hi, I’ve been trying to make my own chicken stock. I think the stock cubes are too high in salt. But so far my attempts have lacked real chicken flavour. Any ideas?
This recipe works well:-
Hi
Smash the carcase, or if you do not have a carcase, any bones and scraps and gently simmer in a good oil until the fat is rendered, then add finely chopped garlic, onion, celery etc and when translucent turn down the heat, add water and simmer for as long as you can without burning it.
Strain and then reduce.
I do it like my granny did so this is a bit weird but it makes a nice brown, tasty stock. (No good if you need a light coloured stock though)
First of all I break up the carcass a bit, then sprinkle it with oil, and put it back in the roasting tin with a cut up onion, celery stalk, carrot, garlic and any other veg I’ve got handy leftover
I sprinkle it all with ground black pepper and parsley from the garden and give it a good roast on high for about 40 minutes until it’s all nice and brown and starting to caramelise
Then I tip it all into a big pot with a bay leaf and a few peppercorns and simmer it for a couple of hours
Then strain off the stock and put it in the fridge. Take off the fat when it solidifies and you end up with a nice brown blob of chicken jelly stock 
Make sure your base for the stock is made up from bones & skin and always crack open the bones first. If you can find a good butcher they usually have plenty of chicken bones if they sell breast cuts.
Cracking open bones and carcasses sound like it could be a horror story 
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I think you chaps have hit the nail on the head - break up the carcass and crack open bones! I’d already done the roasting of the carcass but this smash it up approach sounds like the winner. Grateful for all your advice!
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Hi
Easy with chickens, IKEA have some very good shears, just like using a pair of scissors.
Yes, I think that does help, granny, and now me, covered the carcass in grease proof paper and hit it with a rolling pin to break it up a bit before roasting it again
Sounds really gruesome when I put it like that!
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Ripple
Hi
Easy with chickens, IKEA have some very good shears, just like using a pair of scissors.
Hi Mr S I’m a veggie…They surely are Instruments of torture.
Although they could be useful for other things .
To be fair, if you are vegetarian, then perhaps you are on the wrong thread…?
Hi I assure you I am vegetarian and have been for most of my life.
Of course you’re right about the topic. 