How to Make Chicken Stock

One of THE first fundamental skills any professional culinary student is taught is how to make a delicious stock. By making and using your own stock, your cooking is guaranteed to be elevated to an entirely new level. Not only is making stock extremely rewarding, it will most definitely taste better and be healthier than anything you can buy. Most store-bought stocks are high in sodium and lack the gelatin that homemade stocks contain. Often dubbed as liquid gold, a well-made, gelatinous stock is what enables chefs to make those restaurant-quality sauces. In fact, great chef begins the week by making and storing a variety of stocks, which is one of the reasons why their dishes taste so good. Basically, if you can simmer water or make tea you can make stock – the process is extremely simple. Many people wrongly assume that making stock takes far too much effort; however, the actual work takes only a matter of minutes.

In this lesson, you will learn the fundamentals of making stock. You will learn about the equipment required, the basic components, the importance of simmering and skimming and how to strain and cool, defat and store stock. While this lesson will walk you through the process of making a white chicken stock, it is important to note that the principles you learn here apply to all types of stock.

If you seriously want to learn how to cook well, you need to know how to make stock. By simply using stock rather than water in almost any area of your cooking, you can effortlessly add delicious flavor to the food you cook – even to everyday rice and grains. By having quality stock on hand, not only will you have the foundation of a great dish, you will also be excited and motivated to cook a variety of new dishes.

In the world of fine cooking, dark meat stock is an essential ingredient in the kitchen. Dark stocks basically replicate the same flavors savored from grilled meats, roasted vegetables and caramelized onions, but in a pure liquid form. This incredibly flavorful liquid allows chefs to inject immediate flavor into their dishes and lays the foundation for them to create many wonderful soups, stews and braised dishes. In fact, a rich dark stock is a saucier’s building block used to create an impressive repertoire of both simple and complex sauces.

This lesson builds upon the principles you learned in the lesson on How to Make Stock Fundamentals. Here, in this lesson, you will learn the difference between white and dark stocks, how to develop flavor through caramelizing and deglazing and how to make a dark stock from beginning to end.

If there was one foundational preparation that connects the home cook to the world of the professional, it would be dark stock. With a good homemade dark stock on hand, you will be able to make many simple meals and tackle more complex dishes with courage. This will allow you to execute many special menu ideas and create a variety of restaurant-calibre dishes.

Short on time, have no stock on hand, or you just want to add a bit of flavor to a dish? Short stock is your answer. Short stocks are small batches of stock that are made with small pieces of caramelized bones and mirepoix. These stocks are cooked in a short amount of time and are often made in conjunction with another dish to enhance its primary flavors.

This lesson builds upon the skills and techniques learned in the previous lessons on the How to Make Stock Fundamentals and How to Make Dark Stock.

In this lesson, you will learn how to make a short stock from start to finish. You will learn about the reasons for and the benefits of making this type of stock. These flavorful stocks will not only help you to easily infuse extra flavor into the food you are preparing, they will also allow you to create many delicious gravies and sauces to pair with a variety of dishes.

Since ancient times, cultures from all around the world have been making broths. Authentic Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese cuisines, for instance, rely on very flavorful broths for many of their classic dishes.

Broths are made by simmering meat that is still attached to the bone, along with a combination of vegetables and aromatics. Aside from producing a tasty liquid, broths also produce a cooked and usable meat at the same time. For example, the leftover meat can be used to stuff pasta or both the meat and liquid can be used to create a whole meal. Chicken Pot Pie is a perfect example of this.

This lesson builds upon the skills and techniques learned in the previous lessons on How to Make Stock Fundamentals and How to Make Dark Stock. Here you will learn the differences between a broth and a stock as they are often confused. You will also learn the process of making either a white or dark broth. By learning this easy process, you will not only be able to incorporate a flavorful broth into your cooking, you will be able to build a variety of different dishes from delicious soups to whole meals.

In previous cooking school lessons, you learned about white and dark stocks using chicken bones. In both cases the end results were white and dark chicken stock.

In this lesson, you will learn about the slight differences that you will need to apply to produce veal stock and/or beef stock – another important stock used by the professional chef. Veal stock is also the stock used to produce demi glace - an important rich stock reduction used in high-end restaurants.

This instructional cooking video on Introduction to Making Stock, is part of the Rouxbe Cooking School.

This cooking video is taken from the lesson on
How to Make Stock | Fundamentals.

This instructional cooking video on Stock Making Essentials, is part of the Rouxbe Cooking School.

This cooking video is taken from the lesson on
How to Make Stock | Fundamentals.

This instructional cooking video on Simmering & Skimming Stock, is part of the Rouxbe Cooking School.

This cooking video is taken from the lesson on
How to Make Stock | Fundamentals.

This instructional cooking video on Difference Between White & Dark Stocks, is part of the Rouxbe Cooking School.

This cooking video is taken from the lesson on
How to Make Dark Stock.

This basic white chicken stock is easy to make. The liquid from slowly simmering chicken bones, vegetables, herbs and spices will add incredible flavor to your cooking.

A rich, dark chicken stock with loads of flavor. It's a practical and delicious alternative to veal stock.

Italian Chicken Marsala is simple, flavorful and quick to prepare. Golden, pan-fried chicken breasts are smothered in a delicious pan sauce made with shallots, Marsala, dark chicken stock and a tiny bit of butter.

These home-made and deliciously flaky pot pies are filled with tender vegetables and chicken. Leftover turkey would also work great.

Italian Chicken Marsala is simple, flavorful and quick to prepare. Golden, pan-fried chicken breasts are smothered in a delicious pan sauce made with shallots, Marsala, dark chicken stock and a tiny bit of butter.

An inexpensive yet fancy family meal that everyone will surely love. Pork tenderloin is first brined for extra flavor and moisture, cooked to perfection and served with a delicious apple sage sauce.

A simple pasta dish prepared with chicken stock, shallots and fresh chives.

When a recipe calls for chicken stock, it is best if you use homemade; however, in a pinch, you can find some some quick, easy options right on the supermarket shelf.

This technique will teach you how to properly butcher a whole chicken (or any type of poultry). In this video, we show you how to remove the chicken wings, chicken thighs, chicken drumsticks and chicken breasts. By butchering your own whole chicken, you'll be saving money. Save the left over bones to make great stocks, such as chicken stock or duck stock.

How to carve a chicken or turkey may seem difficult at first, but once you understand the anatomy of a chicken it's easy to master.