Do you need chicken bones for good broth?

Go to Chinatown and get chicken feet. If you can't find them locally get in contact with Kickcan. He'll air express them from NYC.

Yep on bones.

Roast the chicken, eat the bits you like - take carcass and put in a big pot and simmer for a few hours. Skim the top - should be left with nice clear broth.

You can freeze the broth in icecube trays and use as and when.

Got to have bones and more.


Throw in some bay leaf, peppercorns, a couple of carrots, some celery and a smallish onion chopped up. Mebbe a garlic clove, smashed. Mebbe two garlic cloves smashed.
I put all this into my steamer pot with the strainer. After a few hours of making my apartment smell like heaven, I pull out the strainer and dump the residue into the trash. The broth goes in Tupperware containers or ice cube trays in the freezer.

I experimented over the past year. I roast the chicken whole with a little rosemary or sage shoved up under the breast skin. When done I let it sit until it's cool enough to work with, then I de-meat the whole thing down to the last little bit. (Because I'm trying to avoid extra fat, I throw away the skin.) I cut up all pieces and mix dark and white meat together, then put equal amounts into sandwich bags. About eight-ten ounces per bag. From a big chicken, I can get ten bags. All the bags go into one or two freezer bags. Voila!
When I want to make a salad with a chicken on top, one bag on greens.
How about a sandwich? Nuke a bag about twenty seconds with a bit of tomato and spinach on some seven grain bread.
Steam some broccoli and mushrooms while a little rice boils, throw the veggies and two bags of chicken in a frying pan with four ice cubes of broth, mix in the nearly cooked rice. Dinner's done. Pour the wine.
One chicken will make eight meals for me.
Joe(bawaaack)Nation

Yes to bones, and carcass as ehBeth stated. Need that yum yum flavor infusing foam to scrape off top.
I ask the butcher for extra chicken necks, gizzards, and purchase a container of livers to add to pot.

good stuff.

no dead chickens around the house

no mess

AN extra dimension can be achieved by dropping in about 4 cloves of cloves into the pot when synthesizing the broth. It has a wonderful "flavor binding" property.

I wish I could have some chicken soup now, I think Im coming down with a fever.

alex, have you roasted the carcass before starting the broth? I find it makes an amazing difference to the depth of flavour

Have you tried "dried brining" for roast chicken yet?

It's my new favorite way to cook chicken.

I'm trying it on my Thanksgiving turkey this year!

Yeah, but I need chicken meat for the dish. I just wanted to know if it could be done with boneless meat and it wouldn't be worth doing broth and meat separately so I'll just stick with whole chickens.

Man to listen to. You could and are posting more on food, you sly dog.

I just did this with our Thanksgiving goose - dry brining.

dry brining - do tell??

Ceili, I just salted the goose (non frozen, free range) and put in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and it will be sitting there until Thursday morning.

(Pardon my complete ignorance on this, but...) what does that actually do for the goose, or chicken, Jane?

It retains the juices, MsOlga. A goose roasts for about 4.5 hours and can get
dry if one is not careful (same goes for turkey). Brining the birds makes the
meat more tender and keeps it moist.

The formula I read for dry brining was one tablespoon of salt for each pound of meat. I found that a bit too salty (I don't normally use salt unless it's in the form of Tabasco sauce). Now I use a bit less salt, some powdered garlic, Ms. Dash, and other spices.

Rub the seasoning in, wrap the chicken (or whatever) in a sealed plastic bag and let sit for three or four days (I leave it a little longer since I use less salt). Unwrap, put on plate and let dry for a day or so. (I dry mine in the fridge -- safer and quicker that way.)

Cook at about 50 degrees higher temp than normal for the first 30-60 minutes until the skin starts to brown.

Cook the remainder of the time at normal temperature.

-------------------------

What I've noticed is that the skin is very crispy and the meat stays very juicy. You'll end up with much, much less broth/fat after cooking (the pan will be almost dry). All the liquid stays in the meat. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.

If I recall the theory behind it -- the salt sucks all the juices out, then the salt seeps into the meat and sucks the juices back in during the brining process.

I used to waver between brining and drying chickens for roasting (even had a thread here about it once). Dry brining is better than either method.

My bit of scrap recipe on brining is different from Ceili's, and I admit to thinking hers had too much salt. But she may be right.

I tried brining once, a bunch of years ago, and, eh...
but very many people seem pleased with the results.

Here's a recipe from Chez Panisse -

2 and a half gallons cold water
2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 bay leaves, torn into pieces
1 bunch fresh thyme or 4 tablespoons of dried
1 whole head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
5 whole allspice berries, crushed
4 juniper berries, smashed

Place water in a large non reactive pot that can easily hold the liquid and the turkey. Add all the ingredients and stir for a minute or two until the sugar and salt dissolve.
Put the turkey into the brine and refrigerate for 24 hours. If the turkey floats to the top, cover it with plastic wrap and weigh it down with a plate and cans to keep it completely submerged in the brine.


Remove the bird from the brine and drain well. Pat dry. Follow the following recipe (oh, never mind.)

I going to try this.
Joe(need a big bag)Nation

Ah. I'll try that, Jane.
Thanks.

Yes and no ehBeth. No, I have never personally roasted the carcass before adding to pot, but, once I cheated, when only a hour was to be had. I purchased one of those roasted chickens, from the grocery store,.and added to broth and vegetables..and the "roast", did add another dimension.