Roast chicken question...

So I tried it out, and I got basically jello in the pot — and not as much as I thought I’d get. I skimmed the fat off, though. Gonna try it after I heat it up — should I add any water to it, or will it be fine in terms of concentration once it’s liquid again?

Taste it. It’s up to you.

Stock is, I think, something to taste all while it’s cooking. I only really adjust for salt (adding just a bit at a time–it’s much easier to fix undersalting than oversalting), but tasting it is how you make the adjustment, plus, cooking stock is freakin’ delicious.

As, I suspect, will be this jello concoction once you reheat it. The gelatin will give it a rich texture, and if there’s enough salt in it, it’ll be lovely.

Yeah, if it’s gelatin, that’s a pretty good sign. :slight_smile:

Roast the carcass, never heard of that. It sounds. Trying it tomorrow. Will report back :stuck_out_tongue:

Gah, I sort of ruined it at the last minute by putting way too much orzo in (I kept thinking I hadn’t put in enough). Oh, well, at least I’ll sort of be able to taste the broth.

Still, it was quite a bit of work for not nearly as much soup as I was expecting. If I ever do it again, it might have to be with a bigger chicken for it to be worth it.

Oh, yeah, and I also learned that I was WAY further from stripping the chicken of meat than I thought. I’ll eat the rest of that tomorrow over my spaghetti — thank God I froze the chicken before last night. :stuck_out_tongue:

Do you mean the chicken bits that floated off the carcass while you were simmering it? They’ll be horrid - bland and woolly, with all the deliciousness extracted into the stock. Throw it out.

Oh, no, I was ripping it off the carcass myself during cooking, not waiting for it to simmer up. Threw it out anyway; I was too disappointed by how I ruined the soup.

I think that the overcooked bits taste and feel like powder, myself. I’m a darn good poultry meat picker, it was always one of my assigned tasks during holiday gatherings. Even after I get done picking the meat off the bones, there’s plenty of deliciousness left. Also, any vegetables that were used to make the stock are generally flavorless, and should be tossed.

When I know I’m going to make stock, I save all the clean peelings and trimmings, and simmer them in water. Then I strain the vegetable stock, and use that as the liquid for the carcass later on. I use things like onion skins and the root tip, carrot peelings, and the tops of celery. I can always add more vegetables later on.