Chicken Stock Gone Like Jelly

mdhughes03

Hi guys, need some advice from you experienced old-stylers!

I did a whole chicken in the slowcooker yesterday and stretched it to 3 meals for both of us but wanted to make soup from the carcass.

I put the bones etc back into the SC with some water and then added seasoning and cream and put in the fridge overnight. I have just scraped the fat off the top but what is left is totally jellified!!

I'm hoping this is normal and means that it's super-yummy stock (like on the advert with that famous chef person lol) am I right?

Can I just dilute it to use as the basis for a soup?

Thanks in advance!

nodwah

yes its totally beautiful stock when it's a jelly - it will liquify when you heat it in the pan - you won't really need to dilute it

Debt_Free_Chick

mdhughes03 wrote: »

I put the bones etc back into the SC with some water and then added seasoning and cream and put in the fridge overnight. I have just scraped the fat off the top but what is left is totally jellified!!

I'm hoping this is normal and means that it's super-yummy stock (like on the advert with that famous chef person lol) am I right?

Yup - extra special stock that. It's the gelatine from the bones.

Can I just dilute it to use as the basis for a soup?

Yup - but be careful with the dilution. Too much water and you'll lose the taste/body.

Next time, don't add the cream during the stock making - leave it for the finished dish i.e. add it last.

For this batch, don't leave it too long in view of the cream. You could try freezing any left over, but I'm not sure how the cream will react. Probably OK as it's now incorporated into the stock.

Well done you

mdhughes03

Thanks for the fast replies guys! First time I've ever cooked a whole chicken (would never have considered it bfore MSE and my slowcooker) so glad I can get something extra out of it

Pink.

Hi mdhughes03,

If your stock is jelly like then you have a good stock. The jelly will melt when it's reheated. There's an earlier thread that may help so I've added your thread to it to keep the replies together.

Pink

Mellika

My mum always cooks lemony chicken. When the stock cools down and goes like jelly, she mixes it with a bit of mayo and eats it on bread like a spread. It's so yummy!

thriftlady_2

mdhughes03 wrote: »

Can I just dilute it to use as the basis for a soup?

Don't dilute it -unless you have boiled the hell out of it and it has reduced to half its original volume.

Those stock cubes are concentrated but hm stock isn't. Just use it as it is in your recipe;)

dandy-candy

OMG! I just came on here today to ask this exact question and found all these useful replies already on the subject!! Thank you all xx
It just shows how frugal we are all being now a recession is here!!

ragz_2

Oddly enough I have a carcass simmering in my SC right now. With the added MS bonus of getting the chicken for free because Asda.com accidentally sent me 2 chickens (Free Range of course!)
I find that getting the most from your whole chicken not only shows the bird the respect it deserves but also makes buying free range a lot cheaper because you're getting so much for your money, I can get 3/4 meals out of a £7 bird where as I could spend £3 on a couple of cheapest chicken breasts that'd only do one meal. And of course as mentioned before you are getting all the nutrients, Omega 3 etc
I made the most divine chicken and leek soup the other day from a stock I'd had in the freezer and OH said it was emphatically the BEST soup he had ever tasted.

Smithills

When I made my stock, I froze it in curry takeaway plastic cartons (leave a little room for expansion when it freezes though!). When defrosted, I use it in mushroom risotto- yummy. And yes, I just lob it all in- the jelly soon melts into the rest of it