salt easily.

Alternatively, make another batch of stock without salt and mix with batch one

Or when using stock one: ommit every other salt source and you'll probably be fine

 

[Aunt Bea]

Badjak has it pretty well covered.

This soup or a version of it would be a good way to salvage the salty broth.

Zuppa Toscana

This is a really good recipe from Allrecipes. I'll definitely make this again and again. :yum: Zuppa Toscana 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage 1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (I didn't use that much, lol) 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1 large onion, diced 1...

www.discusscooking.com

 

[caseydog]

I don't know what you can do for stock that is already done, but when I (rarely) make homemade stock, I don't add ANY salt. That way, I can add salt as needed for whatever I am using the stock to cook.

CD

 

[Katie H]

Badjak has it pretty well covered.

This soup or a version of it would be a good way to salvage the salty broth.

Zuppa Toscana

This is a really good recipe from Allrecipes. I'll definitely make this again and again. :yum: Zuppa Toscana 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage 1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (I didn't use that much, lol) 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1 large onion, diced 1...

www.discusscooking.com

Love, love love zuppa toscana! Thanks for the idea.

 

[Andy M.]

I do as caseydog does. No salt at all. I wish for your sake that the potato trick actually worked. It would make life easy. I think the only thing you can do is make more stock without any salt and dilute the saltiness. OR you could use it in soup recipes etc. and don't add any salt that the recipe calls for.

 

[jennyema]

The potato idea is a much dispelled kitchen myth. It doesn’t work.

Potatoes don’t selectively absorb salt. They soak up liquid.

So you get the same result by throwing a kitchen sponge in. Or,easier, just ladling out some liquid

 

[Silversage]

The only way to fix it is to add "more" of something to dilute the salt over a bigger volume - more liquid. You will have to stretch it out to dilute the salt.

If you make soup and add strongly flavored meats, vegetables, or other ingredients, it will mask the salt, making it more balanced, but it will still have the same amount of salt.

Adding potato is an "old wives' tale". Nothing will 'pull out' the salt.

 

[Katie H]

The only way to fix it is to add "more" of something to dilute the salt over a bigger volume - more liquid. You will have to stretch it out to dilute the salt.

If you make soup and add strongly flavored meats, vegetables, or other ingredients, it will mask the salt, making it more balanced, but it will still have the same amount of salt.

Adding potato is an "old wives' tale". Nothing will 'pull out' the salt.

Yep. I already knew the potato thing wouldn't work and didn't want to waste one of our nice russets.

 

[taxlady]

Like Casey and Andy, I don't add salt when I make stock either. Heck, I don't even put veg unless I'm going to use the stock right away. I make vegi stock separately and almost always have some in the fridge. The meat stock, I reduce a lot and store it in the freezer in a zipper bag. I write on the bag what ratio I reduced it to. When it's time to use the meat stock, I dilute it with some of my veg stock.

I started doing that when I was composting. Around here, we aren't supposed to add bones or meat waste to the compost. This way I didn't have to put the veggie bits from stock making into the garbage. I really didn't want to have to sort through that strained out mess to make sure no bones or bits of meat were left in with the veg.

 

[cookiecrafter]

Since it was only the two of us for Thanksgiving, instead of cooking a turkey I opted to sub a really large chicken. Turned out great and we didn't have leftovers for the rest of our lives.

Move on to what I wanted to do with the carcass. I used it, along with some bones from some chicken thighs, to make some stock. Put my usual suspects in and cooked it yesterday. I guess I must've put in too much salt and it tastes a bit salty to me. Although, I have to admit I'm not much of a salt person. My dad, a doctor, always told me that if I had to be put on a salt-free diet, I wouldn't know the difference.
I have removed all the solids and am chilling the stock so the fat comes to the top. Can anyone suggest what I can do to reduce the saltiness of the stock?

What is your reason for making the stock?

 

[Katie H]

I prefer to not waste anything and homemade stock is free of commercial additives, plus I can season as I wish, such as adding thyme, etc.

 

[cookiecrafter]

I prefer to not waste anything and homemade stock is free of commercial additives, plus I can season as I wish, such as adding thyme, etc.

I use thyme, rosemary, & cloves. Have learned how to smoke the carcass first.

 

[Katie H]

I use thyme, rosemary, & cloves. Have learned how to smoke the carcass first.

I love thyme and rosemary and have a huge rosemary plant in our front breezeway. Don't have the stuff to smoke it but that sounds great. Will have to look into that.