# Chicken stock question - can I make it in two or more sessions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744 "2008-01-08T16:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/21 "2008-01-08T19:59:14Z")
How fresh does the carcass have to be? We roasted a chicken before Christmas, and haven’t gotten around to it yet- it’s still sitting in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/22 "2008-01-08T20:56:11Z")
[QUOTE=Algher] Quick hint: Take some stock and put it in ice trays. That lets you grab a cup of stock in cubes when you need it. [/QUOTE] I used to do that, but there are no ice cube trays here. Ice maker. And it’s not well designed for them if I were to get them. Trust me, I’m trying to figure that one out. Plus, how much is a cup in cubes? That I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/23 "2008-01-08T21:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=BlueKangaroo] I used to do that, but there are no ice cube trays here. Ice maker. And it’s not well designed for them if I were to get them. Trust me, I’m trying to figure that one out. Plus, how much is a cup in cubes? That I don’t know. [/QUOTE] That’s why you count how many cubes a cup fills when you pour your first tray, and you label the freezer bag that you later put them into to like this: ---- 1 cube=2Tbsp -------- Chick. Stock -------- 01/08/08 1 c.=16 Tbsp, so if you have 2 T cubes, than 8 cubes = 1 cup. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/24 "2008-01-09T02:23:36Z")
Thanks. I’d never thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/25 "2008-01-09T06:32:42Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] How fresh does the carcass have to be? We roasted a chicken before Christmas, and haven’t gotten around to it yet- it’s still sitting in the fridge. [/QUOTE] That’s a bit old. If you’d stuck it in the freezer though it’d be fine. I’ve kept chicken bits in the freezer for a few weeks until I accumulated enough to make stock. Also I like to make the stock richer by using it instead of water with the next batch of parts-a double stock. My chef brother does this a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/26 "2008-01-09T11:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] **WhyNot** , my two-hour stock was a block of jelly. The trick is to split the meat, and cut through the bones (forgot to mention that) to expose the marrow to the liquids. [/QUOTE] Concur - I never have problems getting my stock to set, even if I only simmer for a couple of hours. There comes a point, I feel - and quite early on - when you’re no longer boiling things out of the bones, but rather, depositing them back on - as the moisture evaporates. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/27 "2008-01-09T12:11:30Z")
Please, please try this filtering method if you are in no rush for your stock as it is absolutley amazing, you will get a stock so clear and pure it’ll look like Sauterne! All you have to do after you have made your stock (I vote for about 2 hours simmering, too long and you get a weird taste I think) is freeze it in an old ice cream tub or something then, once it’s frozen, place it in a muslin lined colander with the fat side up and let it defrost through. I have used this method with both lamb and chicken stock recently and the results were fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/28 "2008-01-09T14:52:13Z")
**Willass** , that definitely sounds like something to try at some point. But I don’t have Muslin, and I will probably not have a chance to get it any time soon. If I do see it at one of my local stores, though, I will grab some. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/29 "2008-01-09T15:10:53Z")
A clean tea towel should work just as well but will probably ruin it plus all my tea towels smell a bit funky even when straight out of the washing machine but I use mine like a chefs side towel so that’s probably why! **Note to self: buy new tea towels** ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/30 "2008-01-09T15:50:41Z")
What do you mean, “like a chef’s side towel”? ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/31 "2008-01-10T08:29:45Z")
As in I don’t just use my tea towels to dry up crockery, I use it to wipe down surfaces, wipe spilled sauce off plates etc. I am a very keen cook and used to work in a kitchen so have two habits of pointlessly plating food up to restaraunt standard and wiping everything down with a towel. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744/32 "2008-01-10T14:15:24Z")
Ah, thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicken-stock-question-can-i-make-it-in-two-or-more-sessions/432744.md?page=1)