Making Homemade Stock

Crockpot Stock

In an attempt to cook like a pro, I make my own stock. I talk about making it all the time. Here is an easy way to do it.

I keep chicken carcasses, beef/lamb/pork bones in the freezer in ziploc bags.  I also keep turnip, carrot, celery, asparagus, herbs, mushrooms stems, and onion tops/ends in the freezer. In the picture, you see frozen scallions, celery bottoms, frozen carrot chips, turnips, radishes, parsnips, asparagus and even the skins of onions. It is okay to include skins. When I am prepping, I push all the veggie waste to the side and put it in a baggie. I also freeze herbs before they go bad. All of the extra stuff is strained out anyway. Using your crockpot makes this simple. If you would like simply lamb or beef stock, start saving your bones. You would use the exact same method for beef stock. In addition, for vegetable stock, omit the bones. Cook the same way, but you would need to add some mushrooms to increase the beefiness of the stock.

Homemade Stock

1) Get your crockpot out (you will need a 6 quart)
2) Put several bones (I used beef bones from steaks) and a chicken carcass in the pot
3) Put frozen (or fresh if you don't have frozen) vegetables in there (onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme are a must). Add your other veggies too like root vegetables, herbs, and scallions.
4) Add a good bit of each: pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes
5) Cover with water
6) Cook all day. It will make a delicious broth after about 8 hours
7) Turn off crockpot
8) Get a large bowl and put a strainer on top of it
9) Carefully pour stock into the strainer
10) Press on the vegetables and carcasses in the strainer. This extracts big time flavor
11) Put the strained stock in freezer bags or tupperware or mason jars
12) Freeze what you don't want. Pull out the bags to thaw the night before you need them

This seriously makes the best soup! Add whatever you want in there. Before giving up gluten, I would make my husband a simple soup of homemade chicken broth, tomatoes, and frozen tortellini. Sprinkle with basil and parmesan cheese...presto, dinner is made.

Your food tastes better when using homemade stock. It can be eaten on its own too. In the paleo community, bone broth is quite popular. It is an amazing source of calcium. This method produces results that are far superior to stock in the box. It is like reusing already enjoyed food. You would be shocked at the amount of celery tips, asparagus tips, onion layers and the stalky part of herbs that get thrown away. This stock was from 100% recycled material! Delish and a money saver....