Clear Light Chicken Stock

After I looked at all the added ingredients in simple chicken stock at the market, I decided to make my own and freeze it - this way I know what I'm getting, and I know it will be good.  It's a bit involved, but well worth the effort.

I make below a very light clear stock with uncooked whole chicken.  I do a similar preparation with leftover carcases of roasted chicken to get a deeper colored stock.  In that case I sauté the veggies in the pot before adding the chicken and water, to caramelize and deepen the flavor.  Here I use fresh shrimp shells I just peeled, to add even more umami depth to the stock.
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and coarsely chopped
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 roasting chicken, cleaned and quartered
About 3-4 quarts water
1 tsp salt
shells of 12 shrimp (optional)

Place the chicken and the veggies together in a very large stock pot. I also add the neck and the gizzards, but absolutely NOT the livers. Cover with water and add the salt. Bring to a gentle boil, and reduce to a low simmer. Skim any scum that floats to the surface as the stick cooks.

Allow stock to simmer for about an hour, but not to boil. Boiling will make a cloudy stock. Add any leftover stems and/or cuttings from parsley or cilantro if you have them. And add the shrimp shells if you are using. The shrimp shells just add a bit of umami depth to the stock and are optional.

Allow the stock to simmer without disturbing it by stirring too much at all. A gently fold now and then is all you need to assure good mixing. Again, you don’t want to cloud the broth any more than necessary.

After the broth has cooked through and is aromatic, allow to cool to room temperature. Carefully strain the broth and allow it to rest in the refrigerator. The fat will rise to the top of the broth and can be skimmed with a slotted spoon after it solidifies in the refrigerator.

Whether you use the meat and veggies you made the stock with is up to you. They will be fairly low in flavor as they have rendered most of it to the stock. Many discard the solids. I tend to use them because they still have protein and fiber. Your choice.

The best thing to do is then to filter the stock with cheesecloth, heating up a bit if it has gelled in the refrigerator too much to pour this is a great result of cooking the bones. However, you could also either decant, or ladle stock out of the pot if not too cloudy and any cloudy material has settled to the bottom of the pot. For the clearest broth, you are best to filter - but if using for example, with a roux, you may not need to filter.

Store stock in tightly sealed jars filled no more than to an inch of the top (it will expand when frozen) in the freezer.

Makes about 3-4 quarts of stock.