The easiest stock to make is vegetable stock. It requires no bones or meat, simply simmering onion, carrot, celery, herbs (bay leaves, parsley), and garlic in water for 1–2 hours. It uses kitchen scraps or whole vegetables, provides a neutral flavor, and is ready in about 2 hours.
Vegetable stock is a relatively easy stock to make. No bones or carcasses to contend with, just crisper staples like carrots, onions, and celery.
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Place the chicken carcasses, garlic, vegetables, herbs and peppercorns in a large, deep-bottomed pan. Add 6 litres of cold water and bring to the boil, skim, then turn the heat down to a simmer. Continue to simmer gently for 3-4 hours, skimming as necessary, then pass the stock through a fine sieve.
Fill a large pot with 4 quarts of water and add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and herbs. Bring to a low boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and let cook for at least 20 minutes and up to 40 minutes. Strain and use as needed.
Some vegetables that don't do well in stock are:
Broth is stock's cousin but has some key differences. Although both stock and broth involve simmering in water, broth uses meat while stock uses bones. As a result, broth contains very little protein, a key ingredient in building flavor.
The Building Blocks of Stock
A very basic white chicken stock is a pretty simple affair: It's made with water; chicken; aromatic vegetables, like onion, carrot, and garlic; and herbs. The exact ingredients are up to the cook.
Keep a “scrap bag” in the freezer to collect vegetable peels and scraps so those are also ready to throw in the pot. All it takes to make stock is meat bones (beef, chicken, or turkey) and water. If you want more flavor, go ahead and throw in a mixture of basic vegetables like onions, carrots, and celery.
Making homemade chicken stock on the stovetop or in the slow cooker is an easy and resourceful way to use up chicken bones and vegetable scraps. Freeze for later to use in soups, stews, and pan sauces all year long. Most chicken stock is made from bones and random scraps of vegetables, and my recipe follows suit.
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For beginners, the best stocks are often blue-chip stocks, dividend stocks, or ETFs from large, stable companies like Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Walmart (WMT), or Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), as they offer stability and growth potential, with ETFs providing instant diversification to reduce risk. Focus on well-established names in defensive sectors or broad market index funds for a solid foundation before exploring riskier growth stocks.
Every few days, I carefully ladled still-warm chicken stock, beef stock, seafood stock and other stocks into quart-size freezer bags, then oh-so-carefully, arranged them flat in the freezer to freeze.
Types of Stock
There are four basic kinds of stock/fond: white stock (Fond Blanc), brown stock (Fond Brun), vegetable or neutral stock (Fond Maigre) and Fish Stock (Fume de Poisson). The classifications refer to the contents and method used to prepare the stock, not necessarily to color.
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Surprisingly, not all scraps are created equal, and some aren't the best fit for stock. Specifically, scraps from cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower have a strong flavor that can turn bitter when simmered in stock, so skip those when saving in the freezer.
You should simmer (not boil vigorously) chicken stock for at least 1-2 hours, but ideally 3-8 hours, bringing it to a boil first and then reducing the heat to the gentlest simmer (tiny bubbles breaking the surface) for a richer, more flavorful, and gelatinous result, skimming foam as needed. The longer it simmers (even up to 12+ hours), the more concentrated the flavor and body will be.
Lid off to more easily keep it simmering and not boiling, but keep it topped up so the water just covers the bones to ensure you extract maximum flavour.
Home cooks tend to use the terms "broth" and "bouillon" as they refer to the product they purchase at the store rather than referring to its culinary origins. Stock is an ingredient and is made from primarily bones and vegetables, while broth is made from meat, possibly bones and vegetables.
You can leave the skin on, or remove it if you want to reduce some of the fat. Clean and chop the vegetables – You'll be using a “mirepoix”, which is a combination of 2 parts onion, 1 part carrots, and 1 part celery. Place cooked chicken carcass/parts into a large, heavy bottomed pot.