Recipes, guides and kitchen know-how. Mostly useful, occasionally silly.
Chicken Stock Recipe - Don't Bin the Carcass, Freeze the Gold
Break up 1-2 roast carcasses, cover with about 2 litres of cold water, add onion, carrot, celery and herbs, skim, then barely simmer uncovered for 3 hours. Strain, cool fast and keep it 2 days in the fridge or about 3 months in the freezer.
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- Prep15 min
- Cook3 hr
- Makes~1.5 litres
- Calories~90
Calories are approximate, per serving, worked out from the ingredients. Brands and portion sizes vary. A serving here is a 250ml mug of strained stock with the fat left on. Lift the fat off and it's less. Lift the fat off and give it to Dexter and it's a very happy dog.
This chicken stock recipe turns one or two roast chicken carcasses, an onion, a carrot, some celery and a few herbs into about 1.5 litres of golden stock, with 15 minutes of work and three quiet hours at a bare simmer. No salt, no stock cubes, no boiling.
You've already paid for the chicken. This is the bit you were about to throw in the bin. Stop that.
The whole trick is heat, or the lack of it. A lazy bubble gives you clear, gold stock. A rolling boil gives you cloudy, greasy dishwater. Same pot. Same bones. Very different evening.
Homemade chicken stock freezes brilliantly, so one Sunday roast does gravy, soup and risotto for weeks. The chicken works three shifts. I work one. Fair split.
Why the French call stock the foundation
In French kitchens, stock is called a "fond", from fonds de cuisine - literally the foundations of the kitchen. Every sauce, soup and gravy was built on top of it.
Julia Child put it the same way: stock is the base everything else stands on. Mine stands on a tired carrot. Bin not, broth lots.
Ayden tried to pronounce "fonds de cuisine" for twenty minutes. We played word association after. Stock. Pot. He said "pile". He lost. He always loses.
What you need
For about 1.5 litres:
- 1-2 roast chicken carcasses, plus any skin, wing tips and jelly from the roasting tin - or about 1kg raw chicken wings. The scrappier the better. This is not a beauty contest.
- 1 onion, halved, skin left on - the skin gives the stock its gold colour
- 1 large carrot and 2 celery sticks, in big chunks - tired and bendy is fine
- 1 leek and 2-3 garlic cloves, bashed - both optional
- About 2 litres cold water - just enough to cover. More water, weaker stock
No salt. You'll be reducing it for gravy and seasoning whatever you cook with it later. Salt now and your gravy ends up tasting like the sea. The cold bit, near Blackpool.
The herbs and aromatics
Not much. Stock should taste of chicken, not of a garden centre.
- 2 bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme
- A handful of parsley stalks - the stalks have more flavour than the leaves, and the leaves are for later
- About 5 black peppercorns, whole - ground pepper turns it murky and bitter
Tie the herbs together with string and you can fish them out in one go. Isaac quietly called it a bouquet garni. Nobody taught him that. Isaac is right.
Kit
- Kitchen scissors for snipping the carcass into pieces so it fits the pot and needs less water. We use our heavy-duty kitchen scissors - they go through roast chicken bones without a fight and come apart for a proper wash. No scissors? Pull it apart by hand
- A big, deep pot - the bones and veg should fit snugly with water just over the top
- A ladle or big spoon for skimming, and a slotted spoon for lifting out the bones
- A fine sieve - lined with a clean muslin or a piece of kitchen paper if you want it really clear
- Lidded tubs, freezer bags and an ice cube tray for portions. More on those in step 5
How to make chicken stock
Step 1 - Break up the carcass
- Pull off any leftover stuffing, lemon or string - stuffing makes the stock cloudy and claggy.
- Snip the carcass into 3 or 4 pieces with the kitchen scissors, or break it up with your hands. Smaller pieces pack tighter, so you need less water and get stronger stock.
- Put the bones, skin and any jelly from the roasting tin in the pot with the onion, carrot, celery, leek, garlic, herbs and peppercorns.
Using raw wings? Roast them first at 200C (180C fan) for 30-40 minutes until golden for a deeper, darker stock. Optional, but worth it. I forgot once. It was still stock. It was just a bit beige about it.
Step 2 - Cover with cold water and skim
- Pour in cold water until everything is just covered - about 2 litres. Cold water draws the flavour out slowly as it heats.
- Bring it up slowly over a medium heat, until you see the first small bubbles. Don't let it boil.
- As it heats, grey foam rises to the top. Skim it off with a ladle or big spoon and throw it away. Keep going for the first 10-15 minutes.
The foam is just proteins, not dirt. Harmless, but ugly, and it clouds the stock. Skim reaper, that's me.
Step 3 - Barely simmer for 3 hours
- Turn the heat right down so just one or two bubbles break the surface every few seconds.
- Leave it uncovered for about 3 hours. Don't stir it - stirring breaks up the bones and veg and clouds it.
- Glance at it every half hour and top up with a splash of water if the bones poke out.
The single most important thing: never let it boil. A hard boil whips the fat into the liquid and you can't get it back out - that's why stock goes cloudy and greasy. A lazy, barely-there simmer keeps the fat floating on top, where you can lift it off later. Think hot bath, not jacuzzi.
Step 4 - Strain it and taste it
- Lift out the bones and veg with the slotted spoon first, so nothing splashes when you pour.
- Pour what's left through the fine sieve into a big jug or bowl. Don't press the veg - it pushes the mush through.
- Taste it. If it's weak, pour it back in the clean pot and simmer it to reduce until it tastes of chicken. Weak stock is just warm water with ambition.
Bin the bones once they're cool. Cooked bones splinter - never give them to the dog. Tyson appealed. Erin rejected it by royal decree.
