When I make chicken stock I use whatever I have on hand. I’ll save wing tips, bags of chicken stuff that comes with a whole chicken-- sometimes it’ll be the leftover carcass of a roasted chicken. Plus whatever veggies and/or herbs I have handy (onions are a must. Carrots and celery are an almost must. Herbs, garlic and peppercorns are nice). I will simmer the shit outta that pot. All day long, even.
As a result my stock is quite gelatinous, which I love, but here’s my question. How should I use this stock? Let’s say I’m making habichuelas guisada. I’ll put a heaping tablespoon of the gel in a measuring cup and then fill the cup with hot water. Because it should be liquid when I add it, right? Should I use it straight as if it were liquid stock? Should I leave the jar out until it’s room temperature and more liquid-y? Huh? What? Why?
It will melt back into a liquid when it’s heated with the beans, so there’s no need to add water if the chicken stock tastes like the correct level of chickeneyness. If it’s stronger than you like, then add water. Or if you want to save a little time, heat your gelatinous goo in the microwave until it’s liquid and add the hot liquid to the beans (this is faster than dumping cold goo on the beans and heating it in the pot, but not strictly necessary.)
When I make stock, I find the point at which it tastes as I like it, and then I stick a clean wooden spoon into the pot and mark the level with a rubber band. Then I keep boiling off the water until it makes a thick paste that’s 1/16 the level of the rubber band. 1 tablespoon of this paste will make 1 cup of chicken broth when I put it in a measuring cup and add water to the 8 ounce mark. You can theoretically concentrate it even further (that’s what Better Than Bouillon is), but I’m always afraid to go much more, for fear that I’m going to burn the paste.
Concentrating the stock like this means less storage space, and it also gives me a concentrated flavor bomb that I can add to pasta and rice and stir fries when I want rich chicken flavor without a lot of liquid. (They’re marketing little packets of this as “flavor boost” now.)
What WhyNot said. Unless you purposefully concentrated it, just use it as-is, no need to dilute it. It turns to liquid as it heats, and unless it tastes too strong you don’t need to do anything else. Nice gelatinous stock is the best!