Do you make your own homemade chicken stock? If you do, you can easily make chicken stock concentrate too. There is absolutely NO wastage and it makes enough to give some away to family & friends (or last for a very long time in the freezer!) Also, the intense flavour makes any dish calling for chicken stock taste delicious. Did I mention that there are additional health benefits too from chicken stock concentrate? I’m not sure I should tell you why as it might put you off!
Chicken stock concentrate is best made from stock using chicken necks, feet (I haven’t actually done that to be honest but you could) or wing tips – ie the parts of the chicken with smaller bones rather than from the whole carcass. The directions are the same to make the stock as in this recipe, however using 1 kg chicken necks instead. Chicken necks are usually in the offal section of the supermarket butcher section or you may be able to find them at your local butcher.
The recipe below gives directions for using a pressure cooker and thermomix but you can just as easily use a slow cooker (just is slower) and a high speed blender.
This is what it will look like after draining liquid:
- 1 kg chicken necks
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1-2 carrots chopped
- 1 celery stick chopped
- garlic cloves (as up to one whole garlic - just slice in half and add in skin and all)
- bunch of herbs (I used parsley & thyme)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp salt
- ½ Tbsp peppercorns (omit for AIP).
- turmeric - a few slices of fresh or 1-2 tsp ground
- 2 Tbsp apple cidar vinegar
- extra salt (I use Maldon sea salt or himalayan salt)
- Put the chicken necks in the slow cooker/pressure cooker, add apple cider vinegar & cover with water.
- Toss in the vegetables & herbs & season with salt & pepper
- Soak for about an hour before cooking to help the ACV start to break down the connective tissue – this will make for a more gelatinous broth/stock which is great for our joints.
- Slow cooker: Cook on low for 24hrs. (you can do less, but the flavours won’t be as intense)
- Pressure cooker: Cook on high for 60 minutes, then on medium for another 60 minutes.
- Let it cool.
- Strain into a large jar/container. Store in the fridge for up to about a week (or even better, use it for a soup whilst it’s still hot!).
- When you have strained all the liquid out, transfer all the remains into your blender or thermomix (you may need to do in a couple of batches depending on volume). Add a ladel full or 2 of the liquid stock.
- Add an extra tablespoon of salt - this will help the chicken stock concentrate last longer in the fridge.
- Blender: blend on high for 45-60seconds. Scrape down sides and repeat until smooth and no chunks of bone are left.
- Thermomix: Blend on speed 8 for 20 seconds, scrape down sides and repeat until no chunks of bone are left.
- Transfer into jars and store in the fridge. You can also store in containers in the freezer.
NOTE: You can pour both the liquid stock and the concentrate into silicone muffin trays (large for liquid and mini for concentrate) and freeze then once frozen pop them into plastic bags. Then all you have to do is pop 1 into your cooking when needed!
Quick question – how long is the concentrate good for if kept in the fridge?
Thanks in advance!
ALexis
Vancouver, BC
Hi Alexis, great question! I’ve found it varies as I’m not always accurate with the amount of salt I add! Based on this recipe (1Tbs salt I’d say a week or 2 but if you upped it to 3-4 it would last several weeks. Just use common sense and if it looks at all slimy, mouldy or smelly don’t use it! I usually freeze in silicone ice cube trays so then I just take out a cube or 2 to add to my cooking, that way it stays fresh and I don’t have to worry about it for months. Annabel
Thank you for your recipe it was amazing. I added garlic and ginger to mine. It was delicious 😋 thank you, thank you.
Also gave it to my daughter’s and they want more 😂.
Hi Rani, Thanks for your comment! Garlic and ginger, of course, perfect additions! Annabel
Hi Annabel, I finally read the ingredients on my favorite organic chicken base (better than …) and am not too happy. I’m trying to make my own. Does your recipe create a substitute? I didn’t realize ground up bones were used for it.
Thank you,
Danielle
I’m sorry for the delay in replying. I was away for a month. Do you mean is there a substitute for grinding up the bones? You don’t have to do this, you can always just use the stock. Let me know if I’ve misunderstood the question! Annabel
For this step
‘When you have strained all the liquid out, transfer all the remains into your blender or thermomix (you may need to do in a couple of batches depending on volume). Add a ladel full or 2 of the liquid stock.’
Do you mean to blend all the bones and veg etc?
Hi Lani,
Yes I do blend all the bones and veg etc. I do check that any of the bigger bones aren’t too hard and if they are I’ll take them out. You will need the power of a thermomix or very robust blender. Just blend until smooth and then I add into my cooking. I often put it into silicone mini muffin moulds and freeze so i can just pull out a cube or 2 when I need it. Love to know how you go with it! Annabel
Quick question: if I wanted to then reconstitute the stock, what would be the ratio of water to concentrate?
for example:
X grams concentrate to 1 liter Water
Great question Leigh! I don’t know exactly. I usually use it to flavour dishes (about 1-2 tsp) rather than to make liquid stock out of it again. Annabel.