Step 5 - Cool it fast, then fridge or freeze
- Split it into smaller tubs so it cools quickly, and get it into the fridge or freezer within 1-2 hours. One big pot stays warm in the middle for ages.
- Once it's cold, the fat sets on top. Lift it off with a spoon, or leave it on for flavour.
- Fridge: up to 2 days at 5C or below. Freezer: best within about 3 months. Freeze some in our big silicone ice cube trays for a quick splash in a gravy or a pan sauce, then pop the cubes out into a bag.
The Food Standards Agency's guide to chilling, freezing and defrosting covers the cooling and the 1-2 hour window. Aaron has it printed out. Laminated. On the fridge. Next to the other laminated one.
Leave some headroom in every bag - liquid grows when it freezes. It's the only thing in our freezer that does.
Chicken stock from carcass vs raw wings
A roast carcass is free and gives a lighter, roasty stock. Raw wings cost a bit, but they're full of collagen, so the stock is richer and sets to a proper jelly.
| Roast carcass | Raw wings | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free - it's leftovers | About 1kg from the butcher |
| Flavour | Light and roasty | Deep and rich, darker if roasted first |
| Body | Sets softly, sometimes not at all | Sets firm, like jelly |
| Best for | Soups, risotto, everyday gravy | Proper gravy, sauces and noodle soups |
Best of both: keep carcasses in a bag in the freezer until you've got two, then add a handful of wings. That's not hoarding. That's planning. Tell Eesha.
No carcass yet? Flatten a whole bird so it roasts faster and you'll have one by teatime - or roast the one with a frankly unreasonable amount of garlic. And if you've got leftover meat too, here's how many days the cooked meat keeps in the fridge.
The chicken stock cheat sheet
Here's the whole thing on one chart - break it up, cold water, three hours, strain, cool it fast, plus the fridge, freezer and reheating rules. Save it, print it or stick it on the fridge. Aaron's already laminated it. Obviously.
Slow cooker chicken stock, and the faster ways
Same ingredients, same cold water, same no-salt rule - you're just changing what does the simmering.
- Slow cooker: everything in, cold water just to cover (don't go past the max line), lid on, low for 8-10 hours. It never boils, so it comes out beautifully clear. The laziest gold you'll ever make.
- Low oven: a lidded casserole at 125-140C for 5-8 hours, the way the British Dietetic Association's stock recipe does it. Use the lowest gas mark if you're on gas
- Pressure cooker or multi-cooker: no higher than the max fill line, high pressure for about 45 minutes, then let the pressure drop on its own. Follow your cooker's manual. Ayden now stands in the hall for this one.
Then strain, cool and store it as in steps 4 and 5.
If it goes wrong
Cloudy and greasy? It boiled. A rolling boil whips the fat into the liquid.
Fix: Keep it to a lazy bubble next time. For this batch, chill it, lift off the set fat and strain it again through kitchen paper. It still tastes fine. It just looks like it's had a rough night.
A thick layer of fat on top? Roast skin and wings are fatty. That's normal.
Fix: Chill it until the fat sets hard, then lift it off in one piece with a spoon. Keep it for roast potatoes. Don't tell Eesha it was my idea.
Didn't set to jelly? Too much water, or a carcass with not much collagen left in it.
Fix: Next time use less water and add a few raw wings. This batch is still perfectly good stock - jelly is a bonus, not a test. Wobble is optional. Flavour is not.
Weak and bland? Too much water, not long enough, or the pot was mostly veg.
Fix: Simmer it uncovered to reduce until it tastes of chicken. Roasting the bones first helps, and so does a Parmesan rind or a few mushrooms. Reduce, reuse, re-taste.
Pot nearly boiled dry? The heat was too high and nobody topped it up.
Fix: Not scorched? Top up with hot water and turn it down. Smells burnt? Start again. Aaron sets a timer now. Three timers. I set none. Spot the problem.
Gravy came out too salty? Salt went in the stock, or a reduced stock met a stock cube.
Fix: Leave salt out of the stock, and season the gravy right at the end, after it's reduced. Salt is the last guest at the party, not the first.
Stock questions people actually ask
Is chicken broth the same as chicken stock?
Not quite. Stock is made mostly from bones, simmered for hours and left unseasoned. Broth is made from meat, cooked for a shorter time and seasoned, so you can sip it as it is. Ohio State University's food team explains the difference. In a recipe you can swap one for the other - just go easy on the salt with broth. Ayden called it broth-er. Nobody laughed. Lara made sure of it.
How long does chicken stock last in the fridge?
Up to 2 days in a covered tub at 5C or below. Get it in the fridge within 1-2 hours of making it. If you won't use it in time, freeze it. Aaron checks the fridge thermometer twice a day. The stock has never felt safer.
Can you freeze chicken stock?
Yes - it's best used within about 3 months. Freeze it in tubs, flat in freezer bags or in ice cube trays. Defrost it in the fridge, use it within 24 hours and only reheat it once, until it's steaming hot. Cubes can go straight into a hot pan. Cube stock. The other kind of stock cube.
Why has my stock turned to jelly?
That's the collagen from the bones setting as it cools - it means you've made a good one. It melts back to liquid as soon as it warms up. Erin poked it and declared it the royal wobble. It has been known as that ever since.
Should I add salt to stock?
No. You'll often reduce it for gravy or sauce, and any salt gets stronger as it shrinks. Season whatever you make with it instead. Tyson licked the salt pot anyway. We don't know why. We've stopped asking.
Freezer getting full? Here's what else is worth tray-freezing before it goes off. Mostly bananas. It's always bananas.
Now go and stock up. Then lift the fat off.
