Yes, stocks can be time consuming, but there are so many variations and the quality is vastly better than anything from the market. It is liquid gold indeed.

You will need a large heavy grade stock pot for this to work properly. If you don’t have one, then it’s a good time to invest.

Every time I chop vegetables like carrots, onions and celery, I always tend to cut a bit off, or peel them, but I save the scraps and freeze them for making stock. Yes, even the onion skins. Any left over chicken bones can also be frozen. The addition of the onion skins gives the stock a beautiful golden color.

In this recipe, I roasted a whole chicken and then after stripping away the meat, I used the carcass to make the stock. Literally, I got roasted chicken for dinner for one night, meat for chicken salad or sandwiches and now stock.

Ingredients: 

1 Whole Chicken, keep the neck, but remove the giblets if included. As mentioned, I like to roast the chicken to really bring out the flavor.

2 Carrots, roughly chopped

2 Celery stalks, leaves and all, roughly chopped

2 medium Onions cut in quarters. Skins on.

3-4 cloves of Garlic, left whole.

2 Bay Leaves

10 Black Peppercorns

A few springs of fresh Thyme

Preparation:

If you’re using a roasted chicken, when you’re ready to make your stock, strip off all the meat and set aside for other uses. pull apart the chicken carcass into pieces and put all ingredients into the stock pot, adding any of the frozen bits (vegetable scraps and random bones) you’ve stashed away.

Add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to a low boil and then drop the heat and gently simmer covered with the lid slightly ajar for 8-14 hours. Throughout the process, it helps to skim off the scum that comes to the surface. The longer you can cook the better and richer your stock will be.

After allowing the stock to cool, strain it. I find two mesh strainers work well, or you can also use a strainer with some cheesecloth.

Then cool thoroughly before either freezing or refrigerating in a covered storage container. I find that removing the excess fat that gathers on the surface really keeps the stock clear and gives a better mouthfeel.