Try Something New: Homemade Chicken Broth

Now that it is fall, I love looking at soup recipe's on Pinterest.  Many times they call for chicken broth, of course.  I was finding it frustrating to have to buy those 32 oz. boxes of broth and only part of it and by the time I wanted to make another soup, I didn't have enough left!  Plus, those boxes are like $2.50-$3 or some other ridiculous amount of change for basically water infused with chicken.  Right.

So I found some recipe's online for how to make your own chicken stock which seemed like a huge money saver.  We bought a rotisserie chicken (I thought this would add more flavor to the broth) and enjoyed the meat itself.  We still have some left in the fridge.  We stripped the meat off the bones and put the bones in a large stew pot.  I also added chunks of celery, potato, green onion, and regular onion, but you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand (except I would not recommend tomatoes, which are really fruit anyways).  Pour enough water in the pot to at least cover the bird bones and the veggies.

The next part was tricky for me.  You are supposed to let it heat ont he stove for at least 4 hours, ideally more.  IT CAN'T BOIL for extended periods of time.  Unfortunately our flame almost goes out before the boiling actually stops so I had to add ice cubes once and a while and take the lid off of the pot for a while too.  In the end it worked out fine though.

Next I drained the broth (make sure there is a bowl under the strainer :) ) and put the broth in a big bowl and into the fridge.  Overnight, the fat rises to the top so you can skim it off the next day.  Now comes the cool part.  Instead of pouring into plastic bags to go in the freezer, take a muffin tin (standard size makes 1/2 cup) and pour the broth into the little sections.  Let it freeze overnight and then the next morning, flip the pan upside down and run hot water over it for aboutg 30 seconds.  They should pop right out.  Store the cubes in plastic bags and label it as "Chicken Broth 1/2 cup cubes."  I loved this idea because I can get exactly the amount of broth I need for the recipe and not waste any of it.  My pot made 3 quarts which is like 3 of those boxes you buy at the store.  And I'm pretty sure mine tastes better anways :)

Tada!