I've kept the chicken carcass - now what?

quick-learner

Hello everyone, :hello: first time posting on this board so be gentle!!!

I have been doing a lot of reading on this board over the last week and boy have I had my eyes opened. You all do a super job.:T

I have invested in a slow cooker, and have joined up for the vegetable box scheme, thought by getting different veggies I will be forced to experiment a little more (she says):rolleyes:

On your recommendations through other posts I purchased a slow cooker which arrived on Wednesday, Friday I researched on the board and found the slow cooker recipes and decided on a beef stew.:D

Kids were most impressed, so much so I had to make another one for last nights tea!! this time with dumplings.

Have frozen the left overs, for later in the week.

Today having chicken for roast dinner and want to use the carcus in making a soup.

Having already said I am a complete novice to slow cookers how/where do I start? Do I strip the chicken completly of skin and meat? or leave it all on?
Do I have to do it in stages? draining then added veggies later?:question:

Sorry for all the questions, promise I will only ask once!!:hello:

angelavdavis

I personally would remove any decent sized pieces of chicken to use for sandwiches, etc. I would then put the whole carcass, including little bits of meat, skin, etc and then add chopped onions, herbs, vegetables (whatever you have spare), top up with some boiling water (you can use stock but the carcass, skin and meat should add enough flavour), add a bay leaf, put the lid on the SC and leave it at least three hours to bubble away. Add seasoning before serving. If you want it to thicken, add some chopped potatoes or pearl barley. When you are ready to serve, lift out the bay leaf and the carcass, removing as much of the remaining bits of meat on the bones (I usually just use a fork to remove everything) and then you can either whizz it up with a wand creamer or leave it as a stew consistency.

quick-learner

Many thanks

Pink.

Hi quick-learner,

We have a recent thread on this that should help you so I've merged your thread with it to keep all the replies together.

These older threads may help too:

Home made chicken stock

Best way to make stock??

Pink

lisa_cee

excellent ! i now know how to make chicken stock !

Smiley_Mum

I've had a look on Froogle and this fat separator thing may help when you are trying to take the fat off the stock. Haven't got one myself but will be doing so, along with a big stock pot as my largest pan isn't big enough for the amount of soup I like to make in one go.

http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?q=fat+separator&scoring=p

quick-learner

Thankyou all, It's surprising just how much I have learnt this week!!

paddy's_mum

Smiley Mum - if it's of any help, I bought a Judge stainless steel preserving (jam making) pan for £4 at a car boot sale and use that for my soup making. It holds about a gallon at a time which makes better use of my time as we eat some, then freeze the remainder, but I can leave it all simmering and go off to do something else in the meantime. Hope that helps.

christineperseus

Always makes sure you bring the chicken to the boil before putting in slow cooker - the slow cooker will never bring large quantities of cold water to the boil - very important when using left over chicken.

kittykirsty

I do always skim the fat off of the top of the stock first, if you leave it til it's really cold then i find it's much easier to take the fat off. Also, if you don't want to use it straight away, or if you might only want a little at a time, my mum would freeze it in dishes or even in ice cube trays, then you can just take out what you need.

She also does the same with cooking wine, if you don't want to drink it anyway! i think it's a great tip!