Crock Pot, Chicken Stock

I love to make chicken stock. Why? Because it’s relatively easy and it tastes amazing. I mean, seriously, once you’ve had homemade stock you realize the store is just selling you flavored salt water. The drawback to making my own stock is that it’s a 6-8 hour process, and we eat it all within a week. That’s a major time investment for 1 or 2 meals. One issue is, of course, that I don’t have a true stock pot. I remedied this situation recently with an awesome stock pot that I can’t wait to break in. That sucker will make enough for me to freeze AND eat the stock I make! 

 

Even though I love homemade stock, I have the Slow Cooker Revolution book from America's Test Kitchen, which offers a true "throw and go" chicken stock recipe, so of course I had to try it. 

Making the stock itself was super easy. I followed the directions and let the water slowly suck all the deliciousness out of the chicken wings. Then I popped it into the refrigerator and waited. 

Yesterday I made chicken noodle soup using my crock pot stock. It's my easy recipe: a couple of chopped carrots, couple of chopping celery stalks, egg noodles and canned chicken, all dumped into a pot of stock and boiled for 10 minutes. As we ate, Husband and I evaluated the new stock. 

For basic chicken stock, it was fine. In fact, I would be willing to make this a couple of times a month, then freeze and use for recipes that require stock. It'll be healthier than the store bought options. But for a standalone recipe like soup? Not so much. My original recipe, which, to be fair, includes a lot more ingredients in the pot, is much more flavorful.