I had a luxuriously large kitchen in Brooklyn with a full-sized fridge and freezer that I took for granted. I'd regularly make large batches of chicken stock and freeze the golden liquid in quart-sized containers to use whenever I needed, never worrying about space. Now that our Parisian freezer is disrespectfully small—the size of two and a half pizza boxes stacked on top of each other—I've had to rethink my chicken stock strategy. I no longer have space to save and freeze leftover chicken bones from roasted chickens (here’s my recipe), nor do I have room to make and freeze large quantities of stock—le sigh.
Fortunately, I've figured out a way to keep four quarts of stock handy in my tiny freezer by applying a technique that I picked up in my French culinary school training—reduction. Reducing is quite simple; it just takes time. The technique is simply driving excess water out via boiling. By driving out the water, you concentrate the stock's flavor while drastically reducing its volume. You can also use this technique to make jus or glace/demi-glace for opulent French sauces. I concentrate my stock into a quarter of its original volume and store it in two pint-sized jars that fit neatly into the freezer. When I need her to join the party, I thaw her in the fridge overnight and reconstitute with water.
Recipe Type: Easy Project
Time: 4 hours
Servings: 4 Quarts or Liters (2 pints when reduced)
Ingredients
1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
1 cup of chopped leek
1 handful of parsley stems
2 raw chicken carcasses
4 raw whole chicken wings (drumstick and flap)
Leftover chicken bones from roasted chickens (optional)
1 bay leaf
A couple of sprigs of dried or fresh thyme
5 peppercorns
1 teaspoon vinegar (apple cider or white)
Equipment
Stockpot
Various mixing bowls
Large Fine Mesh Sieve
Ladle
Skimmer (optional but highly recommended)
Four quart containers or two pint containers or four cup-sized containers or jars (if concentrating)
Instructions
Peel the onion and garlic. Wash the carrot, celery, leek, and parsley stems. Leave the garlic skin on and place it into the stockpot. Chop the onion, carrot, celery, leek, and parsley stems into rough one to two-inch pieces (this is a mirepoix cut).
Cut up the chicken carcasses and wings into smaller 4-5 inch pieces to save space in the pot with sharp kitchen shears or cleaver, and place the chicken carcasses, wings, and various other chicken parts into the stockpot. If you have a large stockpot, you can omit this step and toss the chicken parts in whole (I do not have a large stockpot because everything in Europe is tiny).
Cover the pot with water, add around five quarts/liters, place on the stove, and bring to boil over high heat.
Once the pot has come to a boil, reduce the heat so that the liquid simmers gently but regularly. Add the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, and one teaspoon of vinegar to the pot. Cook for two and a half hours, checking on the stock periodically, skimming any grey/brown gunk off of the stock while leaving the fat. Fat equals flavor.
When the chicken is falling apart, and you can see that the meat and bones have given all that it can flavorwise to the stock (the meat will be dry and crumbly and the bones will be soft and super fragile), strain the stock and place into quart containers. Let the stock cool uncovered on the counter for an hour. Then, cover the containers and freeze stock immediately (to avoid the spread of bacteria).
If you want to concentrate the stock further, wash the stockpot out, then boil the stock in the cleaned stockpot on medium-high for another hour, or until the mixture has reduced to a quarter of its original volume. Each cup of stock is equivalent to one quart/liter. You can add water to reconstitute the concentrated stock when ready to use.
To use the stock, thaw in the fridge overnight, or place the jar in lukewarm water for an hour or two until it comes out of the jar and reheat semi-frozen stock in a pot.
Bonus Dog Treats
If you have a dog, you can make treats for your pup with the leftover chicken meat from the stock. Carefully remove the cooled chicken meat and skin from the bones and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces for your doggo. Dehydrate the chicken on a baking sheet in the oven at around 250 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until they're completely dry. Store the treats in a jar and use them within a couple of weeks.
My poultry loving pup, Gaston, eyeing the Thanksgiving turkey.