Stalking the Stock

    Having learned about knife skills (though certainly not yet mastering them), I decided to stick with the basics and learn about making stock, one of the essentials of good cooking. I’ve never been particularly happy with store-bought stock, although now you can buy a lower sodium version which is more acceptable. I knew it wouldn’t be easy finding the requisite bones - in this case, chicken. I called Albertson’s and Whole Foods and neither clerk knew what I was talking about. “Bones? We sell chicken legs and wings - is that what you mean?” No, not really, especially since I had asked about necks and backs. Then the light bulb went on - the kosher grocery!! If anybody would be butchering chickens, it would be Segal’s, the only sizable Kosher grocery in Phoenix. I phoned, and sure enough, the butcher said he had about 3 pounds (the recipe called for 6), and he’d be happy to bone out a few more chickens for me.

     I hadn’t realized how much space 6 pounds of bones would take up. If I put them all in my largest pot, they’d be up to the brim, and I’d only be able to fit in a few cups of water. So I ended up with two pots on the stove. You’re supposed to start with cold water, and bring it slowly to a simmer. Try getting cold water out of the tap in Phoenix in the summer!! I had to use all our refrigerated drinking water. Then you have to watch like a hawk to make sure no boiling occurs, all the while skimming whatever fat and foam rise to the surface. Do you get the feeling I wasn’t happy? What I was was exhausted. And I wasn’t too pleased with the insipid taste of the finished product either. I was in such a foul mood I contemplated throwing the whole thing down the drain, but better sense won out and I put the pot in the refrigerator, hoping that the flavors would meld overnight.

     Good move. After skimming what little bit of fat remained on the surface, I heated up a cup of stock to sample. It was a revelation! Tasting fresh and clean, with none of the heaviness or saltiness of the store bought variety, it was the essence of chicken. I drank a second cup and marveled at what I had created. 

     Would I do it again? I now have 24 cups of stock in my freezer, taking up too much space. Probably what I would do is make broth, rather than stock, which uses bones with meat on them (i.e. a whole chicken). That way you end up with useful protein, a smaller amount of liquid, and it takes a lot less time to cook, usually about an hour or two as compared to 4 to 8 hours. But I am glad that I had the experience of tasting the ambrosial liquid that hard work and time produce. The video lesson was easy to follow. I used the blog to ask how chicken-y my stock should taste - I got an answer that made a lot of sense within eight hours (I had posted the question at night and the answer was there in the morning). And I got 100% on my quiz.