The Bubbo wrote on 14 Jan 2006 in rec.food.cooking

> pablo wrote:
> > Sheldon, would you consider doing a web broadcast so I can finally
> > learn how to make decent chicken soup? I've followed a lot of your
> > suggestions over the years but my stock is still thin and colorless.
> > Tonight, for example, I used a four pound roasting chicken, one
> > whole yellow onion, about two cups of carrots, some extra carrot
> > peels from the freezer, a couple parsnips, salt, pepper, and about
> > three quarts of water. I simmered this for two hours with salt and
> > peppercorns, removed the chicken, and strained the stock through a
> > fine mesh strainer. (Saving the chicken to pick off the bones for
> > the soup, and tossing out the vegetables.)
> >
> > I refrigerated the broth, which I'll skim with a spoon tomorrow
> > before making soup. I add a pinch of saffron and S&P to taste for
> > the soup. (I've tried adding a little nutmeg or cinnamon or ground
> > ginger to the pot, but prefer the soup without them.) I'll add some
> > carrot and parsnip slices, chopped celery, the chicken meat, a
> > little thyme and simmer that for an hour. The soup is usually OK,
> > but never great. The broth is always too thin and all of the color
> > comes from the saffron.
> >
> > I cook the noodles separately and add them and the broth to the soup
> > bowls. I know that putting the noodles in the soup pot will thicken
> > the soup a little, but I don't like the drowned noodles in leftover
> > soup the next day.
> >
> > Can you tell what I'm doing wrong? I'd appreciate some pointers.
> >
> > Pablo
> >
> >
> >
>
> I don't know that I can answer your question specifically, but I know
> that when I switched over from whole chickens to just chicken wings my
> stocks became much richer in flavor. I use a 3 or 5 pound bag of
> frozen wings. I put them in a pot with water, bring them to a boil and
> let them boil about tem minutes. This is the part that I think a lot
> of people will disagree with, I strain the wings and dump the water
> and rinse the wings. This gets rid of all the scummy grey stuff and I
> don't have to continually skim the pot.
>
> Wings back in the pot with a whole onion, some carrots, celery, salt,
> peppercorns and then a set of herbs and spices depending on whether I
> am making regular stock or asian. I add enough water to make
> everything float and bring it to a simmer.
>
> It simmers for an hour or two and I roast a whole chicken. When the
> stock is done I strain it and toss everything in it, they've all given
> up their life at this point. I shred the roasted chicken and add that
> along with new veggies and there's my soup.
>

cooking it in a pasta pot-with the insert would probably make straining
easier. Using over night in the fridge to allow the fat and scum to float
up and harden makes it easier then you wouldn't need to rinse or skim.

Saved frozen Chicken Frames from your roasted chickens would work too.
Roasting these frames till golen brown adds loads of flavour and a nice
colour. But there's no law saying you have to.

It's using lots of bones and cartilage that make the best stock.
I'm having a brain fart and can't think of the word that is used for
gelatin producing parts of a chicken.

--
The eyes are the mirrors....
But the ears...Ah the ears.
The ears keep the hat up.