Chicken Stock

Each week at the grocery store I make sure to pass through the whole chicken display. Normally, a whole chicken sells for about $.89/pound. I always keep an eye out for whole chickens that are nearing their 'sell by' date, so I can receive a 40% discount.

I always stick my whole chickens in the freezer when I return home, since I am not fond of the "juice" (ahem, gook!) that is packaged with the chicken.*Normally, the 40% off chickens are available during the colder months, I rarely find the whole chickens deeply discounted in the summer.

I like to begin cooking my chicken just after I have cleaned up from dinner. I like to allow my chicken to cook all night long. I placed this frozen chicken in my crock pot and filled my crock pot completely with water. *My chicken was pretty big, so a little lump broke the surface of the water.

The following morning, after 12 hours of cooking on low, I turned my crock pot off. Several hours later, around lunch time, my chicken (and stock) was cooled enough to handle.

I carefully removed the chicken and placed it in a bowl so that I could take care of the chicken stock first. *Be careful, your chicken will literally fall off of the bone!

To prepare the chicken stock, I place a paper towel into a small strainer.

This paper towel strains little pieces of chicken that have fallen from the chicken, and it actually keeps the fat (that has melted from the chicken while cooking) from draining through into the chicken stock.

Home made chicken stock is MUCH more flavorful than its canned counterpart. One cup of 'home brew' is the equivalent to one can of chicken stock. My favorite part of the home made variety is that I am in control of the salt that I add to my stock. Canned chicken stock is very salty!

I'm always impressed at how well my paper towels strain. I change my paper towels often, I may use 5-6 paper towels per crock pot of stock!

I prefer to package my stock in 2 cup containers, basically the equivalent of 2 cans.

My $2.54 chicken yielded the equivalent of TWELVE cans of chicken stock and 5-6 cups of shredded chicken. All of my 20-25-ish minutes of time spent with my whole chicken was well worth it!!!

12 cans of chicken stock would cost at least $12 at the grocery store, but my 'home brew' is a FREE byproduct to cooking my chicken. And shredded chicken can easily make, chicken noodle soup, fajitas, chicken taco's, chicken salad, chicken pot pie... or my favorite, chicken Alfredo lasagna!

Personal Notes:

1. I prefer to store my stock in plastic containers since I had a Ziploc bag fail while thawing stock in my refrigerator.

2. I label my reusable plastic containers with blue painter's tape, so I can easily peel the label when I've used the frozen contents.

3. Chicken stock can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days before using, but be aware that it will have the consistency of Jello.