Easy Tender Chicken Stock

Submitted by Derf2440

"This is so much easier than doing the "old bird" the old way!! and deliciously tender! How it is used is of course up to you, this is what I do: 1. remove chicken, skin it, debone it, use the very tender meat in salads, sandwiches or in any recipe that calls for cooked chicken, it can be frozen for future use. 2. the juice/sauce, should be put in a bowl and in the fridge overnight. The next day, the fat will be on top and can be removed and discarded. the remaining juice will have turned to jelly overnight and can be used as the base for a wonderful "sticky lips" chicken soup, veggie soup etc.,or can be used in any recipe calling for chicken stock. Even watered down, it is better than average. Also can be frozen. Taken apart, used properly with common sense, there is very little chance of it causing a heart attack. Chicken soup is well known as a cure all, spiritual or otherwise. The photos show the "old bird" jelly after refrigeration overnight with the fat risen to the top , then with the fat taken off to show the jelly, then a bowl of soup made from the jelly, the rest of the "old bird" was used for an updated (slimed down) version of chicken and dumplings the remainder frozen for future use. No photo of the old bird in the crock pot, it was quite ugly and turned out fuzzy."

 

• Ready In: 10hrs 10mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 8-10

ingredients

• 4 1⁄2 - 5 lbs stewing chicken
• salt and pepper
• 1⁄2 medium onion
• 1⁄2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped dried parsley
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground marjoram
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground black pepper

directions

1. Pat bird very dry, hook wings underneath body to form a rack, sprinkle cavity with salt and pepper, place onion and lemon in cavity, dot breast with butter or margarine.
2. Place chicken in bottom of a 4 to 5 qt crockpot sprayed with veggy cooking spray.
3. In a small bowl, mix herbs and seasonings, sprinkle mixture evenly over chicken, cover pot.
4. Cook on high setting for 2 hours, change setting to low, cook for a further 6 to 8 hours.
5. If desired, the bird can be transferred to a roaster and browned in the oven.

Reviews

[Paja9203]

I had a VERY old stewing chicken in the freezer and I wanted to make stock. I made a lot of changes to this recipe, but I am rating it because the seasoning was terrific. I don't have a crock pot so I did it on the stove top and I covered the bird with water. I also added a cut up carrot and a couple of celery stalks. When the chicken was done, I reduced the stock by about 1/3. Then I used the stock and the meat to make "Bon Appetit's Mulligatawny Soup", recipe 4891. Just great! If I ever get a crock pot I would love to try this method because I am sure the broth would be extremely flavourful.

 

[kiwidutch]

Derf, how easy is this?! Since in your introduction you mention stripping off the useable meat, and I have been saving roasted chicken carcus bones in the freezer and needed both stock and some freezer space, this recipe seemed perfect. My crockpot only has one setting so I threw everything in for 10 hours and I have a wonderful flavourful stock. After it had cooled off I put it into the fridge overnight and in the morning carefully lifted off the small amount of fat that had solidified and put the rest of the stock into plastic beakers and into the freezer. It doesn't look to me like your former reviewer actually made the recipe, and I figure that since my beasties had only a meagre amount of meat on them and I didn't add salt, and I scooped away the fat that surely the nutritional data for this can no longer really apply in the high figures mentioned? My stock looks lean and mean to me LOL. I used leftover fresh rosemary and thyme and no cooking spray and my photo was taken halfway through the cooking time (since it was getting too dark to get a decent photo later) but I can assure you that it got a little darker and heaps more flavour after the rest of the time. Please see my rating system: 4 wonderful stars for a super easy recipe where the crockpot does all the work and hopefully over time my hips will take all the credit. I'm trying to eat healthier and my homemade stocks are very important to me as an aid to cooking veggies with less oil and butter. This one is a success. Thanks!

 

[Aminat]

Recipe sounded great, that is until I looked at the nutritional information! One serving of this nearly fills you calorie, fat and sodium intake for the DAY! Not worth the heart attack!