Chicken Stock
A whole chicken, cold water, three hours at 90 degrees, and never a rolling boil.
- Preparation
- 20 min
- Cook/bake time
- 3 hr
- Total
- 3 hr 20 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
A whole chicken, cold water, three hours at 90 degrees, and never a rolling boil. The difference between a crystal-clear golden stock and a cloudy one does not lie in the ingredients, but in the temperature. What you get in the end is the foundation for soups, risotto, sauces, and half the rest of this site.
Why this works
A stock becomes cloudy because the proteins from the meat and bones are broken up by a rolling boil and dispersed as fine suspended particles in the water. At 85 to 90 degrees, when only a single bubble rises every few seconds, that same protein coagulates into larger flakes that float to the top and can be skimmed off. That is the whole trick. The second point is the cold start. Water-soluble flavor compounds slowly dissolve in cold water before the proteins on the outside coagulate and seal the pores. And the salt is left out until the stock is finished. Three liters boil down to two, and a stock that is correctly salted at the beginning will be inedible by the end.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Start cold
Place the chicken in a large pot and pour the cold water over it until it is covered by two fingers. Starting cold is not a minor detail. In warm water, the protein on the surface coagulates immediately and seals it in. The flavor then stays in the meat instead of going into the stock.
- 2
Heat slowly and skim
Slowly bring the pot to a simmer over medium heat, which takes a good twenty minutes. During this time, gray foam will collect on the surface. Skim it off with a ladle until hardly any more appears. This is coagulated protein, and stirring it in will result in a cloudy stock.
- 3
Add vegetables and simmer for three hours
Only now should you add the vegetables and spices. Leave the onion skin on, as it colors the stock golden brown. Keep the pot at 85 to 90 degrees for three hours. A single bubble may rise to the surface every few seconds, but no more. Do not cover the pot, otherwise the temperature will rise.
- 4
Strain and degrease
Remove the chicken and pour the stock through a fine sieve without pressing on the vegetable pieces. Squeezed vegetables will cloud the stock in seconds. Chill the stock in the refrigerator. The fat will solidify on top and can be lifted off as a solid disc the next day. Only salt it at this point.
