Chicken Bone Stock-How to make it yourself (It's nutritious and save's you money!)
Written by Elizabeth
I don’t know about you but one of my weekly go-to’s is a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. While not all being equal in quality, I have found a couple of stores that turn out flavorful products. We have found that keeping a convenient option like this in our fridge provides so many options for healthy meals and at least for now, they are a great value. This means that every week I have at least one if not two carcasses of chicken in my fridge. I generally wait until I have three if not four in the freezer then go straight to my Instant Pot with them.
Chicken bone stock is not only flavor-filled but adds a tremendous amount of nutrition to whatever you incorporate it into. I use it as a substitute for water in sauces, in my rice/grain dishes, and even homemade soups, not just chicken but tomato or split peas, etc. It can be frozen for a prolonged period of time but you will use it long before that’s an issue. I freeze it in deli containers that you can find online but there are plenty of other storage options right in your local store. A quick search online reveals that 1 cup provides 41 calories, 9g protein, and less than 1g of fat or carb. That’s a real nutrition bomb!
So let’s get down to how it’s made. I pull out my Instant Pot (IP) and get it set up. By the way, if you don’t have one, you need to consider this investment. So many healthy and less expensive meals can be made with this piece of kitchen equipment without the anxiety people have had about pressure cookers. I’ve used them for years and while you can’t "can" anything with this one, you can do so much more with it. Healthy grains are done perfectly with the press of a button, less expensive cuts of meat braised to tender perfection, creamy hummus, not-fried beans and so much more.
Mise en place! Grab your chickens, I save the parts of celery that don’t get used, carrots that have refreshed their expiration date, and sure, they can be frozen as well since we are cooking the life out of them anyway. I look through my onions and pick the least desirable specimen in the bunch. I cut it in half just for size leaving the peel on. I will also grab a few good-sized garlic cloves and smash them. In the spice cabinet, I search out black peppercorns and a few bay leaves. I don’t add salt because I may use it in a sauce that gets reduced and it would ruin the sauce.
Now to the IP. I take the pot out and set it in my sink. You will find a max fill line, take note of how far to bring your water up. I fill the pot with the ingredients I have lined up. Your solid ingredients will be broken down so don't be afraid of passing the max fill with the exception of the addition of water. Be sure you are using filtered water, my tap has a filter so I fill my pot right here in my sink bringing it to the line. I set my pot into the unit, fixing the lid and making sure the pressure valve is in the correct position. Models vary but on mine, I choose “Soup/Broth”. If I’m home, I run this twice to pound the nutrients out of my ingredients. If I’m out, it will go into slow cook mode until it gets shut off. I’ve let this go all night and I’ve found that short of running it twice this was an excellent product it just took more electricity than running it again.
A “proper French stock” is clear because it is left long and low below boiling. This stock will be cloudy and that’s a good thing. The turbidity of this stock is due to the proteins that have come from the marrow of the bones. When you strain this stock you will notice how brittle the bones are, they will snap in your fingers. I make sure to use a strainer fine enough to remove even the peppercorns from my stock. The next step is to skim off whatever fat may be on the surface of my stock. This is optional if you are feeding children or anyone who may need the additional calories but for us, I remove it. Finally, I store it in containers labeled with a protein source, in this case, chicken, and dated. I do this because it isn’t out of bounds that I may use a big pork bone or beef neck bones or whatever.
I hope you have found some inspiration here to use some of the things you may have been discarding without extracting all of their potentials. This process is not only economically sound, but it will amp the nutritional value and flavor of your home-cooked sauces and meals.
Brought to you by RxHealthyHabits
Comments