Chicken Broth

This blog began because of an episode on Fresh Air where one of the Test Kitchen chefs said,  "But getting back to the broth, you know, we try to use ready-made ingredients or convenient ingredients. So we're not going to ask people to make a homemade stock for this."


Eighteen posts later, I will actually address making homemade chicken broth, and include a side-by-side comparison of ingredients between store-bought broth and broth made from scratch. This nutritious staple is well worth the effort and a must in any kitchen.

CHICKEN BROTH

Ingredients:

Picked bones, remaining meat, vegetables, and fat a from whole, cooked chicken recipe like The Best Whole Chicken in a Crockpot [recipe found below])

Water 

Equipment:

6 quart crock-pot

4 quart pressure cooker 

Cheese cloth or flour sack cloth

Colander

Large-capacity spoon or ladle 

Canning funnel

4 pint canning jars

4 canning jar lids (self-sealing lids and collars or rings)  

Fork

Directions:

Add water to the crock of the pot until it is about an inch or two from the top. Add less water if you wish to have less broth.

Cover the crock, and return it the base. Set the crock-pot on low and let cook for 12 hours. The water will no longer be clear.

Set a colander inside a large pot,

then line the colander with cheese cloth or flour sack cloth.

Pour the contents from the crock-pot into the colander,

Gather up the ends of the cloth, trapping the bones et al inside, lift it up from the colander, and gently squeeze the cloth to allow the remaining broth to drain. Dispose of the remains, leaving the broth behind.

 

Sterilize the jars. Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the pressure cooker,

Place the four pint jars and their lids inside the pot,

Tighten the lid securely in place, then turn the burner on high. When steam begins issuing from the vent tube,

Place the pressure control weight on the tube, set at fifteen pounds of pressure.

When the weight begins to rattle, set the timer for twenty minutes, then reduce the heat of the burner until the weight rattles only at intervals, such as two or three times a minute. When the timer sounds, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and let it depressurize. This can take up to 15 minutes. Nudge the weight with a fork to test if depressurized. If the vent doesn't hiss, remove the weight, wait a minute, then remove the lid. The jars and lids are now sterilized and ready for use.

Bring the broth to a boil. 

Take the lids and rings from the pressure cooker and add hot water to the bottom of the pot until there's about two inches worth of water. Place the canning funnel into one of the jars.

Ladle the broth into each of the jars until there's about an inch of head space remaining,

And place the lids on the jars. Tighten the lid until it is almost tight, then unscrew the lid a half-turn.

Fasten the lid of the pressure cooker tightly, turn the burner on high. When steam issues from the vent, place the weight on the vent, set at ten pounds of pressure, and set the timer for twenty minutes. Reduce the heat until the weight rattles only at intervals of about two to three times a minute. When the timer sounds, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and let it depressurize for about twenty minutes. Nudge the weight with a fork. If the vent doesn't hiss, remove the weight and the pressure cooker lid, then take the jars from the pot and let them cool. If the lids depresses in the center (which it might do with a pop),

That's the sign of a good seal. If the lids don't depress, you may either repeat the process of pressure canning, or freeze the contents of the jars in freezer bags of containers. The result will be the same: a natural, delicious base for recipes and a meal for those who are ill or suffering from a stomach flu.

 BEST WHOLE CHICKEN RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon thyme*

½ teaspoon garlic powder or cloves of garlic, chopped 

¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 onion

1 large chicken 

Directions: 

Mix the dried spices together in a small bowl.

Chop the onion and add them to the crock of the crock-pot.

Remove the giblets from the chicken if present, then rub the mixed spices over the outside of the chicken. Add them inside and under the skin of the breast if desired.

Place the chicken on top of the chopped onions in the slow cooker, sent the cover on the crock, and turn the crock-pot on high. Cook for four to five hours

*Because I couldn't find thyme, I added French Herbs, which is a mixture of rosemary, French thyme, tarragon, basil, savory, cracked fennel, lavender and marjoram

COMPARISON OF INGREDIENTS BETWEEN HOMEMADE BROTH AND SWANSON'S CHICKEN BROTH

Homemade Chicken Broth

Water, chicken bones and meat, paprika, salt, onion powder, thyme or French Herbs, garlic powder or chopped garlic cloves, cayenne (red) pepper, black pepper

one onion

Swanson's Chicken Broth

Chicken broth, salt, monsodium glutamate, dextrose, chicken broth, salt, yeast extract, chicken flavor, flavoring, corn syrup solids, autolyzed yeast extract, chicken fat, hydrolyzed soy protein, chicken broth powder

REFERENCES

Mirro-Matic Recipes, Directions, Time Tables, Aluminum Goods Mfg Co, Mantowoc, Ws

US Department of Agriculture, Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving, New York, Dover Publications, 1973, revised 1999