How to Make Chicken Stock

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Ultimate GAPS-friendly warming comfort food? The answer is simple. It’s chicken stock.

There is nothing better than lounging on the couch while watching fall turn to winter outside and sipping a mug of delicious homemade chicken stock. Full of nourishing fat, chicken stock is a great method of fulfilling all my savory cravings.

I used to avoid fat at all costs and I suspect many other people were, or are, the same. Our society has turned fat into the sole culprit behind rising obesity rates and cardiovascular diseases. I believed that too for a long time and denied myself any kind of fat, whether it was a cheeseburger or a piece of grilled salmon. But it didn’t make me lose weight nor become happy with my body. So I searched for answers.

That’s when I learned that there is nothing wrong with fat if it comes from a healthy source. I learned that our bodies need fat to function properly and that fat can be nourishing too. My worldview was turned upside down and I accepted that fat should have a place in my diet too. Now I eat butter (grass-fed) and coconut oil and fish and many other healthy fats. I have since lost weight and my energy levels are up.

Of course, chicken stock is great in general, not only for people who are on GAPS. I mentioned GAPS because I am currently doing it and have a restricted selection of foods I can eat. If you haven’t heard about GAPS, it’s a special healing diet (temporary!) that heals your gut from previous destructive eating habits so that you can enjoy all kinds of real foods once more (like grains, gluten, dairy, and so on). Stocks are heavily utilized on GAPS due to their nutritional value. I am currently having stock three times a day.

And even if I weren’t doing GAPS, I am sure I would be drinking chicken stock like crazy. The fall season is that time of the year where all I want to do is baked cinnamon goods, eat pumpkin meals, and drink chicken stock.

The Weston A. Price website says the following about broth:

“Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons–stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.”

Sometimes you can see how chicken stock solidifies when cooled. That’s the sign of gelatin presence that came from chicken bones. The longer you simmer your chicken stock, the less likely it is to solidify (but it will still contain plenty of gelatin and minerals inside). I prefer to simmer my stock for an overnight at least so that I can make sure I get everything possible out of the bones. In the colder months, the overnight simmering keeps my house just a little bit warmer. On the other hand, if I am making stock in the summer and don’t my house to get all hot, I simmer it in a slow cooker in the backyard.

There isn’t anything complicated about making chicken stock. All you need is a quality pastured chicken (with bones) and vegetables with just a splash of apple cider vinegar to make a delicious chicken stock. You don’t even need to peel or cut vegetables because they will be strained out later! If you use quality ingredients then you will get a flavorful batch of chicken stock that will last you for a long time. It can also be used as a base for other dishes. Add some tomatoes and you will get a great traditional tomato soup. Put some of the stock in any sauce to give it some more depth. Reduce gravy with it. Or just drink it on its own, like I do!

Necessary equipment:

  • a large stockpot OR a slow cooker OR a French oven
  • a large baking dish
  • a large mixing bowl
  • a large steel strainer
  • glass jars with lids for storage

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole pastured chicken
  • 1 bag of chicken giblets (heart, gizzard, and liver)
  • 3 stalks of celery
  • 3 carrots
  • 1 onion
  • 2 T. of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 handful of rosemary
  • 1 handful of thyme
  • 1 bunch of fresh parsley
  • sea salt to taste

Ingredients:

  1. Put the chicken and the giblets in your stockpot. Add the vegetables (celery, carrots, and onion). You can cut them in half if they are too large. Add the spices (bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, parsley).
  2. Fill the stockpot with water almost to the top. Leave an inch or an inch and a half of free space. Add the apple cider vinegar to the mixture.
  3. Cover the stockpot with a lid and leave at room temperature for one hour.
  4. Put the stockpot on a stove and bring to boil.
  5. Lower the heat and keep simmering for overnight. Remember to cover the stockpot with a lid.
  6. Once done simmering, use a strainer to remove the solids. You should be left with a liquid broth full of shiny fat circles on the surface.
  7. Don’t throw out the solids, you can still eat them. Especially the chicken meat will be deliciously soft and fragrant by now. You can slice off some of the meat and add it back to the broth.
  8. Transfer the liquid broth into glass jars and cover with a lid. You can keep broth jars in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze them for later. A good idea is to put some of it in ice cube trays – that way you will have a perfect portion of chicken stock to use in sauces or gravies.

Enjoy your homemade chicken stock!

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