Chicken Stock Concentrate

[scyrene]

Chicken Stock Concentrate
Ingredients:
One chicken carcass, or equivalent in bones
Two medium carrots, washed and roughly chopped
One onion, peeled and roughly chopped
One or two sticks of celery, washed and roughly chopped
Half a dozen black peppercorns
A bayleaf (optional)


Preparation:
Put the ingredients into the steaming basket - you may have to press down to fit them all in (the carcass will crush into a fairly tight space) - and even then, the lid may only just fit (but it will!).
Put the basket into the jug, and pour in water to come up about halfway into the bowl (i.e. to the top fill level in the jug, but obviously it'll be less than 2 litres, as some of the volume is taken up by ingredients).
Put the jug onto the machine base, and fix the lid - try to press the measuring cup into the hole, but don't worry if it doesn't fit properly - as the meat and vegetables cook, they'll soften and break up, taking up less space.
Set the machine to 100ºC, 30 mins, speed around 2.
After this time, lower the temperature to 90ºC, and set it again for 60 mins, same speed.
Then, remove the basket carefully (using the spatula as a handle), making sure all the liquid drains into the jug.
Reset the machine, without the measuring cap on, to 70ºC, speed 4, for 60 mins.
Check the amount of liquid remaining - the smaller the volume, the more concentrated it is, but you don't want it to boil dry. I'd stick it on for another 30 mins minimum, same speed and temp as the previous step. You are aiming for no more than a couple of cups of liquid at the end (rather less than 500ml I'd say), but it's a matter of taste.
Pour through a sieve into a jug or bowl, leave to cool.
Once cool, place in the fridge, preferably overnight.
Any fat will have risen to the surface and solidified (it does not set hard, more like softened butter). This will separate off from the stock, which should have set into a jelly.

Tips/Hints:
I'd been making stock in my TM for a while, before it occurred to me it would be the perfect device for concentrating it down. The combination of relatively low temperature and high speed means the water evaporates without the flavours becoming too caramelised or even burned.
You can add salt to taste, once the stock has been strained, but it is not essential.
If you use a previously-roasted carcass, you'll get much less fat, but it will still taste good. The fat can be used for softening onions, or in Jewish cooking, or for roasting potatoes.
Other vegetables can be substituted - fennel, celeriac, a few mushrooms, kohl rabi, etc. If you happen not to have onion, try shallots, or leek, or even spring onions or chives (if you're desperate!).

[Nay-nay]

Thanks - this looks easy  - I need to try something new but have got into habit of just making vege stock.   

[cookie1]

I only make vegie stock too. This looks easy though.  I will have to fight my DH for the next chicken carcass before he gets to pull it apart and eat all the leftover bits.

[Zan]

Thanks so much for this. I make chicken stock (liquid) most weeks (we have bbq chicken for mother's group and even if I don't host I bring the carcass home, lol) but don't always have a need for it but this is a great idea, so I don't have a big jug of stock sitting in the fridge.
I guess you then freeze it?

[Katya]

Thanks for this - it looks a lot easier and more authentic than the chicken stock recipe in the F & E book which I did try but didn't like.

[Maluhia]

Mine is cooking now in my TMX I've owned for less than 24 hours

I used 8 chicken necks instead of a carcass as they can be purchased at my butcher for 20 cents each and I did not need to worry about crushing the carcass into the basket.  Smells great so far.....

[Zan]

Oh and don't forget to reset the temperature and have a waste of an hours cooking 

[judydawn]

I've got this on the go at the moment, the house smells lovely.  I've used my turkey carcass, or what I could fit in of it. Limited space in my freezer so thought this was a great idea. When I come to use it, can anybody tell me how much water I would add to reconstitute it to a nice, flavoursome stock eg 1 part stock to 3 parts water or more water maybe?

[Zan]

Judy I was thinking just whatever it had reduced by - mine wasn't as reduced as I wanted so about 1 part to 5 of water I'd say.

[judydawn]

Thanks Zan.  I could have reduced mine down a bit more too but after 2 hours, I just wanted the procedure to finish and give my TMX a rest 

[bindirigo80]

Hi all, was just wondering how long this stock keeps in the fridge?? Or is it best frozen, I made a quadruple batch today (not in the thermo obviously) as i found the bag of chicken carcasses had 4, not the 2 i was expecting, nice surprise, but couldn't do it in the thermo, so its all boiling away on the stove atm, and seeing as i'm going to have a rather alot of stock concentrate I was trying to think of the best way to preserve it. I'm presuming it doesn't keep the way the veg stock conc does as there is no salt to preserve it. Any tips are much appreciated, cheers!!

PS this is my first post, i should probably go to the 'introduce yourself' page and do just that!!!

Thanks in advance!!

[Zan]

Hi, I froze mine - it's the same as fresh concentrate so only would keep for a few days.

[nix]

Thanks - just made this as Ihave newborn bubs and don't want to use store bought stock. Very easy.

[HARPER]

HAS anyone got reviews on this stock?

[judydawn]

Harper, I froze mine in heaped tablespoon quantities then just threw 1 or 2 in to different dishes here and there.  Could not really say it boosted the flavour and since I've made the chicken stock powder from Tenina's For Food Sake, now know which one I will be using.  An example of the difference for you - I just made a cup of broth from each recipe using a tablespoon of each and the powder, although it is much darker than normal chicken stock, wins hands down - it is so flavoursome and when you make it you can see why.  Others may care to comment if they have made both. Tenina's stock powder is my favourite.