As part of our Soup Challenge, I’m sharing my newest super easy way to make chicken stock. Chicken stock should be a staple in our diets even if we’re not on GAPS, it’s full of healthy amino acids and minerals and is easily digested. I love the rich golden color of chicken stock made from baked chicken, this method uses one pan to both bake and boil the chicken.
Directions:
Crockpot Instructions: Bake chicken in the ceramic part of the slow cooker (the part that can be removed) then follow the recipe, but cook it on low in the crock pot rather than the stovetop.
Remove giblet package from chicken, and place in an oven proof stock pot (Find the kitchen equipment I use and recommend here). Preheat oven to 375* and then bake the chicken uncovered for 45-60 minutes; cooking all the way through isn’t important here because we will also boil it, we are just getting the skin nice and brown.
Use oven mitts to place the stock pot on a large burner, and fill the pot to within a couple inches of the top with filtered water. Add 2 
cloves of garlic and 1 inch of fresh peeled ginger if desired, and turn to a medium-low heat and simmer for 6-12 hours, covering if you are simmering it for a longer time.
Pour off rich stock into half gallon mason jars (it makes about 1 gallon), and if desired re-fill with filtered water and re-simmer for a few hours for another gallon of slightly less rich stock, but good stock nonetheless.
The fat will rise to the top of the jars in the fridge, which can be included in soups or used as a fat for cooking.
Remove chicken from the bones of the now boiled chicken. It can be chopped up to add to soups, or used in chicken salad. I add the soft gelatinous parts of the chicken, and the skin, back into the chicken stock and it all gets pureed up in pureed soups.
Learn more about the health benefits of chicken stock below
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When ever I cook my chicken for a long time it gets dried out and rubbery and pastey tasting. My crock pot doesn’t work for making chicken broth for us, because even on low it boils. I’m not even sure I am making my broth correctly…I never get that gel-ed substance and there have been times I have simmered for 12 hours. It just tastes bitter. You would think that after 6 months I would be an expert “Broth-er”. My stock definitely doesn’t taste like the canned broth in stores, my kids won’t eat/drink my broth without at least onions and celery in it…or at least the flavor of them in the broth. It all seems so easy to make, yet it doesn’t taste like I think it should. And 6 months is a long time to eat broth that you don’t like. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.
Julie, what kind of chickens are you using? If they’re pastured raised they’ll be more ‘gamey’ than factory farmed chickens. You’re using the skin and everything right? And yes, the longer you cook the broth the more bland the chicken will taste, that’s why I turn it into chicken salad so I can add back some flavor from spices but still use the meat.
My crock pot boils my stock too. I read a tip about putting a couple tuna/sardine cans between the ceramic and the metal that it sits in so it doesn’t boil. I am going to try that and see what happens. I figure I’ll let it heat up like regular for a few hours but then insert the cans before it boils.
Years ago, a friend’s mom instructed me to never break the spine of the chicken carcass if using it for stock. That way, you prevent the spinal fluids from making the broth bitter. I don’t know if the reason is correct, but my broth has never turned out bitter when I’ve followed her advice.
That bitter flavor may be “burnt” stock. I get that if I let it go to long without pulling some and refreshing the water. I don’t like boiled chicken either so I just eat my roasted chicken and make stock when I’ve got two carcases to use. I’ve had good luck with the perpetual broth method in my 5 quart crock on low I pull about 3-4 cups of broth twice a day.
The best broth though, is a combination of chicken and roasted beef bones. I love it far better than either straight, I just add some salt and squished garlic and drink it up.
I have been doing meat stock instead of the bone broth and cooking it for only about 2 1/2-3hours on the stove as the glutamate level is higher when it,s cooked longer. For autism that’s better from what I understand. I believe Dr. NCM recommends to start off this way first and then ease into bone broth and longer cooking of it when the gut has healed more. Am I correct in this?
Sarah Pope from The Healthy Home Economist blog featured a great article on the differences between meat stock and bone broth. http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/stock-vs-broth-are-you-confused/
I now know to only cook meat stock for several hours (vs. 24+ hours) since I am sensitive to the glutamates.
I love them both too. But when I ladle a bowl to drink, I add fish sauce, smashed garlic and fresh squeeze of lemon juice. Soo good that way!
