Chicken Stock

I think if you boil it it breaks it up too fast. sticken stock should be yellow to brownish yellow, and brown chicken stock has soy sauce or some other dark liquid (maybe you could use some worshistire, give it a little tang) to make it darker.

My understanding...the reason you simmer is more for clarity than flavor. If you have the stock going at a rolling boil, the fat and bits of skin and proteing will be more emulsified into the stock, making a mch more cloudy finished product. AFAIK, it shouldn't really have much effect on flavor, if any. Many many chefs boil the heck out of their stock, and still get great tasting bases for sauces and soups. Like, Tomas Keller wouldn't boil his, I'm sure, but the dude running the local bistro who makes made from scratch food and good soups, etc, probably would boil his.

Also, from what I think I know, chicken stock shouldn't have a very strong flavor. It should have plenty of BODY, i.e. the jello thickness when cold, but flavor should be minimal, ideally. The purpose of a stock like this is to add mouth feel and richness to an item, not neccessarily flavor, which would come from other sources (i.e. split peas, in pea soup, not chicken tasting split pea soup).

Now, you're making a kind of hybrid between a broth and a stock. A broth generally is made from more meat than bones, and has the flavor if the item. Like, if you were making chicken tortilla or chicken noodle soup, then you would use a broth. Like I said, you're kind of making a hybrid, which is fine, BTW, I do it all the time too. Makes great soup.

As far as the brown liquid, I dunno. Maybe someone else could help with that. Only thing I can think of--were you using an already cooked chicken or a raw one?

~someday

If you browned the bones and mirepoix in the oven, wouldn't your stock be darker?

Not quite, tripps11. :look: Brown chicken stock is made from chicken that has been browned first (either seared in the pot or roasted in the oven). It has a stronger flavor for that reason, as well as a darker color, and so is not used as universally as plain old regular chicken stock.

What I think happened when you cooked your stock that long was that the sugars in the vegetables caramelized, and as you cooked it and reduced it, it became concentrated and the caramelization became more apparent in the appearance and the vegetable in the flavor. That's just an awfully long time to cook a chicken stock. At the opposite end of the spectrum is a type of Chinese chicken stock, in which the chicken is covered with water, brought to a boil, and then let to sit off the heat until cool. That stock is, of course, very mild, but has its uses in certain dishes.

We had quite a discussion some time ago on Maximum Collagen Extraction, which you might find helpful.

I hope you don't mean the liver too; that would make the broth cloudy and off-flavored. Gizzards, heart and neck are fine, however.

Many people, including myself, don't flavor their stock with vegetables and spices. It can be desirable to have a very neutral stock...for example, if you put garlic in your stock and you can taste the garlic, but what if you don't want your final product to taste like garlic?

Any type of sauce or soup can have spices and flavors added later. Know what I mean? I don't even add salt.

I throw a bunch of bones in a big pot, cover with cold water, and simmer for about 4-5 hours, skimming a lot at first but then less towards the end. Strain, reduce, cool, store in freezer in individual serving sizes. Rule of thumb is about

~Somday

Garlic was just an example. My only point was sometimes you shouldn't add other flavorings so that the final dish has that taste...thats all. I could have easily said rosemary or whatever.

~Someday

not at all. you ask good questions!