Chicken Broth/Stock

Remember how I said to save the bones from the Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot?  Well, I should have also said don't unplug your crock pot either! 

I try to get at least 2 meals out of a chicken, 3-4 if it is a 'Sumo' chicken (Perdue had some recently that were huge)  Another way to stretch a buck is by making your own chicken broth or stock to boost flavor to all of your dishes.  Once you take your chicken out, keep all of the drippings in the crock pot and add the bones back in (making sure to discard as much fat as possible) once you shred or use the chicken.  If you just want broth, cover with water, put the pot on low, and let it cook overnight!  That's it!  Seriously!!  To make stock versus broth, just add some veggies!

To this particular pot I added onion, carrot, and celery.  I love adding in scraps that I keep in the freezer when we have them.  That's a great way to use it all, not waste, and add tons of flavor.  So far this year my favorite broth had stems from our rainbow chard! 

 Here's my set-up for the morning.  I turn off the crock pot before I make coffee so it can start cooling down and be easier to handle.  I usually take the crock out and sit it on the stove away from the heating element to speed this along.  I have a big ole bowl that has a pour spout and my strainer fits inside.  This morning I didn't have any cheesecloth but Viva paper towels work great!! I have also used coffee filters but they don't cover the entire surface of my stainer and stuff gets through.

 Put the lined strainer in the bowl and pour your stock through.

 Then just take this beautiful stock and put it into containers to store.  I prefer glass jars since it is still pretty hot at this point.

 If you need to cool the stock/ broth quickly the best thing to do is carefully sit the jars into ice water.  This will bring them to a safe temperature to put in the fridge!  Now the next time you need to use broth or stock you can save your family money, add tons of flavor, and (I think most importantly) you know exactly what's inside!