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Chicken Stock Cubes

Posted on | December 29, 2008 | 3 Comments

Many people make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, make more money, pay off credit cards, drink less…I resolve to make more of my own stock. At least, it’s one of my resolutions, and fairly high up on the list.

I’m not quite sure where it exactly falls, but, at least today, it fell out of my freezer and onto my stove. In doing a little cleaning I discovered the ice box , like some find on an antarctic expedition, the frozen remnants of chicken carcasses past. Five to be exact, and in varying bags, Tupperware and foil packages.

So, I resolved to check a resolution off the list. Best to get one out of the way early.

I added the bones and filled a 10 quart pot with cold water, carrots, onion, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, bay leaf and pepper. I cooked this on an aggressive simmer for a few hours until it was reduced by half. Then, I filled it back up with cold water and repeated the process. After it had reduced to my liking, I strained into a bowl and considered my storage options.

In the past year, I’ve used this little trick for keeping bits of stock on hand for quick use. I bought a few ice trays and filled them up with the stock. Pop the cubes out and store them in a zip lock. You can then use them to jazz up sauces, rice (an especially delicious trick) and whatever else you may need a shot of stock for. Now, I wouldn’t necessarily use it for a recipe that called for a TON of stock, but this ends up helping for the bits and pieces in more ways than you might imagine.

Each compartment in an ice tray is about 2 Tbsp, which equals 1 oz. So, with twelve compartments per tray, you get about a cup and a half of stock cubes. I had four trays, which I filled twice. So, that provided me with 96 ounces of stock, or about 12 cups.

Now, on to the remainder of the resolutions….

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