Doesn’t this look pretty? Making homemade chicken stock is really easy and soooo worth the little bit of work it takes. Not only does it taste better, but homemade stock doesn’t have all of the gross additives that store bought stocks and broths have. It’s also full of lots of beneficial vitamins and minerals.
By making your own stock you avoid msg, artificial and natural flavors which are both harmful, dextrose, yeast extract, chicken flavor, flavoring, corn syrup solids, autolyzed yeast extract (aka msg), and hydrolyzed soy protein…just to name a few, any of those sound tasty? Not really.
I just take the remains of my basic roast chicken after I’ve picked off the meat to use for later, and place the whole carcass in a slow cooker. The roast chicken recipe is especially nice because you use a whole bulb of garlic and a bunch of herbs so these really add flavor to the broth.
Then I throw in any veggies I have around usually a couple carrots, a chopped up onion, couple stalks of celery, with some peppercorns, salt, a couple bay leaves and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar which helps draw more minerals out of the bones and into your stock!
Then I cover everything with water. Turn on the slow cooker on low and forget about it all day or all night. You can even go 24 hours no problem. If the water starts going down add more, keep the chicken covered.
I turn off the stove and let it cool. I strain out the chicken and veggies and seasonings and when the broth is cooled down enough I use a funnel and pour it into mason jars to freeze. That’s it! I don’t cool the stock and skim the fat, nope, I keep it, it’s good for you, and I’m not afraid of fat!
Make sure to leave 2-3 inches of space in the mason jars. I only left 1 inch the first time and came back to the freezer to get some stock to thaw for soup and found all of my jars…the ones pictured above actually…totally cracked!
You’ll get a few quarts which is so handy to have around. I also freeze it in smaller jars or in the plastic freezer jam containers too for when I need a smaller amount and don’t want to thaw a whole quart. So next time you have a chicken, or turkey laying around don’t throw it away! Make some yummy homemade stock.
Basic Chicken Stock
1 chicken carcass
1 onion chopped
2 carrots chopped
3 stalks of celery chopped
peppercorns
salt
2 bay leaves
herbs of choice
1 T. apple cider vinegar
Water to cover
Place in slow cooker for 12-24 hours. Strain, cool and pour into desired container for freezing.
I do this too, Hannah! I read somewhere about not reheating frozen chicken stock in the microwave because it creates MSG…have you heard anything like that? Just in case, I started reheating the stock in a pot.
Hey Tiff,
I haven’t heard this but now I’m curious and want to look into it. I usually let it thaw on the counter or put it in a sink of hot water before I want to use it. Also storing it in wide mouth jars makes it easier to get out if there are still chunks of frozen stock. I think it’s wise not to use the microwave just because I’ve read that it can destroy enzymes and nutrients, and after going through the trouble to make stock I would hate to ruin the nutritional value! Actually I would like to get rid of my microwave all together but don’t know if I could get the husband on board quite yet 😉
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Thank you excited to try this!
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Hannah, this is great! I make homemade stock every time I buy a rotisserie chicken or made a turkey but I’ve never stored it in jars. Do you have to steam seal the jars like you would in normal canning or just normal screw the lids on. Also, I didn’t know the trick about adding vinegar. I’ll do that next time.
Hey Julie,
I just screw a lid on, that’s it! Just make sure to leave ample room, I’ve had my jars shatter before. Any lid plastic or metal will work great 🙂
Hi Hannah,
I am going to make stock out of my turkey bones from Thanksgiving. Will it work to just simmer the bones on the stove? I don’t have a crockpot. Thanks!!
You’ll have to watch it REALLY close because the water will cook out really fast. I used to do it this way. Make sure to keep a lid on it to keep the water from evaporating so much. Keep the burner on low!