Classic Homemade Chicken Stock

Steps

1. Put the chicken wings in a large stockpot and pour in the cold water. The water should cover the chicken by about an inch; add a little more if it doesn't.
2. Bring to a gentle

   boil (how to boil)

   Boil Heat liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. 1. Use a pot big enough that the water fills it no more than three quarters.2. Cover it to boil faster, over high heat.3. Salt pasta or vegetable water once it boils.4. Add the food, stir, and bring it back to a boil before you start timing. Done when: A rolling boil keeps bubbling hard even when you stir. Safety: Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove, and drain pasta into a colander in the sink, pouring away from you. Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to boil water for pasta and vegetables: mistakes to avoid

   over medium-high heat. Skim off the gray foam that rises to the top with a ladle or large spoon.
   ⏱ Bring to a boil: 20 min
3. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns. Lower the heat until only a few lazy bubbles break the surface.
4. Simmer (how to simmer)

   Simmer Cook liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles breaking the surface now and then. 1. Bring the liquid up over medium-high heat.2. As soon as bubbles rise steadily, turn the heat down.3. Adjust until only a few small bubbles break the surface every second or two.4. Stir now and then and check that it hasn't crept back to a boil. Done when: You see lazy, small bubbles, not a rolling boil. A "bare" simmer has just a bubble here and there. Safety: Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to simmer: mistakes to avoid

   uncovered, skimming now and then, for 3 to 4 hours. The chicken passes 165°F (74°C) long before the stock is done; keep it at a bare simmer, because a hard boil makes it cloudy.
   ⏱ Simmer stock: 3 hr
5. Set a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth over a large bowl. Ladle the stock through it and throw away the solids.
6. Set the bowl in a sink of ice water and stir now and then until the stock is lukewarm, then cover and refrigerate it within 2 hours of cooking.
   ⏱ Cool stock: 30 min

Tap an underlined word for how to do it, or see all techniques.

Tips

• Wings are full of connective tissue, which gives the stock body. Backs, necks or the carcass of a roast chicken work too; keep a bag in the freezer until you have about 4 pounds.
• There is no salt on purpose, so the stock works in any recipe. Salt the soup or sauce you make with it.
• For fat-free stock, refrigerate it overnight; the fat sets on top in a layer you can lift off with a spoon.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 4 days or freeze up to 3 months.

Make ahead

Freeze the stock in 1- or 2-cup containers so you can thaw just what a recipe needs.

Cook once, eat twice: It makes 12 servings: eat half and freeze the rest. It keeps 3 months frozen, by the storage note above. Print a freezer label · More freezer meals

How long leftovers keep, and freezing and reheating: leftovers and storage. In season: carrots (September to March).