Reserving Chicken Stock?

HappilyHungry

HappilyHungry

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How often do you reserve chicken stock when you're cooking?

Sure, we've all heard that it's important to save, and ensure that good things don't go to waste, but how often do we actually set aside the "extra sauce" that we don't quite need in a particular recipe for...a "rainy day"?

I just started doing this the other day, where I made chicken stock from a special soup mix, and it tasted soooo great! But, the sad part was that based on the requirements of my recipe, I wasn't to use all of it at that given time :-/

So, what was there to do? Should I pour it out? Should I just hurry and make something else that I didn't necessarily want to eat at that time?

Well, I put it into a container, and stuck it right into the fridge!

So, my question is...

What do you do when you have a little extra stock, or even extra gravy? If there are better solutions, I'd like to know! Tell me what you do!

chicken stock.jpg
 
I've heard that some people often put the stock (or any liquid) into one of those freezer safe zip lock bags and store them in the freezer for months at a time. I've personally never tried it (we always have chicken bones or bouillon cubes at our house) so take that with a grain of salt
 
I freeze any leftover stock too. I wait until it cools, pour it into a plastic milk carton (well rinsed!) and pop it in the freezer. Then, I just get it out in the morning when I'm making a chicken pie or casserole that night.
 
We are also putting into the freezer leftover chicken stock and put it into individual plastic container so that when we will use it we get one container out of the freezer let it melt before cooking one recipe like easy to cook soups especially for our dinner if we have no time to cook and in a hurry when we go home late at night. Even it had been in the freezer for a long time it still taste good.
 
queenbellevue said:
I've heard that some people often put the stock (or any liquid) into one of those freezer safe zip lock bags and store them in the freezer for months at a time. I've personally never tried it (we always have chicken bones or bouillon cubes at our house) so take that with a grain of salt
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Hmmm...very interesting! I've often heard of "the power of ziplock bags", lol. and I've witnessed it myself! But, it's definitely the first time that I'm hearing of this method of preserving chicken stock! It might actually prove to be helpful/useful! I'm gonna pass the idea around some of my "cooking friends" and see what they think about it, or if they've ever used it themselves!
Thank you for your suggestion! Have you ever tried some other preservation method? I really think it could help us cut down on the amount of food/ingredients that we waste, and prove to be a valuable "back-up source" when we need those "extra" ingredients!
 
missbishi said:
I freeze any leftover stock too. I wait until it cools, pour it into a plastic milk carton (well rinsed!) and pop it in the freezer. Then, I just get it out in the morning when I'm making a chicken pie or casserole that night.
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Very nice! I like this method very much! Is freezing one of the most effective methods of preservation? I certainly presume, if experience is anything to go by, that it is!
Also, about how much time do you give it to thaw out before you can actually use it? Sometimes, I use the microwave to assist in my thawing out of meat and other things, because I don't have enough time to get a particular thing thawed out. Do you think that this is an appropriate/effective way of getting my things thawed? Is there any potential hazzard to doing this? I'd really love to have your continued insight!
 
ReadmeByAmy said:
We are also putting into the freezer leftover chicken stock and put it into individual plastic container so that when we will use it we get one container out of the freezer let it melt before cooking one recipe like easy to cook soups especially for our dinner if we have no time to cook and in a hurry when we go home late at night. Even it had been in the freezer for a long time it still taste good.
Click to expand...

Great! I have a question for you: about how long have you gone in keeping the frozen chicken stock in the freezer? Can I let it stay there for a week? A month? A year? Lol, I'd love an estimation as to how long you think I can keep it in there, because there's no telling exactly how long I might wait to be ready for the chicken stock! And I'm also unsure that it will be preserved without actually spoiling for a prolonged period of time.
So, how long do you think? I'd really appreciate your help in this matter!
 
HappilyHungry said:
Great! I have a question for you: about how long have you gone in keeping the frozen chicken stock in the freezer? Can I let it stay there for a week? A month? A year? Lol, I'd love an estimation as to how long you think I can keep it in there, because there's no telling exactly how long I might wait to be ready for the chicken stock! And I'm also unsure that it will be preserved without actually spoiling for a prolonged period of time.
So, how long do you think? I'd really appreciate your help in this matter!
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Well, the official line is that you can keep it for six months but I prefer to get it used up within the month. I'm just funny like that though. I've read about plenty of people who have kept it in the freezer for 6 months though and never had any problems.

As for the thawing times, I take it out in the morning, ready to be used around 4-5 pm.
 
So awesome missbishi! Thank you again for your helpful response! You're a trooper! :-)
Hmmm...6 months, you say? I think I'mma stick with you as far as trying to maximise my use of the chicken stock within a shorter time is concerned, lol. Perhaps I'll go a little beyond the 1 month mark, but I'm not sure yet, if I'm comfortable and/or experienced enough to chance letting it stay there in the freezer for a whole 6-month period! Ahh! I can almost scream thinking about how anxious that'd make me! lol.

I also appreciate your advice on thawing time! So, it takes about a day then, to get the chicken stock fully thawed out, without having to go to the microwave for help. Okay!
Thank you so much again! Happy cooking/preserving!
 
missbishi said:
Well, the official line is that you can keep it for six months but I prefer to get it used up within the month. I'm just funny like that though. I've read about plenty of people who have kept it in the freezer for 6 months though and never had any problems.

As for the thawing times, I take it out in the morning, ready to be used around 4-5 pm.
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Do you HAVE to thaw it? Can't you just wack the whole *block* of stock into the pot and let that heat up? I always imagined that that's the easiest and quickest way
 
Oh yeah, of course you can! I only let it thaw because I freeze it in those plastic milk cartons and it's a nightmare to get out other wise!
 
i make chicken stock with the wings,i blanche them first,then cook out with fresh root veg ,then strain and reduce ,at home i put it in ice cube trays,easy to use and covienient
 
I just pour it into mason jars and store it in my fridge, then make sure to use it within a few days. The resealable bag in the freezer thing does work, but just be sure you buy a decent quality bag, and not something that will leak or split. It does save space, but it's not 100% idea, since you have to thaw it out before you can fit it into any sauce pan to continue warming up.

As for what to use it in... many times I have a half-used jar/can of tomato sauce, or that bag of mixed frozen veggies that's only about 1/3rd full... I just toss the stock, leftover sauce, veggies, a drained can of kidney beans or white beans, and some small pasta into a sauce pan and let it cook up into a minestrone. I will throw in a little bit of ground beef too if I have some small amounts of that leftover as well. The stock is also great for cooking rice with it for extra flavor. You can additionally use it to boil potatoes for mashed potatoes. If it's pure chicken stock, and not mixed up with a bunch of other flavors, you can reduce it, then thicken it with some corn starch or a butter & flour mixture to make a home made gravy. You can also use the stock in a home made stuffing.
 
I almost always make chicken stock when we have whole roasted chicken for dinner. One regular chicken frame will give me about 8 cups of stock. I really like to purhcase the herb crusted roasted chickens from the grocery store and use those to make my stock because there are a ton of herbs and spices on them already and so I do not need to spice up my stock even further. ***A money saving tip is to buy the day old roasted chickens from the deli section and use those instead of the fresh and hot ready to go ones. I make chicken salad or sandwich filling with the meat and then make the stock with the fat and bones. The day old chickens cost about half the price of the fresh ones.
 
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