As unappetizing as the two words chicken carcass sound, culinarily, those are the words that describe what's left of a boned chicken (what's left after the meat has been removed from the bones), and, truth told, whether the carcass is raw or has been roasted, there is a ton of flavor in those bones. There's more, and this is important: Discarding a chicken carcass without extracting the flavor from it is such a waste it should be a crime. Whether I have raw ones (which I rarely do) or roasted ones (which I often do), even if I don't have time to "deal with them" immediately, I put them in a bag in the freezer and make a date with them for another time.
One of the benefits of roasting two chickens each week, is my ability to make a lot of "roasted chicken carcass soup stock". Yes, I really do roast two chickens almost every week. Rotisserie chicken is not my "gig" -- I find it to be overly greasy and I don't feel well after I eat it. Instead, I choose to put two six-pound chickens on a rack in a pan in a 350º oven for two hours. When they come out, we enjoy one hot meal (usually with gravy and mashed or roasted potatoes), and, for the rest of the week, I have leftovers for sandwiches and salads.
~ Step 1. Carve and remove the white breast meat and dark leg/thigh meat from both roasted chickens. Using your fingers, remove and discard as much of the roasted skin from the two carcasses. Place the carcasses in a 16-quart stockpot. If the chickens have been roasted as per my directions, there will be some flavorful dripping in the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour the drippings into a fat/lean separator, add the lean portion only to the stockpot, then, discard the fat portion.
~ Step 2. To the stockpot with the carcasses and drippings, add:
10 quarts cold water
1 1/2 pounds large whole, peeled yellow or sweet onions
1 1/2-2 pounds whole, peeled carrots*
3/4 pound whole celery stalks
4 tablespoons dried parsley
4 tablespoons sea salt & 1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely-ground black pepper
*Note: If this seems like a case of "carrot excess", it is. I love lots carrots in my soup, and, since I use this stock to make soup, I cook a lot of them, all at once. When portioning the stock into containers for the freezer, I place a few whole cooked carrots in each container.
~ Step 3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Unlike making soup with meat-on whole chickens or raw chicken carcasses, there will be very little of the whitish/gray foamy matter that floats to the surface. That said, if some surfaces, use a large slotted spoon or skimmer to remove and discard it. Adjust heat to a gentle ready simmer. Continue to simmer, uncovered for 3 hours. The soup will have reduced quite and bit, which will render it tastily rich. Turn the heat off, cover pot and allow soup to steep for 3 more hours.
~ Step 4. There will be 7-7 1/2 quarts of perfectly-seasoned chicken-soup stock. Ladle the stock through a fine mesh strainer into desired-sized food storage containers (for the freezer) or jars (for the refrigerator). These are 2-quart sized containers into which some of the whole, cooked carrots have been placed. Use immediately as directed in recipe, or, refrigerate stock for up to 1 week, or keep frozen for 6-8-12 months.
Loads of rich, roasted flavor from roasted chicken carcasses:
Liquid gold-- Perfect for an upcoming chilly day lunch:
How to: Make Roasted Chicken Carcass Soup Stock: Recipe yields 7-7 1/2 quarts perfectly-seasoned chicken-soup stock. Simply add some diced celery, onion, and/or potatoes and simmer until veggies are tender. Add cooked homemade egg noodles and it's time to eat.
Special Equipment List: 16-quart stockpot w/lid; fat/lean separator; large slotted spoon or skimmer; soup ladle; fine mesh strainer
Cook's Note: Making chicken stock to use all year long is a big event in my kitchen. I usually make it on one of the coldest days of the year, so that I can use the great outdoors (a secure area on my patio), to refrigerate the entire 24-quart stockpot overnight. To get my recipe for chicken stock made with whole, meat-on-the-chickens chicken-soup stock, click this link to read my post ~ It's National Chicken Stock Day -- In Mel's Kitchen ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
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