Minutus

Thanks for a response: I'm making chicken stock for the first time. I always make beef, but I ran into a small farmer who had lots of organic chicken feet and livers (for pate).

Question: When using a whole chicken and feet, etc., I'm supposed to let the chicken sit in water for 1/2 w/herbs, but do I remove the skin or leave it on?

Thanks,
Vicki

When I make chicken stock I use carcasses, feet, neck, stomach (cleaned out well) heart and yes do include the skin. Simmer for 4 hours with whatever else you want to put in it. Sieve the stock from bones etc.. Leave to cool and refrigerate so you can remove the fat which floats to the top and goes hard. The stock itself should be like a jelly from the gelatine in the bones.

Rochelle

Hi Viki
I am a stock maker. You want to keep the skin on, without feathers, of course. But you do want to skin the feet if that has not already been done for you. Just pour boiling water over the feet and wait a half minute or so then take them out of the water and the external skin should peel right off including the outer layer of the toenails.
I take the meat out when cooked, add the skin back to the pot and continue the simmering until bones are done.
Enjoy.
Warmly, Maria

Thanks Maria. You reminded me that my local farmer has saved some turkey feet for broth for me.

Is your broth gelatinous?
I did a broth of the turkey bones after the big dinner but it was already cooked bones and they didn’t gel up.
There are some other bones in the freezer (back and neck) for another stock pot with some veggies.

Joseph Mercola ran an article on doing a medicinal stock last month on his site.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... =746248113

t

I think you need more than just the large bones to get a gelatinous broth. It seems it is the joints of the bones/feet and maybe the skin???
that provides that gel-like condition.

t

My Phone either sent part of this or ate it.
Scum is the impurities in the stock. Probably blood. You probably got a good chicken if you didn't have the scum. Chicken feet are great, no I do not think you can have too many. Most of my poultry customers do not want the feet so I usually have a lot extra.
Yes, I rIse my own but also buy poultry on occasions.
I often add beef to my stock. My Italian grandparents always made stock with both. You can roast the bones and brown them first but I do not always do that. Also I take the meat out when cooked about an hour after simmering. The meat does of need all that cooking but the bones do.

Sent from my iPhone

Stock that has over boiled will not gel. GelTin is delicate. A very slow simmer is needed. I have used both cooked and raw.

Sent from my iPhone

Important info to know.

I used the crock pot for about 8 hours. So not a hard boil at all, but maybe still too much.
No scum at all. My turkey was a very organic bird from a small farmer about 5 miles down the road.
The bird had been roasted so didn’t brown them first. Also, did not add anything to the broth as I like
to do that when using it for cooking. Did not leave much meat in the broth pot, either, so it was mainly
bones, cartilage and a bit of skin which had been spiced for the bird.

t

Sound good. Let it cook then. Turkey bones are pretty hard.

Sent from my iPhone

so you are suggesting that those bones should cook, let’s say overnight?

t