We have done pastured poultry for years and we always let our birds set in the fridge for 3-7 days before we cook it or freeze it. It tenderizes the meat and enhances the flavor. You do need to be sure your fridge is kept cold enough. I like to cook it till the meat is tender enough to debone it, then roast the bones in the oven on 350 till they are a nice roasted brown. I then simmer them with acv, onions, celery, carrots and thyme for 12-72 hrs. The bone broth has more flavor when they’ve been roasted, but I don’t know how this affects the nutritional value. I have simmered the bones till they were soft enough to mush in your mouth. We certainly don’t make a habit of consuming bones, but my children thought it was fun to say they had eaten bones.:) I knew then that there were alot of minerals were in my broth.
A local organic pastured chicken farm sells the resulting “backs” and “clean feet” and am using that for stock. Set in room temp sea-salted water for an hour, bring to a boil, skim the scum, remove the meat and add veggies + acv + kombu, put the bones back in and simmer for about 6-8 hours, then strain. That is all. As a preferred vegetarian, am not a fan of GAPS/WAP/paleo at all, but whatever, am trying stock to see if it helps long-term illness. Highly skeptical.
I just made some stock this way and made a chicken dinner with veggies for us all. When told the kids what we were having they all said ‘I don’t like chicken’ moan, moan, moan. They have completely cleared their plates and my bigger two asked for more chicken too! Success, especially for my middle child who has food issues and is very picky. Thankyou for this suggestion Cara!!!!
That’s awesome! My kids like bland boiled chicken too, it cracks me up because I think it’s so bland!
I don’t like the boiled chicken either, so I just use all the leftovers from roast chickens to make stock. I also add chicken feet and necks and wing tips in with the carcasses and I find I always get a nice rich, gelatinous broth.
I put a chicken in the crockpot at bedtime, with an entire head of garlic (cut in half), 2 bay leaves, and salt. I cover everything with water and put it on low all night. In the morning, I have the loveliest, tastiest chicken stock and wonderfully tender, moist chicken to use in recipes. Once I pick the meat off, I bag up the bones and when I get a good amount (several chickens worth), I do an overnight bone broth with the same ingredients.
Once you have bones available (I have a small collection in my freezer now), is it ok on the intro diet to roast the bones in the oven before you make the stock with them? Do you lose any nutrients or goodness in the marrow?
I have never used meat when I make stock, only bones and I still get a good gelatinous stock. I sometimes buy whole chickens, sometimes just bone-in breasts or legs but I always save the bones and put them in my stock bucket (just a plastic 1-gallon pail) in the freezer. I also throw in carrot ends, celery ends, and onion peels. When the bucket’s full, it’s time to make stock. It’s economical for my family and it works because we all hate boiled chicken Lol.
I buy chicken feet and backs from Whole Foods (less than $2 a lb). They are pastured and chemical-free. I cover them with filtered water and a little vinegar (which pulls the calcium out of the bones) and cook on low in the crock pot for about 2-3 days. I add water as it goes down. The bones become very soft. After straining I give the bones to my dogs, although a lot of people eat them. I can’t. Eew.
My kids won’t eat the broth either, but I use it as a base for cream of broccoli soup with cheddar cheese, which they love. I just don’t tell them :) It generally takes 3 days for the soup to get to the point of gelling in the fridge.
Also cooking it down (reducing it) and then adding salt, spices, and cream or butter makes a nice gravy.
A question on your crock pot usage: can all crock pots be used on the stovetop for cooking? I have an electric stove, so the crockpot would sit directly on the electric element. Also….does it matter if the crockpot is oval and the burner element round?
Not for stovetop use, but I believe they can go *in* the oven :)
I make chicken stock in my slow cooker, too. I found that it cooked too high, even on low. Since it has a “keep warm” setting, that is what I use, after first bringing it up to a proper temperature on high. I made sure that the broth was at a safe temperature on the “keep warm” setting. There is an abundance of wing tips where I live, so that is what I use along with an onion and a clove of garlic. I cook the broth for about 24 hours and find that it gels every time when I use the wing tips. It always tastes perfectly chicken-y, too. None of those liverish flavors. I chose not to add salt, preferring to add salt to whatever soup or sauce I make with the broth.