Do you like to find a use for everything? The next time you peel carrots or cut up celery or onions, keep them! Collect carrot peels, celery tops and onion layers in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and store in the freezer until full. Then, the next time you are ready to make stock, you have part of your ingredients ready to go!
Adding various herbs such as thyme and rosemary can enhance the flavor of your stock. Just add a few springs to your stockpot/roaster and remove when straining your broth for storage.
Chicken frames/bones can be used to make more than one batch of chicken stock. So, if you are trying to maximize your stock yield, add the bones back to your stockpot/roaster after the first round, add enough water to cover, and start the process over again. Consider adding a splash or two of apple cider vinegar as well.
The most commonly thought of use for chicken stock is for cooking--such as for making noodles, soups, and rice (just to name a few!) but there are many benefits to just drinking a warm mug of chicken stock. Such benefits include mineral boost, immunity boost, stress reliever and bone and joint enhancer. Yum!
If you are new to making stock, consider reading Step 5 of a past blog entry I wrote, "Whole Chicken How-To".
