Talk to me about making chicken stock in a slow cooker please

[SpaceOP]

I keep reading threads and comments re chicken stock made with leftover roast chicken carcass and clearly it seems like a good idea - less waste, more taste blah blah. But... the one and only time I tried to make stock it was like water.

I'm thinking I'll try again using my slow cooker. Please give me top tips? My plan is to use the carcass of the next chicken I roast - (or two - I often see people saying they freeze one carcass and then once they have another one, defrost the first one and make one big batch of stock with two carcasses).

I put the carcass into the slowcooker and cover it with water. Then I add
1 carrot cut into chunks
1 onion diced
1stick of celery cut into chunks
2 bayleaves
About 1 tsp of black peppercorns.

Turn it on and leave overnight.
Wake up to the amazing smell of chicken stock!
Leave it to cool, strip meat off the carcass, discard carcass and veg. Stock ready to use or freeze

I also make sure that I add leftover bits of chicken skin and the wings, if no-one has eaten them

So one question here - the chicken is already cooked. Then you, in effect, re-cook it on low for many hours? And the chicken that's left is also edible, alongside the stock?

I know this is hard to believe but I'm actually a very good cook. Inventive. Flexible etc. But chicken stock has been my nemesis. I just can't get my head around it.

No one would call me a great cook but stock is one of my things.

Image starting with raw chicken, which ideally includes lots of bones, so wings good, breast fillets not so good.

Roast it in the oven to 'caramelise' It's obvs not caramel as it doesn't involve sugar but does make the meat much tastier. It is possible to start with the raw meat but roasted is better.

Ideally use the same container for roasting as for making stock. If this isn't possible, scrape together all the drippings etc into the new container.

Add onion, stick celery, a carrot and garlic, 'bouquet garn' or at least a bay leaf or two. Oh, ideally roast the garlic with the flesh do it has caramelised, too

Add water. Enough to cover the bones and loosen the delicious bits stuck to the bottom. Slow cook or simmer for hours/overnight.

Strain into a jug and leave to cool. Once cold, the consistency should be of jelly with interested dark brown 'tasty bits' of meat

Season to taste.

The amount of water is a balance between how much stock you end up with and how concentrated the flavour is. My mother typically ended up with the Pryex pint jug full of stock from a biggish chicken. I make the same volume from a bag of wings or whatever I have to hand.

I'm not sure my own stock tastes better than the 'fresh stock' provided by a well known supermarket. However, I am seriously invested in the emotional power of my mother's stock. She used to bring me a couple of containers of her own stock whenever she visited, which I kept for emergencies.

Often just felt better thinking oh, no, this feels terrible but wouldn't be bad enough to justify one of 'Muts' stock.

Sigh.

@FinallyHere you are making stock from a chicken bought specifically for that purpose? That's a step too far for me. I want to roast a chicken to feed my family then toss the carcass into the slow cooker with veg and herbs and then miraculously have delicious stock and maybe a few more bits of chicken I can stick in a risotto.

I think I just have to do it. Stop faffing about and agonising about and try it. Benefit of a slow cooker is it's less faff. the one time I made it in a pot it felt like I had to watch it and skim it and monitor it constantly. Was exhausting.

I've tried using my slow cooker, but end up with stock that needs to be boiled on the hob to both concentrate the flavour & reduce the volume to go in the freezer in small containers.
I get far better results using a pressure cooker - even a large saucepan is better.

I use the slow cooker and it comes out fine. I just hung everything in overnight with not too much water and then strain it. Much less hassle than cooking on the hob imo.

I have never stood skimming and watching stock boiling.

To get a truly flavoursome stock, you need more bones. Now admittedly I never do this because I can't be arsed but ideally you would freeze one carcass and wait until you have a second so you can get that truly concentrated flavour.

Definitely use roasted chicken because the concentrated flavour of the caramelised juices will make it lovely.

