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’Tis the season to save cash with some insider (chicken) stock tips
• by By Julia M. Usher • Photo by Steve Adams Studio, food styling by Julia M. Usher
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It’s hard to believe that homemade chicken stock – the magical elixir purported to cure everything from the common cold to the deepest heartbreak – is one of the most divisive forces in today’s kitchens. While nearly everyone agrees on the comforting properties of stock, there is considerable difference of opinion about whether to make it from scratch.
On the one hand, you have the small portion of the population composed of professional chefs in fine dining establishments. These chefs rarely let a day go by without putting a big kettle of bones and water on the back burner to simmer. To them, soups and sauces – the cornerstones of their menus – are only as good as the underlying stock. As the great French chef Auguste Escoffier aptly said, “Stock is everything in cooking. . . . The cook mindful of success, therefore, will naturally direct his attention to the faultless preparation of his stock.” Whether formally schooled or practically trained, most chefs adhere to this advice as religion.
On the other hand, you have the vast majority of home cooks who are short on time or whose only experience with chicken is limited to some super-sanitized version of it. Not you? You may not be a proponent of the Chicken McNugget or the Colonel’s Original Recipe, but when was the last time you really deconstructed a chicken, getting up close and personal with some of its lesser-known body parts, such as the back, wing tips, neck or one of those organs called gizzards that come packed in the tiny white bag? These parts are all essential to the making of good stock, so if you haven’t touched one of them lately, it’s safe to say you fall into the majority camp, which tends to opt for store-bought stock.
I entreat you to take the culinary high road by doing everything in your power to bridge the great stock gap. At this time of year, you’re bound to have spare turkey bones on hand, so you’ll already have a leg up on procuring the ingredients. Prep time is truly minimal and, once the stock starts to simmer, it requires little to no tending. All this bodes well, especially for those who are inveterate multitaskers.
Most poultry stock recipes call for turkey or chicken bones, cold water, aromatic vegetables (such as onions, carrots and celery) and a bouquet garni, a classic herb combination of parsley, thyme and bay leaf. You may discover variations that substitute white wine for some portion of the water, use slightly different veggies or introduce cloves, peppercorns or other spices at the very end. Don’t get overly preoccupied with the exact formulation, as such nuances are unlikely to have a big flavor impact. Just remember that the basic premise of stock-making is to end up with a tasty but neutral broth that can be used as the starting point for sauces and soups. You’ll compromise the versatility of your finished product by adding spices too early or powerful items like garlic; you may even ruin it if you season in advance, since salt will concentrate as the stock simmers.
In addition to maintaining a high ratio of bones to water (one or more pounds to every quart), pros agree that a protracted and patient simmer, beginning with cold water, is key. If you try to expedite the process by starting with hot water, you will increase the rate at which protein matter is put off by the bones. Or, if you boil the broth, you will break that matter apart. Instead of a solid protein mass (aka gray scum) slowly forming at the surface where it can be easily skimmed off, you’ll generate millions of irretrievable particles suspended in the broth. The sad result will be a cloudy soup or sauce.
Another reason for a slow simmer is that it takes three hours or more to transform poultry collagen, the protein that gives the bones and connective tissue their strength, into gelatin. Heat unravels the tightly wound collagen molecules in the bones into rangy gelatin strands and then disperses them into the broth. Though you won’t be able to detect the presence of gelatin at first, you will appreciate its thickening qualities once you chill the stock or reduce it into sauce. To facilitate the release of gelatin, you can chop or break the bones before they go into the pot, but don’t expect to carve more than a few minutes off the total cooking time.
A final insider tip: Keep the pot uncovered throughout the process. By allowing hot, moist steam to escape the vicinity of the broth, you accomplish several things with one simple maneuver. First, the protein scum that rises to the top rapidly dehydrates, which makes it easier to remove; second, flavors concentrate more quickly; and, third, you are more likely to avert – or at least see and correct – an undesired boil. But, most importantly, you fill the kitchen with the restorative aroma of chicken stock.
If, after this lesson, you’re still not sure where you stand on the stock debate, let it simmer. The technique is simple enough, but it will be the magic of homemade stock that eventually wins you over.
Insider stock tips
St. Louis-area pros reveal their most valuable secrets to making good poultry stock.
“It is most important to have a good ratio of bones to cold water, four pounds of bones for each gallon of cold water. Turkey bones have a lot more flavor than chicken bones, in my opinion, especially when they have been roasted. Cook the stock – simmer, not boil – and cool it down as quickly as possible for [food] safety.”
- John Kennealy, executive chef, Noonday Club
“Don’t let the stock boil. Maintain it at a low simmer to keep it as clear as possible.”
- Tim Brennan, owner, Cravings
“James Beard used a clove in his poultry stocks and that is a practice I have adopted ever since reading about it; I prefer its characteristics, but it can be overpowering if you use too much. … It is imperative to not let the stock boil – only gently simmer and give it some love.”
- Chris Desens, executive chef, Racquet Club Ladue
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Poultry Stock
Courtesy of my grandmother, Nana Zurinskas
Yield: 5 to 6 cups
2 1/2 to 3 lbs. turkey or chicken parts (back, wings or other bones), rinsed and roasted or un-roasted, as desired*
Neck and giblets (excluding the liver**) from 1 14- to 16-lb. turkey, rinsed
2 quarts cold water
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 carrots (4 to 5 oz.), coarsely chopped
1 large (about 8 oz.) onion, coarsely chopped (including the peels)
1 leek (about 6 oz.), sliced and washed well
2 dried bay leaves
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
5 to 7 sprigs fresh thyme
• Place the turkey or chicken parts and turkey neck in a large, 6- to 7-quart stock pot. Add the turkey giblets. Pour in the cold water and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Do not boil.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and skim off the scum that has risen to the surface with a small strainer. Add the vegetables, bay leaves, parsley and thyme. Let the stock simmer, uncovered, at least 3 hours, skimming any additional scum that surfaces. Adjust the heat as needed to prevent boiling.
• Strain the stock into a fat separator to remove the poultry parts and vegetables. Save the giblets if you intend to add them to gravy or some other preparation.
• Pour the de-fatted broth into a shallow container then quickly chill to lukewarm in a sink filled with ice water. Transfer the stock to the refrigerator to thoroughly chill. (If you do not have a fat separator, simply chill the stock in the fridge and then remove the congealed fat layer from the surface.)
• Cover the stock once it has completely cooled. It can be stored for about a week in the fridge, or up to 2 or 3 months in the freezer.
* For a darker, more intensely flavored stock, roast the bones in a hot (400-degree) oven before adding the water.
** Because liver clouds the stock and imparts a strong flavor, it is typically excluded.
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