Chicken Stock Gone Like Jelly

CravingSaving

Bear with me on this one.....

So, I get my chicken carcass, throw some root veggies in a pot, top it up with water and a few herbs and let it simmer.... ok so far. Well, 2 hours later I wondered what the smell was and thought "shooot, I forgot about my stock". Thankfully it hadnt dried up but what I found amazed me.

There was no chicken carcass in sight. Just a light soup consistency yellowish liquid which smelt heavenly! I tried a bit, mmmmmmm. So, i strained the liquid, picked out any visible bits of chicken (quite a bit of meat, just no bones!), put the meat in the stock, cooled and refrigerated for use the next day for something or other!

Next day comes and I am rustling up a couscous thingamy with bacon and mushrooms and decide to put some of my chicken stock in with the couscous. When I took it out of the fridge IT HAD SOLIDIFIED! Not totally, but was jelly consistency, with bits of chicken hanging around in it!

i put a dollop in with the couscous thingamy on the hob and it liquifies and does a lovely job of flavouring the dish.

My questions are these (knew I would get there eventually...)

1. WHY did my stock become jelly? Is that because I boiled the hell out of the bones and turned it into gelatine?
2. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

windowshopper100

I've boiled chicken carcasses before for longer than 2 hours, but never managed to boil the bones to non-existence.

Gelatin is made when the connective tissue proteins of a carcass, e.g. collagen, break down. So you've probably got quite a bit of that in your stock (a chicken's worth in fact), plus the fact most of the water probably evaporated and concentrated your stock more.

Manufacturers grind the bones down first and treat with acid to start the whole process off. The end product, gelatin is skimmed off the top of presumably what's left of the bones, bits of scum, etc.

Given that anything that would go on in a commercial operation such as gelatin production is far harsher than anything you could create domestically I'm at a bit of a loss as to what happend to your carcass. Are you sure someone else in the house didn't come along and think, "I'll do him/her a favour and just whip that carcass out."?

Anyway, jellified stock means it's jolly concentrated which is just what you want. Delicious, well done.

Pink.

Hi Cravingsaving,

It sounds like you've made a really good stock!

There's an older thread on this that may help so I'll add your thread to it to keep all the replies together.

Pink

CravingSaving

Thanks for moving my thread and consolidating with another. Trust me, none of my kids would have removed the carcass!! There were some little bones and a bit of gristle, but nothing bigger than a matchstick!!

It WAS delicious though and am glad I have actually managed to do it right - albeit accidentally! I managed to scrape the fat off before using it, though there wasnt much of that left either!!

Debt_Free_Chick

CravingSaving wrote: »

1. WHY did my stock become jelly? Is that because I boiled the hell out of the bones and turned it into gelatine?

Kind of .... you extracted the gelatine from the carcass.

2. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

A very good thing :j :T :T

Just one suggestion .... don't "boil the hell" out of it. Let it simmer .... barely bubbling for as long as you like. A boil is too harsh ... a simmer is nice and gentle.

CravingSaving

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Kind of .... you extracted the gelatine from the carcass.



A very good thing :j :T :T

Just one suggestion .... don't "boil the hell" out of it. Let it simmer .... barely bubbling for as long as you like. A boil is too harsh ... a simmer is nice and gentle.

Oh I meant that I had cooked it for sooooo long that it had totally disintegrated!! I dont think I actually boiled it for 2 hours, it was on a lowest simmer, I just forgot about it! Think if it had been "boiled" I would have boiled the hell out of the bottom of my saucepan!!

Was very nice anyway, and cant wait to get my hands on another chicken carcass to try again!:rotfl: Guess what kids, roast chicken again tonight...

Debt_Free_Chick

CravingSaving wrote: »

Oh I meant that I had cooked it for sooooo long that it had totally disintegrated!! I dont think I actually boiled it for 2 hours, it was on a lowest simmer, I just forgot about it!

well let that be a lesson to you :rotfl: :j

Was very nice anyway, and cant wait to get my hands on another chicken carcass to try again!:rotfl: Guess what kids, roast chicken again tonight...

There are other threads here about a "Rubber Chicken" .... when you buy a chicken and then make it s t r e t c h

---

> to cover several meals, so your kids will be eating recycled chicken for a few days yet :rotfl: :rotfl:

Here's one to start you off.

Poor kids - the Social will be round to deal with you soon :rotfl:

Angelina-M

I've got a couple of chicken carcassus in the slow cooker at the moment. I simply put the chickens in with a few carrots, onions (all left in big chunks) celery, anything I find not earning its keep in the bottom of the fridge. Add a few peppercorns and put the slow cooker on low for about eight hours.

The house smells delightful at the moment, all homely!

When its finished I'll strain it, pick out any good pieces of meat for soups and if not using straight away i'll freeze the stock. It will turn very jelly like.

I like doing it in the slow cooker as I dont have to bother watching it and I can go and leave it alone for hours.

Debt_Free_Chick

A suggestion for you ......


My butcher supplies me with chicken carcasses - £2 for about 60 carcasses!!! I buy them as my dog eats raw chicken carcasses.

I have to own up to them not being free range, despite my staunch principles on this (I'll speak to my butcher and change what I get).

Remember that the supermarkets mostly supply breasts, legs & thighs .... occasionally wings too. The meat processors end up with all the carcasses .... with a decent amount of meat left on them.

Talk to your butcher and see if he'll buy a tray/box of carcasses for you. For the money, they'll make excellent stock. It's not "condemned" or "unfit for human consumption". Quite the reverse - it's simply what's left over once the supermarkets have had the "premium" bits. It's exactly what you would have in your kitchen, after eating a roast chicken.

Use it in the same way ... roast the carcasses, strip off the meat and then make a stock.

Don't be worried by the quantity. Freeze them (and/or freeze the resulting stock). I even bought a small "under the counter" freezer for £30 in my local paper for this purpose.

Stephen_Leak

noonesperfect wrote: »

Sorry I was being flirtacious (sp) Stephen! :snow_laug

Glad I took your advice the pie was the most tasty I've ever made.

A flirtacious reply and I miss it by two months. :sad: