Chicken Stock
- Yield:3 kilograms
- Time:1 hr, 54 mins show details
There's nothing quite like chicken stock. The base of countless sauces and soups, it's one of the most-used staples in my kitchen.
Ingredients
- 3 kilogramswater
- 2 kilogramschicken meat and bones, cut into chunks
- 100 gramsonions, chopped
- 75 gramscarrots, chopped
- 50 gramsleeks, greens and whites
- 50 gramsparsnips, chopped
- 5 gramsparsley, stems and leaves
- 1 gramblack peppercorns, or white peppercorns
- 20 gramssugar optional
- .5 gramsfenugreek seeds optional
Equipment
- pressure cooker, not absolutely needed, but pressure cookers cook stocks faster and prevent some volatile compounds from evaporating away, resulting in a more flavorful stock
- chinois, or a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth
Preparation
The ingredients.
- 20 mins
Over high heat, bring the water for blanching to a boil in the pressure cooker, being sure not to seal the top, as it will need to be opened.
If any of the ingredients need preparation (such as chopping the vegetables), now is a good time to do that.
- 2 mins
Once the water has come to a rolling boil, place the chicken in the boiling water, and close, but again do not seal.
The boil will stop after adding the chicken.
- 10 mins
Keeping the heat on high, wait until the water returns to a rolling boil. There should be a lot of scum from blood and other impurities on the top.
The blanching process is done so we can remove the resulting scum, as seen here.
- 5 mins
Turn off heat. Remove the scum on the top with a spoon.
- 5 mins
Making sure to retain all the water and chicken, strain the water through a chinois or fine mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth.
Thoroughly rinse the chicken under cold water.
Thoroughly clean and dry the pressure cooker.
Rinsing.
Rinsed.
- 1 min
Place the pressure cooker over medium-high heat and toast the peppercorns and fenugreek seeds, if using.
Toasting the peppercorns and fenugreek.
- 15 mins
Add back the water, the chicken, and the rest of the ingredients to the pressure cooker.
Seal the pressure cooker, and bring to its highest stable temperature over high heat. If the pressure cooker begins venting, remove the heat slightly. When the vapor escapes we lose flavor compounds.
All ingredients added.
Seal to cook.
- 40 mins
Continue cooking the stock.
- 10 mins
Remove the pressure cooker from heat and safely cool.
I typically put the pressure cooker in the sink and run water over it to cool it down, still sealed. This may not be advisable depending on your setup.
Cooling.
The stock should look something like this when you open it.
- 5 mins
Strain the stock through a chinois or strainer lined with cheesecloth into a large bowl, with at least 4 liters capacity.
Using a ladle, pour the stock into individual quart containers, again passing it through a chinois or cheesecloth-lined strainer.
Strained.
Ready for storage.
- 1 min
Place finished stock in refrigerator or freezer or use immediately. It should keep for about a week in the fridge and up to a few months in the freezer.
Notes
Be sure to keep the chicken afterward. It is still flavorful and can be used in things like chicken salad, rilletes, or mousse.
The optional fenugreek will add bit of depth to the flavor, and the sugar, while beneficial on its own, serves to balance out the slight bitterness introduced by the fenugreek.
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