Does making your own chicken or beef stock sound old-fashioned? Does the mention of it conjure up pictures of Laura Ingalls stirring at the hearth, serving a bowl of steaming broth to a sick child? If you answered yes, it’s probably because broth has been around for ages.
It is a traditional remedy across cultures for colds and flu. It is a food as well as a medicine.
Homemade stock has unsurpassed flavor and healing properties. Broth is especially healing for arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, cancer, a decreased immune system, and malnutrition.
When you make it yourself, you provide taste and health for your family! We eat it as the base for soups, sauces, and gravies. It’s a tasty way to fortify the everyday health of your family!
Grocery store shelves are stock-piled with bullion cubes, boxes of ready-made broth to give another short cut to the busy homemaker’s life. So, isn’t it a lot of trouble to make your own? Is it really worth it?
How to Make Homemade Chicken/Beef Broth
Surprisingly, it’s quite simple! You only need 3 ingredients and time to let it simmer.
- Chicken or beef bones
- Salt (I recommend sea salt)
- Water
There’s no chopping or dicing of vegetables unless you want to turn your broth into a soup later. Just throw the above ingredients into a pot! The salt is essential because it draws all the nutrition like the protein, calcium, minerals and amino acids out of the bones.
Make sure the chicken or bones are covered with water. As a rule of thumb, I usually just fill the pot 3/4 the way full.
You can use a whole chicken with the meat on or just the carcass of a chicken you’ve already feasted on at a meal. For example, after we roast a chicken and eat the meat, I throw the rest of it in a pot to make stock.
Bring it to a rolling boil by cooking it on high. Then, put the lid on and reduce the heat to low. Now, you’re not going to believe this but I cook my stock for 2-3 days. You don’t have to of course. But the longer you cook it, the more nutrients you’ll pull from the bones. Three days is the max.
I leave it unattended on the stove whether I’m home or not. You may not be comfortable doing this. If not, I recommend cooking it for at least 3 hours. If you do leave it on for a few days, you’ll watch the stock grow richer in color and flavor.
If you’ve boiled a whole chicken, after the broth is made, don’t waste the meat! Use it in a pasta dish, green salad, enchiladas, or for sandwiches. Throw the carcass away.
Sometimes, I strain my broth (although it’s not necessary) as I pour it into 1/2 gallon mason jars. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Otherwise, you can freeze it for months.
So, now you have homemade stock on hand anytime you need it! Almost as convenient as what you find in the supermarkets and much tastier and nutritious!
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I’ve started buying whole chicken breasts instead of boneless skinless. Then I use the bones and skin to make a small amount of stock. I put my carrot peelings, onions tops, and celery ends in the freezer as I chop veggies so I can throw those in with it to make a real stock. I haven’t bought chicken broth in months, and I love it!
How much salt?
Great question! I add at least 1-2 tablespoons. I don’t really measure but just dump some in. I suppose it depends on the size of your pot. I use a big pot and usually throw 2 chicken carcasses in so hence, the large quantity of salt. I never want to skimp on it though since it serves such an important purpose.
I always make broth from my chicken carcasses! 🙂 however, it makes me nervous to leave something unattended on the stove. So I use my crock pot and it works great! 🙂
That’s a great alternative. My husband does feel a bit nervous about it as well. How long do you cook it? Please tell me all your secrets!
I like how you broke this down so easily. Last week I froze my vegetable stock in ice cube trays (measuring to 1/8 of a cup) and muffin tins (measuring to 1/4 of a cup) so I can throw this in easily when making a recipe with a specific amount of stock. The crock pot idea is also a good one. Thanks for these ideas!
I love the ice cube tray and muffin tin idea! What a great way to have measurable frozen quantities. 🙂
I never make homemade chicken stock because its rare to find a whole chicken for a good price where I live. I buy the roasterrie chickens though, could I use that to make stock after we eat the chicken off of it? Would I still add salt? It would be awesome if I could use the carcass for stock! I love the idea of freezing it into ice cubes!
Definitely! I love this because it means less waste. You get to have a chicken dinner and then stock for a soup or gravy in the future! When I use a rotisserie chicken, I still add the salt to draw the good stuff and flavor out of the bones.
I also make my own stock from local orgainc chickens. The last batch I made, I had 5 or 6 hens so I used my roaster oven. I let them go all day, then pulled the chickens & cleaned the meat off them, and put the chicken carcasses back in the cooker. I let them cook for another day, maybe 2, then I canned the broth. Its a beautiful dark golden color that I never tire of seeing.
I’ve seen those big roaster ovens. What a good idea! I’ll have to see if I can find one. I’d love to learn more about canning it. Do you use a pressure canner? Can they just sit on the shelf then instead of in the freezer? There’s nothing like that beautiful golden color!
Yum. We love bone broths over here! I’ve only done beef bones once. They were sort of slimy and gross looking. The stock was amazing. After almost burning down my house {sad, but true}, I know use my crockpot for making stock. I cook it for 12-24 hours, strain and add more water to make more broth. I can do this about 4 times before the bones really start to break down. The first two batches I use for soups and the second two batches I use for cooking rice since the flavor is a bit weaker…
For some reason in all my research, I hadn’t heard WHY salt should be added. I love to know the why’s. Thanks a bunch!
wheres the picture of the final product/the stock with chicken still in it… etc. i was all excited to see that, and none. :P:P