How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock

Nothing beats homemade chicken stock.

Store bought stock has a lot of salt in it and can affect the taste of a dish.

I made this batch of chicken mainly for a paella recipe which you can find on the channel.

By making your own stock will give you to control the seasoning in your dishes.

To this add leftover chicken bones and offcuts.

I had some uncooked chicken bones left over from pan roasting some chicken from dinner the night before but the remains of a roast chicken will also do the trick.

The skin of the onion will add color to the stock.

Add two or three roughly chopped carrots.

You can also add some celery but I didn't have any.

Then some fresh thyme, you can use dried also.

Followed by fresh rosemary.

Next, some bay leaves.

8 or 9 whole black peppercorns.

2 teaspoons of garlic, whole or minced work fine.

Make sure you give yourself a bit of a buffer in case the heat spikes, this will make sure the liquid doesn't over flow.

You'll have to adjust the temp until the water is only just simmering.

The length of time you leave it is a personal choice.

I normally leave mine simmer for only 4 hours but it can go as long as 12 hours.

When the stock begins to simmer you'll find a small amount of "pond scum" will be on the surface, make sure to remove it because it can affect the flavor of the stock.

Once you've found the perfect temp of the pot it's a matter of leaving to do its thing.

It's time to take it off the heat.

Then you want to find another pot or bowl that you can transfer the stock too.

Using a strainer pour the stock through to remove any large pieces of veg or meat.

Some people like to strain it a few times to make sure they get rid of everything but I'm not that fussy.

I've poured most of it into containers to freeze but I'll keep a jar full to cook Paella, make sure to check out that video.