How to Make Chicken Broth

Canned or boxed chicken broth can often be quite bland and expensive. So why not make your own chicken broth and save a little money while ensuring great flavor? Let me show you how.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A chicken carcass, picked clean of usable meat.
• Onion
• Celery
• Carrot
• 1 dried bay leaf
• salt
• 5-15 whole black peppercorns
• Filtered water

1. The first step in making a great chicken broth is making a great roasted chicken. Every time I plan to make soup, I make a whole roasted chicken the night before. The money I save making chicken broth ends up paying for the chicken! Who doesn't love free chicken?

2. Now that you have your whole chicken carcass picked clean of usable meat, let's get started on creating a delicious chicken broth. Many people like to throw food scraps like onion skins and unpeeled carrots into the pot when making chicken broth. I would advise against this. Always remember this simple rule: crap in, crap out. Peel your carrots before adding them to the pot to avoid an unpleasant bitter flavor.

3. Once you have everything ready to go, place the chicken carcass in a large stock pot over medium heat. No need for oil or butter, as the carcass will sweat and provide more than enough oil for this application.

4. Shortly after adding the carcass, add the onions, celery, and carrots. Allow everything to mingle for a few minutes before turning the heat to high and adding water. I like to use filtered water, as it provides a much cleaner flavor than the stuff that drips from most of our faucets. Add as much or as little water as you like, just remember that the more you add, the lighter your broth will be both in color and flavor. Be sure to at least cover everything in the pot with water.

5. Add a dried bay leaf, a bit of salt, and the peppercorns to taste. You can also add other herbs such as thyme and parsley and whatnot. It's up to you and your tastes.

6. Cover and bring just to a boil before turning the heat to low in preparation for a long simmer. It may take a few attempts to get the heat level dialed in correctly to provide the perfect simmer. Once you've got it at a consistent, gentle simmer, leave your chicken broth alone for at least 6 hours. Let it go for as long as 12. It's up to you.

7. When you decide your chicken broth is ready to use, turn the heat off and prepare to strain. I usually just use a big colander, but cheesecloth is advisable if you want a well filtered broth. Once strained, you're done!

8. Store chicken broth in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for long term storage. I prefer to use it all immediately.

Tips & Warnings

• For a more gelatinous chicken broth, break the chicken bones to expose the inner marrow and gelatin.
• Use an ice cube tray to store precise small portions of chicken broth in the freezer.
• It's best to under-salt your chicken broth, as this makes it more versatile. Remember, you can always add salt later, but you can't remove it from your chicken broth. It's often best to salt the final dish that the chicken broth is used in.
• Be very careful when straining hot chicken broth. Steam burns can be some of the worst, and are often the most surprising. It's wise to allow the broth to cool a bit prior to straining.