Still Baffled by Thermodynamics
Those who know me, know that I make some bad-assed Buffalo chicken wings. It’s a hobby of sorts. Well lately I’ve been saving the very tips of the wings (gross nasty parts you don’t want to eat) to make chicken soup. The idea is to boil the wing tips in water for a while, wait until everything breaks down, strain out the yucky chunks and VOILA! you’re left with a yummy yummy chicken broth. At least that’s the theory anyway…
Things were progressing rather smoothly, I’d boiled the wing-tips for a couple hours, let everything cool down and strained the chunks of chicken bits from the broth. Unfortuantely the act of removing the chicken chunks caused all the yucky little fat droplets to mix back in with the broth. I’m not a big fan of fat so I figured I’d heat the broth again until the fats and oils coalesced on top, cool the whole thing down, and then skim off the hardened fats. Seems like a good idea, right?
I cranked up the burner under the nearly full 8 quart stock pot, put on the lid, and went to my computer to pass some time. I found some interesting articles to read on Digg.com and then I found this really cool article about Flash and how it’s going to… Oh crap! I forgot all about the chicken broth! I rush back to the kitchen just in time to remove the pot from the burner and stop it from boiling over. Whew. That was a close one.
And then for some bizarre reason (I blame the devil) I thought it might be a good idea to let the broth simmer a little longer on the stove, perhaps a slow simmer would gently coax the oils to the surface. I cranked the burner back up on “high”, set the pot on top of it and waited for the broth to begin boiling again. I intently watched the pot, waiting for the slightest sign of a bubble so I could turn the burner down to “low” and get back to my computer. I gazed at the pot atop the stove, waiting, waiting… waiting.
And then all of a sudden, KA-FWUMP! In an instant the broth immediately comes to a raging boil and about 1/2 a gallon of chicken broth erupts out of the pot and splatters everywhere. I believe the words that came out of my mouth at that very moment were “Holy F**king S**t Batman!”
I grabbed the pot, removed it from the burner and gawked at the unique devastation which can only be caused by a volcanic eruption of chicken. Chicken broth on the stove’s heating elements. Chicken broth under the heating elements. Chicken broth in the overhead vent. Chicken broth on the floor. Chicken broth in the toaster. Chicken broth on the refrigerator. Chicken broth leaking into the oven. Chicken broth, chicken broth, chicken broth! Damn it!
I’m not sure what happened but in the future I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting all of my chicken broth from a can. 😉
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Chicken Stock Recipe
Ingredients:
I like to use the leftover roast chicken carcass .. if you want to as well don’t use bread stuffing when you roast but instead put half a bunch of basil or an onion and a chopped in half carrot perhaps a lemon[don’t peel it] and some tarragon or a combination I like lime and basil in the cavity [remove and discard before using the leftover carcass ] …
Fresh chicken backs are pretty good to start off with too. You want about the same amount as a regular sized chicken.
Anyhow whatever you use place it in large stockpot with:
Cooking:
Dealing with the Fat:
If you are going to use your stock straight away or if you’re going to freeze it, once it has cooled to room temp strain though a sieve lined with paper towel into your container.
If your stock is to use within 3 days or so, once it has cooled, strain it without paper towel into your storage container and put in the fridge; the fat will rise to the top and form a layer that will keep the bugs out and it will be easy to remove. Remember though that a little bit of fat is good and that is where a lot of the flavour is.
Sure, I can use a good chicken broth recipe. You can either post it here in the comments or you can use the Contact Page if it’s a super top-secret recipe. 😉
no trouble … the least really as quid pro quo
i have skimmed much good advice from yr blog
let me know if you would like good chicken broth
recipe
mx
Well ALLLL RIGHT! Having a blog finally pays off with some good advice I can use. 😉 Thanks MX.
hint for next time [it is worth it ] ……. when broth is
‘done’ and cooled line a sieve with paper towel
pour through to another pot … big fat molecules caught in paper …. better than skimmimg fat and
you can then just tip the contents of seive into the bin ..
mx