So for me, following a roast dinner, chicken gets stripped of leftover meat. All bones and skin are added to large pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting dish and stir to collect all those juices, fat and bits. Add that to stock pan. Season well. Add veg and herbs depending what I have. Cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for hours. Then simmer for more hours. I have been known to top up the pan a little if the water gets too low. Which I know sounds backwards but the reason you are simmering for so long is to leach the marrow and flavouring from the bones. That gel like consistency of cold stock comes from the gelatine in bones and that's where you need the long cooking time. I will reduce the liquid at the end if I need to.

However, I usually use stock to make a big vat of homemade soup. And if I'm doing this, I'm really not opposed to adding a stock cube for flavour. Simply because there are massive nutritional benefits from homemade chicken stock but you don't always have enough bones, or time, or components to get that rich broth flavour you want. So then I top up with a little extra!

I find it's too watery in the slow cooker.

I save the stripped carcass in the freezer (bash it a bit so it takes up less space). Once there's 2-3 carcasses, it goes in the biggest saucepan with all the veg trimmings I've also been saving in another big box/bag in the freezer.

Cover with water, add bay leaves & any other herbs that are likely to go with whatever you think you'll make - so if you do risotto a lot, lob in some basil or oregano.

Simmer everything gently for an hour, then strain. Store in sensible sized containers in the freezer.

Put two chicken carcasses (whatever is left of roast chicken, including onion you put up it’s bum, skin etc) into slow cooker. Add onion, carrots, celery, cauliflower chunks (three of the four works) and some peppercorns. Add salt and a squirt of vinegar and cover with water. Leave overnight or longer on low. Strain through colander.

I always use the slow cooker because otherwise I nearly burn the house down (it's happened more than once 😳). Roasted chicken carcass, random veg (onion/carrot/celery). Cook it on low for as long as I can be bothered, usually a night and a day, sometimes longer. If I want to reduce it, I just tip the lid very slightly for a while near the end. It works fine, not as good as a simmering pan, but definitely safer for me!

I don't eat meat but fam do... I strip the edible meat from the roast chicken carcass to use in sandwiches, or freeze to use in another dish - usually chicken pie or pasta.
All the remains - bones, skin, gibblets, gristle, tubes etc back onto the tray I roasted the chicken on for blast in hot oven to caramelise and develop flavour.
Tip solids into slow cooker, mash down a bit, put roasting tin on hob with water and deglaze, scraping all the tasty bits from the tin. Then tin clean enough for dishwasher.
Pour this water into slow cooker, add couple of sticks of roughly chopped celery, carrot. (No onion as cats are going to get remains). Slow cooker on.
In the morning drain in a colander over large jug. Put in fridge so fat separates. When cold scrape/pour fat off then freeze stock.
I then get the soft bits off the remaining solids, mix with a bit of chicken fat and white rice for cat food. Rest for cooking (it works well mixed with oil for soffrito etc, I've even used a bit in pastry)
The only bit I bin is clean bones and squashy celery and carrot.

Thanks all. I'm going to give it a bash and see where I get to!

I would roast the chicken in the slow cooker in a liner, or I've made good stocj with rotisserie chicken.

USE A LINER. This is important.

Stick the carcass in the sc, add an onion cut in 4 (leave the skin on) any herbs you have lying around, some dried herbs, any veg that looks past its best. season with salt and pepper.

Add boiling water and leave it alone for hours.

If you are wanting a thicker stock put less water or cook it down with the lid off.

When the stock smells like it is cooked or several hours have passed get a colander handy.

Lift the liner carefully and put the colander in the sc and put the liner with the carcass in the colander.

Use a knife or scissors to make a hole in the liner, this will allow the stock to flow into the SC without the carcass.

If it is too thin then leave it to cook without the lid for 1-2 hours.

It makes a fantastic French onion soup.

Update: I roasted a chicken on the weekend. Made stock in slow cooker over 12 hours. I was a bit disappointed as it just didn't make that much. But I kept it anyway.

Today I made risotto. I only had enough stock for the first few ladles of stock. But.... it was the best risotto I have ever made. So I guess "proper" stock DOES make a difference.

Thanks all.

Glad you enjoyed your risotto. Stock does make a difference.