How To Make Chicken Broth

You’ve just finished trying your hand at making that delicious roasted chicken and your wondering what to do with that half eaten (or maybe totally eaten?) bird. Don’t fret! You’re going to make some more meals out of it. Yes, with the carcass.

So throw that carcass (and meat if there is any left) in a pot with some water and lemon juice and simmer for a day. I looked up the difference between using a gas stove and crock-pot and the cost is almost exactly the same with the crock-pot winning out by one less therm.

We used to start our broth on medium heat and then turn it down to simmer but then I read to let it simmer the whole time. We now cover it completely and we don’t need to worry about the broth dissipating and having to add more water. Hoo-rah!

Although I still have this nagging fear that Nove is going to wake up before me one day, grab her school chair, place it at the stove, climb on the chair and blow out the simmering flame. This will then cause an explosion which will render me kitchen-less. Possibly lifeless too… I need to stop watching action movies.

Instead of grabbing the tylenol, cold eeze, dayquil, nyquil, mucinex, zicam, dimetapp, pediacare, triaminic, delsym, sudafed, theraflu, aleve-d, ibuprofen, codral, coldrex, cold-eeze, cepacol OR pseudoephedrine… this winter (deep breath) … grab some homemade chicken broth.

Ingredients
Carcass of 3-4 pound bird
½ gallon of water
1 lemon freshly squeezed

Instructions

STOVE-TOP - Place carcass, lemon juice and water in stock pot, turn stove on simmer and cover with lid. (12-24 hours).

SLOW COOKER - Place bones, lemon juice and water in slow cooker, turn on low and cover with lid (12-24 hours).

Strain broth through mesh colander, transfer back to stock pot / slow cooker and let cool before storing.

Notes

• Never boil the bones because boiling releases unwanted particles that can emulsify in the stock.
• We add the lemon juice to extract the calcium from the bones.

Storage & Advice
I can’t recommend this enough and am about to give some advice so lean in close… Try and drink this broth 5-6 days a week, even when you’re not sick, because it will help to keep you from getting sick.

The chicken broth will keep about 4-5 days in the refrigerator whereas the beef broth only keeps about 2 days in the refrigerator. To make single-servings of broth, use a 1-pint glass jar and fill it with 1 1/2 cups of broth. Place three in the refrigerator and two in the freezer.

To thaw out the broth, place it in the refrigerator the night before and then reheat it on the stove when you’re ready. Go ahead and add some vegetables, salt, pepper, garlic, cheese or your own favorites to the broth.