Homemade Chicken Broth

My plan is to make chicken soup. It’s good for the soul, the ultimate comfort food. But to make chicken soup, well, you need chicken broth. Not broth from a box, no, broth from bones, chicken bones, cooked overnight, slowly. I have post on broths and stocks, check it out, there’s some good stuff in there. So, my plan is still the same, chicken soup, but my journey starts here, with homemade chicken broth.

Being Jewish of eastern European decent chicken broth and chicken soup are part of my heritage. It is quintessentially a Jewish dish, some call it Jewish penicillin. However there is some background to soups and broth. Broth is a poor mans food. By slowly cooking bones for a long time, the last little bit of flavor and goodness could be drawn out. A weak broth could be created, to that, add some vegetables, maybe some pasta, dumplings or matzo balls to create a soup. Also, the stomach can digest soup quicker than a heavy meal. So soup can tackle your hunger quicker.

Everything starts with chicken bones. That’s actually quite easy. I have a lot of chicken recipes on this blog, and quite a few of them involve chicken thighs. In most of them I remove the bone. Or maybe I have a split chicken breast that I remove the breast meat from the ribs. Well, whenever I remove a bone, I keep it, freeze it. The freezer is a wonderful place, so much just gets tossed in there. I shop every two weeks, so I break down my protein into single servings and stick it in the freezer. I hate to throw good food out, if I freeze it, I extend it’s shelf life for months. Frozen vegetables too, the list is endless.

Now with a freezer full of assorted bones and such, well, every now and then I have to clean some out. And making chicken broth is the perfect thing to do. About a pound of chicken bones to about 2 quarts of fresh water work well. I have a 4 quart slow cooker and everything fits fine. If you have more bones, or a larger slow cooker, cook as much as you like, but a 2:1 ratio works well. Put the bones in the fridge overnight to thaw. Remember, when you handle the bones to wash up, please read my post about safe food prep, there’s some good stuff in there.

The seasoning for a broth is very simple. It’s going to form the base of a soup, which will have it’s own seasonings. The idea is to carry the chicken flavor onto the soup. A few cloves of garlic cut in two, some whole peppercorns and, a bay leaf. I prefer to use whole peppercorns over cracked or ground peppercorns because of the flavor produced. The component in pepper that gives it it’s bite is piperine. When the pepper is cracked or ground, the piperine is released. I’m looking for a more subtle flavor, so I leave the peppercorns whole. The seasonings added to a broth have to be subtle, it’s going to be part of a dish when it’s done.

The cooking process is simple, put the bones in the slow cooker, add seasoning, pour over 2 quarts of water. Set the slow cooker on low and walk away. I will usually allow 10-12 hrs to cook. Really the longer the better. The only thing that’s going to draw all that flavor and goodness out of the bones is time. If you have a pressure cooker, that works fine in a fraction of the time, the ingredients are the same. Just follow the manufactures instructions for cooking broth

When done you have a slow cooker full of bits of bone and broth that needs to be separated, and, on top of that, it’s hot so be careful, if you like, wait till it cools a bit. Using kitchen tongs of a slotted spoon remove the large bones, then ladle the rest of the liquid mixture through a strainer into an appropriate size bowl and allow to completely cool on the counter before refrigeration. I have quart size freezer containers that I will transfer it to and freeze till needed. You can use it as you like. You don’t have to freeze it in quart containers, ice trays work well, remember 8 ice cubes to a cup. That may be more manageable

That’s it, your own homemade chicken broth, pretty easy. Certainly better than a box or can, and healthier too, no salt. Either way enjoy, thank you for reading