Chicken Broth - Easy Stovetop

January 9, 2023 • 0 comments

Broth is as old as cooking ya'll. The first recording I can find of it is a fella named Gideon in the Bible making broth around 1000 BC... a time when the first alphabets were emerging & rice was first starting to be domesticated. That's old folks. Chicken soup was first described for health by the Romans & enthusiastically promoted by the Medieval Jewish community - they knew something that modern science has confirmed - broth is healing. You can make broth out of several of our cuts. Our chicken backs are in my opinion the best. Not only are they the most economical option, but the ratio of bone, skin, & remaining meat are perfect to make a great pot of nutritive goodness. One thing that makes our birds different is that we leave the neck on. I had to go down to Texas years ago & have some very skilled, very tiny Guatemalan ladies show me how to process a bird correctly while still leaving the neck intact. The neck has a very high collagen content, which adds hugely to the nutritive properties of your broth. We sell hundreds of lbs to a ramen shop & other restaurants weekly - so you're in good company!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken Soup Backs

Directions

The goal here is a nice clear pot of broth with golden globules of fat floating on top. I prefer to make a nice pot of unseasoned broth. I can always turn it into soup later. The trick to clear broth is to simmer gently. Vigorously boiling broth for an extended amount of time will result in a cloudy stock - which I don't find as aesthetically pleasing, but just as good as the clear stuff.

Place chicken backs into a large pot. Fill with cold water, leaving at least a couple of inches of space from the top. Place on medium heat to bring to a boil. Once you get a rolling boil, slide the pot so that 1/3-1/2 of the pot is off the heat source (obviously, make sure that it's stable!). Adjust heat so that once side of the pot is gently boiling & the cooler side is stiller.

Let boil for several hours. Skim off the gunk that floats to the top in the cool zone. The cooler side of the pot allows the broth to keep from overboiling & will give you a clear broth. It also helps to gather the gunk that needs to be skimmed off.

It's done when you want it to be. Some bones - like fish & beef - can be overboiled & lead to funky flavors - not the case with chicken broth making. The backs have quite a bit of meat that can be picked off - enough to bulk up a soup or make some chicken salad sandwiches.

If you're looking for a small amount of broth & a little bit of convenance, we also offer farm-made broth.

Enjoy!

by Across the Farm