First, you need chicken. You can get a whole chicken from a grocery store or if you are friends with a butcher you can get chicken backs or necks from him/her. You should have about 5 pounds worth of chicken (whether whole or the aforementioned parts) and this will yield 2-3 gallons of dark chicken stock. I prefer to make a dark stock which means I roast the bones in the oven and add a tomato product (like tomato paste). You will find that because of the richness of the stock you can use it in place of veal or beef stock in most recipes without compromising the flavor. If using a whole chicken, I’d recommend finding a video or “how-to” (like this one) about how to de-bone a chicken (remember it doesn’t have to be pretty, it’s all going into the pot and you’re the only one who will see it!) Be sure to trim off any skin and fat from the chicken, which will make for a leaner stock and will save time later.
I like to roast the bones and save the meat to add to the stock later so it can impart some flavors but can still be pulled out after cooked to use for another application. Spread your bones out (that’s what she said) on a baking sheet in a single layer, oil them lightly and put into a 450 degree oven for a good 45 minutes until they are a nice dark brown.
While the bones are in the oven, you can start on the next step, which is assembling the mirepoix. Mirepoix is a fancy french term for a mixture of vegetables: 50% onion, 25% carrot, and 25% celery. For this amount of stock, you will want about 2 lbs total (1 lb onion, 1/2 lbs. each carrot and celery.) Again, this is all going into the pot so it doesn’t need to be pretty. Give the mirepoix a rough chop and then throw into your stock pot with just a little touch of olive oil (enough so they don’t stick and burn.) You will need a stock pot big enough to hold all of the chicken and vegetables along with 3-4 gallons of water. Saute the vegetables until soft and fragrant. After 10 or 15 minutes, add 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste and stir to combine thoroughly. At this point you want the tomato paste to caramelize at the bottom of the pan, but not to burn (this whole process takes about 20 minutes so time that with the bones in the oven so you can combine everything as it’s ready.)
Now, you are ready to add the bones to the pot and stir to combine. Here, if you have any meat that you want cooked in the stock to pull out and save for later, add it now on top of everything so you can find it and take out as soon as it is cooked. Then add 3 1/2-4 gallons of water on top. Simmer, covered, for at least 8 hours; (overnight is recommended) pulling out the meat as it’s cooked through.
Final step: let the chicken stock cool until it is able to be handled. You need to separate the bones and mirepoix from the stock. You can do this by fishing everything out with a slotted spoon or by setting a fine strainer inside a larger bowl and pouring it out. Discard the bones and vegetables.
Now you can do one of several things with your stock. I like to reduce mine on the stove top (to about 2 gallons) by simmering gently for a few more hours so that it is darker and more concentrated. You could also store it the way it is. It will last about a week in the fridge and a lot longer in the freezer. When freezing, I like to store it in freezer bags, laid flat so they take up less space. You can also fill a few ice cube trays with stock and then store in bags (after frozen) this way you can thaw a few cubes rather than a whole bag when you just need a little stock for a recipe. Making stock can be a lengthy process but the dividends pay off when you make soup or sauce (or anything) with a rich, homemade chicken stock instead of just water (or that artificial brown water they sell at the store). Good luck and enjoy!