Home Made Stock 01-Mar-2012

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Making your own stock is a great way to use leftover things like poultry carcases, meat bones, etc.

Stock freezes really well. Some great suggestions are to freeze it in ice cube trays so you have small amounts needed for some recipes, or to freeze it in single recipe units for larger uses.

Ingredients

  • 8 to 12 cups water
  • 3 to 4 peeled and diced carrots
  • 2 to 3 cleaned and diced celery stalks – you can include the tops here as well
  • 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
  • whatever herbs you might like to add – marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, etc
  • salt and pepper to taste – I tend to go very light on the salt, or omit it entirely, depending on the meat being used
  • some leftover meat products (roast turkey carcass, rotissary chicken carcass, smoked ham hocks, smoked turkey legs)

Directions

  1. Put the carrots, celery, onions and left over meat in a large stock pot.

  2. Add enough water to cover, 8 to 12 cups of cold water.

  3. Add in whatever seasonings you’d like.

  4. Bring to a boil on the stove top. Cover and turn down to a simmer, for 2 hours or so.

  5. Let the stock cool, placing into a fairly cold area (the refrigerator works great, but I use our porch during the winter as it gets equally cold!).

  6. Skim the congealed fat off after the stock has cooled, also removing whatever bones, grisle, fat and things you don’t want.

  7. Strain the stock into a large bowl.

  8. Use the stock straight away, or freeze it for future use.

  9. You can reserve the strained contents for other uses, such as in soups.