This process will give you cooked chicken meat and about 48 oz each of chicken broth and chicken stock.
Now, what the heck is the difference between stock and broth?
Broth is basically really flavorful water. You can add it to nearly anything to get some extra flavor instead of water. Use it to cook your ramen, rice, spaghetti sauce, anything really. You can also use it to make sauces and soups.
Stock is richer in texture and has a silky mouth feel. You will notice that it cools into a gel like substance. Ok, not gel like, actual gelatin. It's great to use when you want a rich texture in your sauce, soup, stuffing, dressing (both salad and that thanksgiving kind). You can also add some water to it and use it in place of broth if you are out of broth.
You're going to start with a whole chicken, and of course it's going to be the cheapest one by the pound. If you're fussy about organic then go for it but then we can no longer call this post "How to be cheap" but maybe we can call it "How to make buying that organic chicken worth it". You don't have to worry about buying a roaster, or a boiler, or a broiler, or whatever.
If you just want some chickeny flavored water or stock then you can stop here but that would be silly. If you have aromatics around you're going to want to add them. We are talking celery, onion, carrots, dried or fresh herbs such as thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and peppercorns. As long as you don't go to one extreme or the other amounts don't really matter. Use the cupped palm of your hand to measure.
Finally, you're going to need a Slow Cooker. If you don't have one you will need a large stock pot, but the good news is that it won't take as long. If you're using a stock pot you'll want to bring it up to a boil then lower it down to a simmer for a couple/few hours. The stock pot method will result in less but richer liquid at the end so add a bit more water than you would in the slow cooker. You will also need to skim the foam from the top during the first 30 minutes or so in the stock pot.
I want to reiterate the title of this article: How to be Cheap. If I were making stock to impress Alton Brown (my BFF) I would likely not try to take this chicken so far, but it's serviceable for my home kitchen. I can always add flavor at the other end of my cooking process. This is a two part recipe. The first is to get your broth and your cooked chicken you can set aside and use for other dishes such as chicken salad, soups, etc.
For the Broth and Chicken:
1 4 LB Whole Chicken
2 large carrots broken into 2 or 3 pieces
2 stalks celery broken into 2 or 3 pieces
1 whole onion cut in half (skin and all)
1 tsp dried thyme or a few springs of fresh thyme
1 tsp dried parsley or a few springs of fresh parsley
1 TB whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
Thaw your chicken if it's frozen and check the cavity for "innards". You want to put the innards in your slow cooker but you don't want to cook whatever they're packaged in. Sometimes they aren't packaged in anything, in which case throw that whole chicken in the slow cooker.
Add the rest of your ingredients to the slow cooker and fill with enough water to cover your chicken. If it comes too close to the top of your cooker it's ok to put less water in, but I promise it won't overflow.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.
Carefully remove the cooked chicken from the slow cooker at the end of your cooking period and set it in a colander above the slow cooker to allow the juices to run off. This step prevents you from having to mop up chicken juices from your counter and/or floors. If you have a dog, skip this step. I'M KIDDING!
Remove the chicken to a large cutting board to cool. Meanwhile place that colander over a bowl or dish large enough to hold your broth. If you don't have something large enough you may need to use more than one. If your bowl has a pour spout, all the better. Pour the contents of the slow cooker (minus the chicken) through the colander or a sieve if you have it, into your container. Put what you caught in your colander back into your slow cooker.
Now let's take care of that chicken. Being careful to separate the bones, cartilage, and gooey bits from your chicken meat, remove the meat from the chicken. At this point I like to keep the dark meat separate from the white meat, and I like to keep the breasts as whole as I can. Wrap your chicken in saran wrap and aluminum foil, label it, and freeze it if you don't plan to use it right away.
Throw everything but the chicken flesh back into the crock pot. And by everything I mean EVERYTHING: bones, skin, and gooey bits. I also like to add about a cup or two of the broth back in to the slow cooker to give my stock a bit more flavor.
To the slow cooker add fresh aromatics in the same portions you did with the broth. If you don't have anymore, don't let it stop you. You'll just have to add more flavor when you use the stock to cook with later. Fill the slow cooker 1/2 to 3/4 full of water. The more water you add the less concentrated your stock will be. Cook for another 8-10 hours. You really can't overcook it at this point though.
Once it's fully cooked you'll want to drain the stock into a container using a sieve or colander again just as you did the broth and you can discard everything else.
You can store your broth and stock in Freezer Bags or Mason Jars (they freeze well). I would suggest labeling them with magic marker before adding the broth and stock though. Greasy and sharpie don't mix. You will want to freeze this if you don't plan on using it in the next few days. I would also highly suggest freezing it in portions that are useful to you. Once it's frozen it's hard to extract a 1/2 cup at a time. If you tend to use stock or broth in smaller amounts I'd suggest freezing some of it using cheap ice trays. Simply freeze it in the trays over night and then pop them into a freezer bag for easy access later.
*Thanks to my friend Helen for pictures of the ingredients and process. And thanks for testing out the post on your own chicken.
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