Session 67 — Chicken Stock from Scratch + Chicken Soup
← Block 23–24: Poultry Overview
Skill: Stock is the single most useful thing you can make from bones. This session teaches the fundamentals — ratio (at least 2:1 chicken to water by weight), gentle simmer (never a boil), and how aromatics release flavor differently depending on how you cut them. Dice them small, keep the heat low, and strain through a fine-mesh strainer. The result should gel when chilled.
- Read (before you cook): Serious Eats — Basic Chicken Stock and Serious Eats — Homemade Chicken Soup
- Use the carcass from Session 62 if you saved it, plus chicken wings for extra gelatin
- Dice your aromatics: onion, carrot, celery, garlic, parsley. No sautéing — straight into cold water with the chicken.
Full Meal: Homemade chicken soup — break down a whole chicken, cold-poach the breasts to 150°F for juicy white meat, simmer the rest for an hour to build the broth, add diced vegetables at the end so they keep their texture. Serve with crusty bread and fresh herbs (dill, parsley).
Skill note: Taste the stock at 45 minutes, 90 minutes, and when it's done. Notice how body builds over time but flavor peaks and then flattens. The sweet spot for a basic white stock is about 90 minutes.
🎥 Compare Notes: Helen Rennie — Making Great Chicken Stock at Home — Helen explains the science of extraction clearly and tests what actually matters versus what's kitchen mythology.