What can I do with a chicken carcass?

[itsalwaysthequietones]

Raw chicken carcass with some meat still left on - was hacked apart by BIL for an alternative roast on Sunday. Nice free range chicken so don't want to waste it. I have carrots, onions, chopped tomatoes and potatoes. Can I stick it all in a pot and see what happens? How do I get the bones out? Will all the meat just fall off? And then can I just blend it to make soup?

Any thoughts?

I'd make a stock first. Carcass, couple of onions, carrots in big chunks (and some celery and a bay leaf if you have some), pepper corns, salt.

Bring to the boil and then I tend to stick it in the oven on a really low heat (like 120) and just leave it, for at least 2 hours. Usually I'd leave it for a good 6.

When it is cooled then the meat with absolutely just fall off (or may indeed have fallen off.

DO NOT BE A GIANT TWONK AND THEN STRAIN THE FABULOUS STOCK STRAIGHT DOWN THE PLUG HOLE.

Then make whatever soup you want, believe me it wil taste 300x better than if you had just used water and a stock cube.

You can just leave it onthe hob and let it simmer for a good old while, it does permeate through the rest of your house though....depends if you like your bedrooms to smell of chicken soup.

"DO NOT BE A GIANT TWONK AND THEN STRAIN THE FABULOUS STOCK STRAIGHT DOWN THE PLUG HOLE."

You too Slubber?

Don't spill it all either. You will burn your feet and make the kitchen floor all slippery and greasy.

These days I do the straining at the stove from one pan to the next, using a ladle/jug rather than attempting to pick up and tip a massive stockpot.

fab - that sounds about right. Probably won't be able to stick it in the oven though - don't have a carcass-sized oven-proof dish. Can I just leave it to cook on the hob for ages?

lol i have done that. more than once.

for variation - for a thai-ish chicken noodle soup - add some root ginger, lemongrass (if got)to the stock. then add rice noodles/ chopped coriander/spring onions/lime juice/coconut milk/any left over scraps of chicken to it.

Oh yes Kathy, Oh yes

grr

I like to life my life on a knife edge (well I have to get my kicks from somewhere) and I strain straight from the pan. The ladle option is very sensible though and I shall adopt it with the post Christmas turkey carcass.

sorry - appreciate that I'm probably being rather dense but am new to stock-making: so I just strain off the liquid, which makes the stock and bin the rest? Other than the chicken, which I will have carefully filleted off before? So no blending necessary?

mazzy - love the thai soup idea but unfortunately can't lay my hands on the necessary ingredients for now

fry some onions carrot,celery and any othe veg you have in fridge,just to lightly brown.Put carcass and veg in big pot with enuf water to cover. Add 2 chicken stock cubes and about 4 tbsp of dried cereals and pulses. Just let it all simmer til meat falls off bone and pulses are soft. Gorgeous soup with hot bread and butter

iatqo

Yes, you just strain the stock through a seive, or ladle it off and voila.

Let the rest of the stuff in the pan cool down and then you can pull any meat off the chicken.

Bin the rest, well I do. I bet some might do something with the onions and carrots but I reckon they have lost the best of their flavour to the stock.

great - thanks v much. Sorry, missed the post about the hob.

If you don't want to go down the soup route, why not try dressing it up in clothes and making your own Tim Burton style film?

Tidey - it's a excellent idea but my sartorial skills aren't up to much, so on balance I reckon I'll be safer with some sort of culinary endeavour.

Use the stock for risotto?

Alypaly - why are you adding chicken stock cubes to chicken stock?

the pulses soak alot of the favour up and it just seems to enhance it. I actually use the liquid stock as its a better flavour than stock cubes and it also saves adding salt

Another vote for risotto.
wish I'd realised how easy this is years ago. Tis a doddle if you have decent stock.

will try it for risotto...good idea

the other thing i do..is freeze it in ice cube trays and then i can use it for making delicious gravy the proper way