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Chicken stock has a mellow quality that makes it particularly versatile in soups and sauces. This is a “white” stock, since it’s made with raw chicken bones. (You can substitute the carcass from a roast chicken, like our Simplest Roast Chicken.) Simmering the chicken bones extracts tons of flavor that's a far cry from store-bought chicken broth.
This stock is purposely unsalted, since you will use it as an ingredient in other dishes—as a base for soups and sauces, for example, or to cook rice and other grains.

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion, halved
  • 1 raw chicken carcass, including neck bone
  • 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
  • 4-5 peppercorns, crushed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1-2 sprigs parsley
  • 1 sprig thyme

Instructions

  • Place the onion cut side down in a stock pot over medium heat, and char for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, and fill pot with cold water to cover. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, and simmer for 3 hours. (Do not boil, or your stock will be cloudy.) Skim impurities that rise to the surface frequently, using a spoon.
  • Remove from heat. Use a pair of tongs to fish out and discard the carcass and other bones. Strain stock through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Fill a larger bowl with ice. Place stock-filled bowl into ice-filled bowl, and cool to room temperature. Cover stock, and refrigerate overnight.
  • The next day, skim fat from surface of stock with spoon, and discard.
  • To store, decant stock into a large clean jar, and refrigerate up to 5 days. You also can divide stock in muffin tins or ice cube trays with 1/2-cup capacity, and freeze. If space is tight, try this trick: Return defatted stock to a saucepan, and bring to a boil, cooking until reduced by half. This intensifies the flavor, which is especially nice if you plan to use the stock in sauces.
Makes about 2-1/2 quarts.
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