Do This for Thicker, Richer Homemade Chicken Stock (2024)

FAQs

Do This for Thicker, Richer Homemade Chicken Stock? ›

Acid is the Secret to Richer, Thicker Chicken Stock

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool. Add a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the bowl and whisk until it's blended smooth. Next, bring the soup to a simmer and add the mixture back to the pot. Pro tip: Don't dump in the entire mixture at once.

Unflavored gelatin improves the body of stocks made with parts of the chicken that are less collagen-rich.

"If your broth is lacking in savory richness, try adding roasted onion, tomato paste, mushrooms, seaweed, soy sauce, or miso. These ingredients add umami flavor and depth to broth," she says.

A good rule of thumb is that for each pound to pound-and-a-half of chicken, you'll need one quart of water, or enough to just barely cover everything. Any more than that and you'll have a watery chicken stock or need to simmer it for much longer to get it flavorful enough.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

Acid is the Secret to Richer, Thicker Chicken Stock

That's because acid helps break down the cartilage and other connective tissues in the bones of the chicken, which helps speed up the formation of gelatin in the stock. The more gelatin in the stock, the more viscous, and therefore rich, it becomes.

Bring the stock to a boil over high heat, then turn down to a simmer. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Add the vinegar. (It helps draw out nutrients and minerals from the bones into the stock.)

Chicken stock can be simmered for as little as 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Most often, you'll see recipes call for somewhere in between, about 3 to 4 hours. The longer the stock simmers, the more concentrated its flavor.

Key Ingredients

My favorite way to make chicken stock is using chicken wings. They are inexpensive and have lots of cartilage and connective tissue, which are rich in collagen. As they simmer in the stock, the collagen breaks down into gelatin, giving our chicken stock a rich flavor and silky texture.

What brings out the full flavor of the stock? ›

Cut the bones small, about 3”, to extract the most flavors in the shortest cooking time. A combination of meaty and marrow bones gives the stock a rich flavor and body. Meat trimmings are okay, as long as they are fresh and trimmed of excess fat.

An onion sliced in half, plus a few chunks of carrots and celery can go a long way in flavoring store-bought stocks. For added smokiness, char aromatics like your onions before adding them to the pot. Garlic, sliced ginger, and lemongrass can also be simmered in the stock for extra flavor.

The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add fresh herbs like parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth. Beef broth/stock: 48-72 hours.

You may choose to roast the ingredients (the carcass from the poultry lesson should already be roasted) or leave them unroasted for a white stock. However you flavor it, remember not to add any salt! (Residual salt from the roasted chicken is fine.)

I recommend shredding or slicing the chicken before to freezing. And don't throw away the cooking liquid! This method will make a lightly-flavored chicken broth, which you can use in place of chicken broth for other recipes or as the cooking liquid for rice and other grains. You can also sip it all on its own!

If you find that you've added too much water at any stage, keep cooking your broth to reduce it in volume. The flavor will come back as the volume of liquid reduces.

However, when using flour as a gravy thickener, you must double the amount—use 2 tablespoons of flour per 1 cup of liquid. Use a whisk or wooden spoon to incorporate, stirring constantly until you thicken the gravy to the desired consistency.

Cornstarch, arrowroot, common wheat flour, and the flours or powders made from potato, tapioca, chickpea — to name but a few — long have been used to thicken cooking liquids. (Gelatins and gums also can play a similar role.)