Basic Chicken Stock

Basic Chicken Stock

Almost all of the broth we use is our own homemade chicken stock we make based on the recipe in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Here is our method. We buy mostly natural chickens and definitely only use natural chicken for chicken stock. Generally speaking we use a table top roaster oven to roast chickens, usually 2-3 at a time (natural chickens are generally smaller that the hormone fed behemoths in the grocery store.) This is also helpful because it does not tie up the stove with the long broth cooking process. After the meal is over, the chicken bones are returned to the roaster oven. We throw all the skins out as skins are where a lot of the environmental toxins end up. We fill the roaster 2/3- 3/4 full with water (you will need more to cover a turkey carcass.) Add 1 large or 2 small onions, several organic carrots, several stalks of celery and a couple of tablespoons cider vinegar. Bring to a boil and remove the scum that rises up to the top. Cover and simmer for 12-24 hours. The longer you cook it the richer the flavor. When you are done cooking, strain the stock and remove the solids. Return stock to roaster and boil off liquid to concentrate broth in order to make it easier to store. The last step is to add a bunch of fresh parsley for the last 5 minutes of cooking, then remove before cooling. In the winter I put the stock pot part outside in the cold to cool until the fat solidifies and can be skimmed off. We freeze this in 1 and 2 cup containers, planning on a 2:1 ratio of bought broth to homemade for a recipe. Why go to all of this trouble? "Properly prepared meat stocks are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow, and vegetables as electrolytes, and hence in easily assimilated form. ... Stock is also of great value because it supplies hydrophilic colloids to the diet. ... Although gelatin is by means a complete protein, ... it acts as a protein sparer, allowing the body to more fully utilize the complete proteins that are taken in. " Nourishing Traditions, p.107.