Chicken Stock

TOOLS

• One large 20-quart stock pot.

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole chicken, about 5 lbs., giblets removed
• Leftover bones, equivalent to 1-2 chickens (I use leftovers from 4-6 roasted chicken breasts)
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 yellow onions, unpeeled, cut in half
• 4 carrots, unpeeled, cut in half
• 1 head of celery, leaves in all, just cut off bulb and cut in half
• 4 parsnips, unpeeled, cut in half
• Herb bundle of 10 sprigs each of fresh parsley and thyme (Don't remove leaves from stems. Just gather in a bouquet and tie with cooking string.)
• 2 Tbl. salt
• 1 Tbl. pepper

 DIRECTIONS

1. Fill pot with the chicken, bones, vegetables, herb bundle, salt and pepper. Cover with water, leaving about an inch-and-a-half at the top. 
2. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer for 2 hours. 
3. Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Let it cool about 10 minutes then cut off the meat, setting aside for chicken soup. The meat will be very tender and easily fall off the bones. 
4. Put the remaining bones and skin right back into the pot and simmer for another hour. 
5. Strain through a colander to separate liquid from other ingredients. Allow to cool completely before packing up for storage. It's my personal preference to pour the liquid through a finer sieve at this point. I usually half the liquid, using one batch for chicken soup the next day and freezing the other batch for later use.