"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
news:qiQsb.141846$9E1.717742@attbi_s52...
I'm feeling a bit better today, but was surprised yesterday when my
boyfriend came home from the supermarket with the report that he'd asked
for chicken bones and learned that they don't sell them. He asked for
chicken backs or chicken wings with which to make chicken soup and
learned that they didn't have those either. The best he could do was a
package of 4 chicken legs (which cooked into a very thick, gelatinous
broth without much flavor but all the healing properties I could ask
for). Does no one make chicken soup from scratch anymore that bones
aren't available at the supermarket?

If I do find bones at a specialty market, how long can I freeze them for
and, would freezing them have any effect on them later when I went to
use them for soup? Or is it better to freeze the chicken stock? How
long can freeze stock? Finally, is there anything I can do to improve
the flavor? Maybe my tastes are changing, but it seems that we used to
make chicken stock at the Culinary Institute that tasted good. I would
have sworn I used the same method yesterday and ended up with broth that
was bland. What puts the flavor in chicken soup? Is the difference in
the fact that I used bone in drumsticks instead of bones or something
else?


I seldom see bones of any kind at the supermarket. Most of the meat comes
in pre-packaged and I assume that the bone aren't very profitable so they
don't make it to the store. I generally buy whole chickens or split chicken
breasts with bones. I cut the chicken up myself and bone the breasts. The
bones, skin, wing tips, necks, and backs all get put into bags in the
freezer. When I want to make stock, I use them. Along with the bones and
residual meat, I add chunks of onion, garlic, celery, and carrots and simmer
for several hours. The stock is strained and the solids get ground into a
paste for the dogs. You can reduce the stock to the desired concentration
and freeze it for several months. To get good flavor you will have to reduce
the stock and add herbs and salt. Dried herbs can go in at the start, but
fresh herbs are better added at the end. Don't add salt until the stock has
been reduced or it may end up too salty.