Chicken Stock in the Pressure Cooker

Great soups have one common ingredient: homemade stock. Canned stock literally pales in comparison.

Usually, I put my stock pot on the stove just before I go to bed and let it simmer on low all night. It's a long process, but that slow simmer unlocks the best flavor.

Enter my Instant Pot pressure cooker.

I can now do in 45 minutes what I used to do in a entire night. That's right. Using my pressure cooker, I can now make the most incredible, richest, golden chicken stock in just 45 minutes. 

For chicken stock, I prefer chicken wings. They produce a rich, gelatinous stock. They can be expensive, so I look for packages that are marked down or on sale. Three pounds of wings will give you 5-7 cups of rich-tasting stock to use in your favorite recipes. If you are lucky, your grocer or meat market will carry raw chicken backs/carcasses. If you are really lucky, they will have chicken feet! Sometimes, I add a raw turkey neck for additional flavor. Some people add garlic and fresh herbs to their stock. I prefer not to. I want pure, unadulterated chicken stock. When I make an actual soup, I will add herbs and garlic then.

• 3 pounds chicken wings, rinsed
• 2 carrots (8 ounces)
• 2 stalks celery (8 ounces)
• 1 medium yellow onion (8 ounces)
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• Bottled water (avoid tap water)

Cut vegetables into one-inch chunks. Add to Instant Pot. Add rinsed chicken wings, salt and peppercorns. Fill with water just until the contents are covered by about one-half to one-inch. For my six-quart pressure cooker, that was just up to the 8-cup mark. Do fill over the "maximum fill line" in the pressure cooker. 

Celery leaves add much flavor.

Secure lid. Be sure valve is on "sealing." Set manual timer to 45 minutes. When time is up, quick release valve.

Carefully, slowly pour hot stock through a fine sieve or cheesecloth-lined colander.

Discard all wings and vegetables. The wings have done their job. Their nutrition is now in the stock.

Allow to cool and skim off any fat. There will not be much. Or refrigerate overnight and remove solidified fat from the surface. The fat is great for cooking/frying. In Yiddish, it is called "schmaltz."  

Covered stock can be kept in the refrigerator for several days or up to six months if frozen. It is worth freezing. I freeze in two-cup increments.

Notes: This is an Alton Brown recipe. I made my stock on the back porch. So easy and any spills, etc. were just hosed away.

Chicken/Turkey Stock

Keep the ingredients of your stock simple: celery, carrots, garlic,
thyme, no salt, peppercorns and chicken bones. 

During high school, I worked as a busboy in a restaurant. Each night before closing, the cooks would fill a large stockpot with vegetables and leftover bones. It took two people to heft it up to the burner where it simmered all night to make a rich broth for the following day’s soup menu. That “slow and long simmer” is the key to a great stock.

• 3 to 3 1/2 pound chicken cut up, or chicken pieces or a combination of chicken/turkey pieces or carcasses
• 2 unpeeled carrots, washed and cut into large chunks
• 3-4 stalks celery, washed and roughly cut
• 1 large yellow onion, roughly cut, include the skins
• 3-4 garlic cloves, smashed, skins included
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme flakes
• 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 10 cups water
• optional: the end of a lemon, rind and all

Prepare the ingredients during the day and refrigerate. Before going to bed, place the pot on the range and bring to a boil and then turn to low and cover making sure it just simmers and does not boil. Let it simmer all night. (This works best on an electric stove.) In the morning, when cool enough to handle, scoop into a colander over a large bowl or pot. Then strain through a sieve. If desired, squeeze the vegetables and meat through a strainer to get the “juice.” If your broth doesn’t seem strong enough, add one can of chicken broth or simmer until reduced a bit. Your strained stock is now ready for soup.

Chicken feet make great stock, but you must simmer
for a minimum of six hours.

Notes:

If you can add two turkey wings to the chicken pieces to your stock pot, that makes the best broth, I think. And I SERIOUSLY recommend it.

For each pound of poultry, plan about 3 but no more than four, cups of water. You just want to cover the poultry and vegetables with water. 

Onionskins will turn the broth a rich golden color.

Save the bones of rotisserie chickens you purchase from the deli. Place in a Ziploc bag and freeze until ready to use.

Look for poultry on sale and freeze until ready to use. A good market will actually sell chicken or turkey carcasses. Simply add some chicken or turkey pieces to it. Cartilage, such as backs and necks, makes good stock as does chicken feet. Cut through large bones if possible.

Never add rosemary to your stock; it will turn it bitter. Add parsley to your SOUP, not your stock. 

A good stock when refrigerated will gel. Freeze stock in 3-4 cup freezer containers for later use.

A slow simmer will keep the broth golden and clear. If it’s allowed to boil, the stock will be cloudy. 

My favorite way to prepare broth is the simplest: To about six cups of stock, I add several pieces of lemon zest (use a vegetable peeler), and a few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer (not a boil). Before serving, sprinkle with dried dill. This is the nectar of the gods and perfect for sipping while watching the snow outside.