WHY-Wednesday: Why I make my own chicken stock?

Well, the short answer to this is because it's cheaper...

and because I know exactly what is going into it.

It's also supposed to be very good for you... like a super food or something.

And when it gets down to it, it is super easy, and FREE!

Now, remember how I told you last week how much I love Costco?

Well, something you must know about me is that I *hate* raw meat.  I've gotten sick by working with it far too many times.  So one of the things I've started doing to deal with this intense hate is buying fully-cooked rotisserie chickens from Costco-- 

This entire chicken costs $5, and if planned correctly, I can feed my family dinner for four days off of it.  It's that big (and good!).

So after I finish using the meat, what do I do with the bones?

Now people-- this is probably one of the most common-known things in the world, but for me it was groundbreaking--  You make chicken-stock with it!

(As a side note-- did you know you should not use actual chicken meat to make chicken stock?  By doing so you strip the chicken from all it's good flavor, and should ideally toss it after the stock is finished)

So anyway...

You place the chicken carcass in the crock pot, fill it up with water (or your leftover whey from when you made your last batch of yogurt), throw in all those onion peels and random veggie pieces you've been storing in your freezer for the past couple of weeks, turn the slowcooker on low, and let it sit over night.

(Another side note-- only season with a bay leaf and some pepper kernels.  Do not season with salt since you don't know what you'll be using the stock in, and you don't want your final product to be too salty or insipid).

In the morning, this is what you'll find--

Let it cool down, drain, and store in the freezer.  

I normally get about three-ish quarts of stock from one chicken.  

I like to use these plastic can containers that are made specifically for freezing.  I will also put some in ziplock bags and freeze them that way.

When ready for use, just get it out of the freezer and let it thaw on it's own.  Or just stick it into the microwave and let it melt a little.  Then just throw the "ice-stock" in the soup/rice/bean/etc. dish you are making and let it finish thawing in there.

Enjoy :)