We're getting very low on chicken stock, and Publix had the forethought to go ahead and offer me whole chickens at 99c a pound, so $4.07 later, I'm well on my way. I happened to have everything else needed for stock on hand, so that's my only immediate cost. It's not the best sale I've seen, but definitely nice since I need stock anyhow.
I do have a chicken down in the deep freeze, but I didn't think to take it out on Friday, and I like to always have at least one chicken on hand. I actually bought two birds, one for the stock, and the other to add to the deep freeze.
I expect that I'll yield a good amount of stock, chicken for the soup later, and shredded chicken to freeze. I'm also trying something new with this batch -- I froze the carcass of a rotisserie chicken from a while back, and I've put it in the stock along with the raw chicken in hopes of getting a bit of extra heartiness. As our stockpot is woefully small, it's pretty crowded in there. I'm thinking about removing the carcass about halfway through. The whole point is to get stock from this, after all. (By the way, don't believe anyone who tells you a 20-quart stock pot is not essential for the registry. No one bought it for us, but it would have been very well used.)
Mastering Soups & Stews from William-Sonoma * has been a frequent reference for me, and it is the reason that I started making stock back in 2006, I couldn't be happier that I make all of our stock.
Here's the stock after the initial heat-up, the first 30-minute simmer and first skim. I like to skim well, but I've gotten pretty good about only removing fat and the grayish gelatin after much practice. What I would really like is a cast-iron trivet to hold the meat down, my colander and cooking twine method has been working for years, but is less than ideal. I also like to use a bread & butter plate next to the bowl for skimming refuse, where I can rest the spoon. I also make sure to have a paper towel on hand while skimming--if you don't wipe up spills on the cooktop right away, it can start smoking and burn. This stuff is pretty messy.
Update 7:37 pm -- Removing the rotisserie chicken carcass was a bust, but since the components had shrunk some with cooking for about an hour and a half, re-setting the colander pushed the contents down some. I know you're not supposed to disturb stock while it's cooking, but I had to try.
Update 11/17/08 -- The rotisserie carcass really lent a rich flavor to this stock. On Saturday night, I strained the stock while my husband shredded the chicken, both went into the fridge overnight. We had enough shredded chicken for soup Saturday night, and three vacuum-sealed packages for future dinners. We had more stock than I thought we would, and that went into ice cube trays and a silicone muffin pan--the stuff is so potent we'll only need to use small amounts.
*Please note that this is an affiliate link, which means that if you click through on the link to Amazon, I'll get a little bit of a referrel fee if you end up buying something. There will be no extra charge to you, and it will help support the site.
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