The Art of Chicken Broth

The thought of making chicken broth never occurred to me until my in-laws were visiting one summer. We had bought a rotisserie chicken, when we were done picking all the meat off the bones my mother-in-law asked me if I wanted my father-in-law to use the bones to make broth. OMG, what a wonderful idea! Now, what my father-in-law made was more along the lines of a chicken stock than a broth, but those are just technicalities. It was still amazing. I started using the bones to make my own broth since then and haven't gone back! If I can help it, that is.

There are some differences between chicken broth and chicken stock.

Stock, typically thick and gelatinous, is made from animal bones (like chicken, beef, and even fish) and left unseasoned (that means no salt).

Broth, generally thinner in texture, is made with animal meat (and sometimes bones) and is always seasoned.

Both follow the same principal when making at home, throw stuff in a pot, add water and leave to simmer. I prefer to make broth. I love experimenting with adding different things and seeing how it affects the flavor. If the broth is outstanding and flavorful when I add it to whatever I'm making, I don't have to add anything extra to the dish.

I've said this in my post about making chicken noodle soup but I'm going to say it again in case you haven't gotten that far yet. I save the bones, the skin, and everything else I've decided I don't like the look of and that's what I use to make my broth with. I wanted to talk about this because I know there have to be people out there like me who may be squeamish and maybe that's not even the correct word. When I take apart a chicken I find things like tendons or blood vessels and I think about how I don't want to put that in my soup because I don't like the way it looks. I don't wana eat it. I don't care if you judge me I said what I said. I put those things in the bowl with the bones for broth. I find no shame it it because I am still using them, but I don't have to think about eating them. If I'm not making broth the same day I use the rotisserie chicken I'll usually put them in a plastic sealed baggie and store them in the fridge. When I'm ready I get them out and toss them in the stock pot.

What makes cooking broth an art is your use of the additional ingredients beyond the chicken. Once I found my preferred flavor for my broth I typically tend to stick to the same types of ingredients and only vary the quantities of each. I use carrots, onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, peppercorns, and celery. I don't chop any of these ingredients fine, I may peel the carrots instead of scrubbing them but that's about it. I prefer to use fresh thyme and rosemary, especially since I have them growing in my kitchen window, but sometimes, when I've already cut too much from my victory herbs, I'll use dried. I don't bother tying them together like you would for a soup or stew since everything will get strained when its done. Same thing with my peppercorns, I just toss them straight in.

Celery. Its a sentence all of its own. Why? because I don't like it. Allow me to elaborate. I don't like eating raw celery. I won't go into the details. That being said I couldn't imagine not using it in my soups, stews and broths. I may dislike it raw but the aroma and flavor it adds to my cooked meals is unquestionable. When I put it into my broth I cut off the root end and that's it. I'll toss the stalks in leaves and all.

Onions and garlic, I will cut off the root end, peel and rough chop. I also throw the skins into the pot. That's right, I throw the onion and garlic skins into the pot with everything else. The skins don't sound appetizing and I most certainly don't know anyone who would snack on them, but they are full of flavor, vitamins and antioxidants. All of these wonderful benefits will end up in your both. Adding the skins to your broth may also adjust the color, depending one the type of onions you use. I usually use yellow onions with darker skins. They can help give your broth a deep rich brown or mahogany if you use red onion skins.

I fill my stock pot to just below the brim with ingredients. This mama ain't making no mostly watery broth with some slight flavor to it. No Ma'am/Sir! I will then fill my pot with water till most everything is covered but if some stuff sticks up its not the end of the world, it will cook down. I just want to make sure its not so full when it starts to boil or simmer it won't overflow.

Once the pot is on the stove top I'll turn it to high heat and I'll take a fine mesh strainer and push it down into the pot so that only liquid is in the center. I use a strainer that is roughly the same size as the top of the stock pot. There is a reason for the, what looks like madness. Once your broth starts to get a good boil, foam will start to collect on the top. Soup Scum. Now soup scum isn't bad for your broth, it isn't unhealthy either, its actually made up of proteins that have leached out of the bones and other vegetables and coagulated. With the strainer in place it is easier to scoop the scum off the top and discard it. You can also skip the strainer step all together, leave the bubbles and just mix them in. Honestly its more of a visual preference.

Once its started to boil, turn the burner down to let the broth simmer, place a lit on top and lit it sit stirring occasionally for a few hours. I prefer to let mine simmer for a minimum of an hour and a half. The longest I've ever let it simmer before was five hours. I love the way my house smells when I make broth. I wish you could smell the pictures.

When its time to call the broth finished I'll take out a large fine mesh strainer, and a bowl it fits into and scoop the ingredients out spoonful's at a time. I try not to overlap too many of the ingredients and press on them lightly with the spoon. The goal is to get them to release any remaining liquid that will help the taste of my broth. Try not to mash the vegetables into the strainer. Remember were making broth not Italian penicillin soup.

Lastly its time to either use the broth or prepare it for storage. I store my broth in quart sized wide mouth mason jars. I also have an attachment on my vacuum sealer just for this purpose. I typically use my broth pretty quickly after I make it so I don't use the traditional methods of canning for it. I do seal it just to keep it fresh in the fridge in case I don't use it as quickly as originally intended.

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