Last week, I cooked a whole chicken in the slow cooker. You can also use chicken pieces. I added salt, pepper, chopped onion, and minced garlic. I added only a little water to the bottom of the slow cooker because I wanted the chicken to be roasted and not stewed. Slow cookers will vary but I usually cook on high for an hour or two, then turn to low for the rest of the day. By evening the kitchen was filled with wonderful aroma!
I pulled out the chicken and deboned it. All the bones and skin I placed back in the slow cooker. I filled the slow cooker up with water, added a dash of vinegar, and cooked on low all night.
By morning, it was full of good rich broth. I strained the bones and skin out of the broth.
The bowl of broth was placed in the refrigerator.
Do you make your own chicken broth?
Hi Gina - yes I used to make my own broth but I don't cook much meat these days. I used to roast a chicken and have a dinner from it and then put the remaining cooked carcass and left over bits into a pan with water, a couple of bay leads and an onion. After simmering for a couple of hours I would strain it, cool and skim it then add other vegetables and chicken back into the stock. It always felt very healing. Lily. xxx
ReplyDeleteAre you aware of what the chicken fat is good for? I love using it in bread instead of the expensive olive oil! (I use olive oil if I don't have chicken fat on hand.) Anyhow, I like what you've written and it's a new idea to me to have the bones etc. in the crock pot all night long but it seems like a good one. I usually just cook the broth in a kettle on my simmer burner for most of a day. Thanks for your inspiring posts!!
ReplyDeleteYes I always do, it is so good and so little trouble. Also very healthy :)
ReplyDeleteyup, with pretty much the same method you outlined. I also add carrot or radish tops. Based on advice from my Amish butcher, I simmer the stock for several days. He said the dogs shouldn't even be interested in the solids at the end! (We don't have dogs, but I took his meaning).
ReplyDeleteI make mine pretty much the same way, except for one thing. During the couple of weeks before I make the broth, I same the ends of the vegetables that I'm using for other meals: onion, carrot, & celery ends mostly but also bits of garlic, the occasional mushroom stem, spinach, etc. As I cut them off, I add them to a plastic bag that I have in the freezer, then when I make broth, I empty the bag into the slow cooker with the chicken bones & water. I add a couple bay leaves, a peppercorn or two and call it good. The broth comes out so flavorful!
ReplyDeleteYes I pretty much do it the same way you do and I love doing it.
ReplyDeleteI use my cast-iron dutch oven, stick a whole chicken in it with a bunch of stock veggies (onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt and pepper), fill it up with water, stick it in the oven for 1 hour. We have a yummy chicken meal that night. Then I keep the carcass from the chicken, add some more stock veggies and water, and simmer it over the stove for 1 hour. Get a TON of broth that way. I also freeze the leftover broth in ice cube trays...2 ice cubes equals 1/4 cup.
ReplyDeleteI just made broth in my slow cooker yesterday. Great minds! Very flavorful and I use it in soups and sauces. Freezes well too.
ReplyDeleteThis is great information. If I pressure can the broth in jars so I can store it on a shelf, does the high temperature of the pressure canner kill anything beneficial in the broth?
ReplyDeleteI do make my own stock also. Have not used the crock pot! Surpised as I love the crock pot. I just put the whole chicken (after baking in the oven) in a big pot on the stove, add pepper and some vegies and let it cook for several hours. Then strain out the meat and vegies, and pour all the stock in the jars and freeze. Wonderful stuff I use it for so many things that call for water.
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