Follow these simple instructions on How To Clarify Homemade Stock so that it looks just like store bought stock!
You guys haven’t just been throwing away those chicken skins and carcasses, right? You’ve started making your own from scratch Chicken Stock ’cause it’s the easiest way to stretch your food dollar and make a from scratch condiment that can be used a gazillion different, ways, right? Well good. 😉 Now that you’re doing that, have you noticed that your stock comes out all cloudy and not at all like the nice clean looking stock that comes out of the carton from the store? I sure have. But I just thought it came with the whole from scratch territory. But oh… ooh not until one of you lovely readers let me know that Better Homes and Garden had a recipe to clarify stock! I had no idea and now my from scratch Chicken Stock world has been forever changed for the better! Thanks, Lee H.!! 
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, we eat a lot of chicken in this house. One of our recent favorites is the Maple Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs recipe which requires de-boning and de-skinning the thighs, which is what we usually have because I’m too cheap the pay the added cost of buying it skinless and boneless already. Which actually works out because it’s the perfect excuse to make some homemade stock. Also, we happened to have some wilted celery and carrots in the fridge that normally would have just gone into the compost that I also threw in the stock pot.
My favorite thing about making stock? You can let it simmer for as long as you want while you go about the rest of your life. In this case, I re-painted the built in shelves in our kitchen bar because what else would you do on a Sunday night when you’re 29 weeks preggo and in extreme nesting mode?
Anyway, once the stock reached a richness that we liked, I lined our large sieve with a cheese cloth and slowly drained the stock.
And this is where I would have normally stopped and called it good, but now with my new found stock clarifying knowledge, I instead whipped an egg white with some water (and then totally made a small bath of From Scratch Mayo with that one little lone egg yolk),
then I added it to the hot stock that I put back on the burner to boil.
Once it came to a boil, I removed it from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. While the egg white cooks it’s coagulating and collecting all of the little particles from that stock that make it cloudy. Yay science!
One last strain to get the cooked egg whites out, and just look at that lovely clarified chicken stock. Like it just came out of a carton of organic chicken broth- but for waaayy cheaper. You can do this with your veggie stock and beef stock too then you have a lovely clear base for your soups, stews, and in our case, some future risotto! 😉
Chicken Stock From Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 gallons of water
- 1 mostly stripped chicken carcass
- 2 skin on chicken thighs
- 2 chicken wings
- 4 large carrots chopped
- 2 stalks of celery + center leaves of stalk
- 1 white onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 bunch of green onions
- 4-5 tablespoons of kosher salt
- 1-2 tablespoons of oregano
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, add chicken, vegetables, salt, and oregano.
- Bring to a boil and let boil for about 3 hours or until stock richness is to your liking.
- Strain out chicken and vegetables and let cool. Store in fridge for up to a week or in freezer for up to a month before using.
This method does indeed work, though what I do is save my eggshells that would normally go out to the compost pile. When making the stock, along with your celery, carrot and onion scraps throw in the eggshells. Try not to let the stock boil. Simmer, strain and enjoy a clear stock.
Great points, Stephen! Thank you!
A couple of years ago I started doing rotisserie chicken and this winter, I’ve started doing two at a time and just pulling the chicken from the carcass for use in soups and stews. Then we use the carcasses to make our own stock! That’s even cheaper! 🙂
That’s a GREAT idea, John!! Thank you for sharing!
The flavor you get from homemade is just so amazing! You’ll never buy store bought again.
Homemade stock is the best, and I love to have it on hand. The egg white tip is so interesting. Definitely going to try!
Definitely saving this for later – homemade stock is something I always wanted to make!
Thanks for taking your time in showing this amazing step by step method in making this healthy and yummy stock. This stock will surely help in making my various other recipes tasty. Combination of ingredients are all so perfect.
I am saving this to use later. You just can’t beat homemade stock.
I’ve been meaning to make a batch of homemade stock for a while now, so this post is very timely! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