Chicken Stock

sidevalve

sidevalve

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Just a simple question really - I was wondering who actually does keep a good quantity of chicken stock on hand ?
I mean I have asked around and the answer seems to be almost no-one. Lots or recipes call for a pint or two pints of the stuff but from where ? Does anyone keep maybe four or five pints of stock in the fridge [freezer if it freezes]. OK if you're in a professional restaurant kitchen where the need is constant but for the normal home ?
Anyhow just curious.
 
If you can get hold of carcasses it's a must yes the taste is completely different , volume is not a problem you keep it well reduced and then frozen and take it out as required
 
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sidevalve said:
Just a simple question really - I was wondering who actually does keep a good quantity of chicken stock on hand ?
I mean I have asked around and the answer seems to be almost no-one. Lots or recipes call for a pint or two pints of the stuff but from where ? Does anyone keep maybe four or five pints of stock in the fridge [freezer if it freezes]. OK if you're in a professional restaurant kitchen where the need is constant but for the normal home ?
Anyhow just curious.
Click to expand...
For one horrible moment I thought you were starting a thread about Chicken Broth. I keep vowing never to read the thread about 'Food you eat when sick' again as I now feel I can never face another bowl of chicken soup/broth!

I do tend to have some as I always make it from the roast chicken carcass (about once a fortnight). If you I don't have it I use the Knorr Stockpots. They aren't at all bad.
 
Yes, we always have some in the freezer.
Like Mg, we make it after having roast chicken and put it in ice cube trays, then freeze them. Easy to add correct volume in new recipe and easy to de-frost in small cubes.
Commercial stock cubes are much better these days BUT they do not taste the same as the real thing!
 
One of the best things in our home is the nearness to the market and the mini mall, located just outside the gate of our village. We never stock meat in the freezer unlike before in our former house when the market was far. We just go to the market and buy our needs for the day so we can assure our stomachs that what we have cooked are fresh. And with chicken, we just buy the exact volume like 6 chicken wings or 5 pieces of drumstick. Cool eh?
 
I usually have stock on hand. I keep chicken bones from when I debone chicken breasts in the freezer. When I have accumalated enough I'll make a large pot of chicken stock. I'll use some to make soup that night and what's ever leftover I'll freeze. It's so handy to have the stock in the fridge as well. I'll make a pot of rice using chicken stock to pump up the flavour.
 
Shadow said:
Yes, we always have some in the freezer.
Like Mg, we make it after having roast chicken and put it in ice cube trays, then freeze them. Easy to add correct volume in new recipe and easy to de-frost in small cubes.
Commercial stock cubes are much better these days BUT they do not taste the same as the real thing!
Click to expand...
In UK we can get Knorr stockpots which are little mini-pots (like an ice cube) of jellied stock. They are much better than the stock cubes. The beef versions are particularly good as its really a bit of a palava for a home cook to make beef stock.
 
I usually have boxed stock, as well as soup base and even powdered bouillon on hand in addition to home made stock. I try to reserve the home made stock for soup recipes. But for things like rice or mashed potatoes which may call for some stock, I hate wasting the home made stuff on that, because the subtle flavors are lost in the rest of the dish, so I will used some pre-made stock or soup base mixed with water. I only go for the powdered stuff when I am absolutely out of everything else.

I don't find it all that hard to keep a couple quarts of fresh stock on hand in our fridge - we go through a lot of chicken thighs per week, so I am often de-boning them as soon as I get home from the store with them, and reserving the bones and skin for some stock. Also, one of our local grocers in particular will sell really large packs of chicken thighs which are oddball sizes or were cut wrong, for just a few bucks, so I will snap those up as well for the stock and throw them in whole. Often times they are really small thighs, which wouldn't have been able to sell at their regular price, but they work out great for stock since I don't need to even bother de-boning them. Once I have enough bones and skin saved up I just pressure cook them with some onions, garlic, parsley, salt and peppercorns. It takes less than an hour and a half.
 
Interesting about the frozen stock ice cubes - nice idea. Stock cubes/pots don't really count as they are commercial products. It seems more people have stock 'on tap' than I supposed but maybe the difference is due to the fact that many of those I asked only usually cook for two and only rarely cook full chicken carcasses.
 
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