Feel Like A Real Chef

We cook a lot of chicken in my house, and my favorite thing (besides finding a whole free-range bird on sale), is to cook its bones into a rich and delicious stock. Homemade stock is easy to make, and this one is frankly, brag-worthy.

After you've done what you will with your chicken meat, save all those delicious bones and giblets, and place in a large crockpot. Add everything you have on hand (this is especially handy if you're like me, and buy a bunch of veggies to deposit into your trash can at week's end). Ideally, this would include: onion, garlic, celery, carrots, bay leaves, whole peppercorns, and fresh thyme. In a pinch, I'll use dried herbs, but this makes it much harder to strain, and you may be left with some pieces in your finished stock. Add about 12 cups water, to fill the crockpot nearly to the top. If you prefer an actual recipe (Whaaa?), here's a link to one of my favorite chefs, Tyler Florence, and his stock recipe.

Cook your concoction on low for about eight hours, periodically skimming the residual scum that will rise to the top (if you're unable to do this part, I've found it's not a huge deal to skip it). When the time's up, strain your broth into a large bowl and discard everything else. If you did use tiny things, like dried spices, you'll want to line your strainer with paper towels to catch every little bit. This is probably the most time-consuming piece of the whole process, and you'll want to be sure to have a ton of paper towels on hand.


Refrigerate your beautiful, tasty stock in individual batches (about 8 ounces). As the stock cools, some fat will rise to the top. This should be skimmed off, and then you're all set to freeze! You could also transfer the cooled stock to ice cube trays to freeze, I've used this method in the past and it works great.

Happy cooking!