Stock: White Chicken

Today I'm making white stock (as opposed to brown). In French cuisine stocks are divided into two camps; white and brown. My Chef instructor is of the opinion that the biggest difference between home and professional cooking is the use of stock. Using stock instead of water gives much more depth to any dish.

I'm using 7 lbs of chicken bones, mostly carcasses I bought in China Town and some thigh bones from my freezer. These items are known as the nourishing element of the stock, thus defining its nature; I'm making chicken stock.

I have read in Asian cookbooks about using pork to enhance the flavour and consistency of stock. I've added 2 lbs of pork knuckle bones; I chose the knuckles since they are high in collagen which makes stock gelatinous (one sign of good stock). If memory serves I've read accounts of Carême or Escoffier suggesting the addition of pork to stocks and braises.

The quantity of mirepoix is given as a ratio to the quantity of bones (and meat if you're rich). The ratio is 1 to 7 by weight. Mirepoix is roughly a mixture of onions, carrots and celery; their ratio is 2:1:1 by weight respectively. So I should have about 1⅓ lbs of mirepoix, half of which is onion. Honestly I rarely weigh them, I just go by approximations. I think it would be a good idea to weigh these ingredients at the beginning to create a baseline upon which to make approximations in the future.

The last component of stock is the sachet or bouquet garnis. Generally it is a mixture of herbs and spices often inside cheese cloth. You could even use a tea ball or nothing at all since the stock will be heavily strained (however only do this is youre using whole herbs otherwise it becomes difficult to skim). The most basic bouquet garnis is comprised of the bayleaf, pepper corns, thyme and parsley stems (or whole, with roots depending on who you ask) if you have it.

Without further theorizing (more will come later) the procedure for white chicken stock:

Ingredients:

7 lbs chicken bones
½ lbs Onions, small dice
¼ lbs Carrots, small dice
¼ Celery, small dice
2 Bay leaves
½ T Pepper Corns
½ T Thyme
5 sprigs of Parsley

1. Put chicken bones in a large stock pot (in the vicinity of 23 qts).
2. Fill with cold water 2" above bones.
3. Bring to a simmer, skimming the top of scum and oil as needed.
   
4. Once simmering skim well.
5. Add mirepoix and bouquet garnis.
6. Bring to a simmer.
   
7. Continue skimming as needed. About every 10 minutes during the next 40 minutes.
8. Chicken stock in general simmers for 4 more hours, beyond this rough guideline I can only say cook until done.
9. Strain the stock.
10. Cool in an ice bath or running water in the sink.
11. Store in fridge.
12. Once the grease has hardened on the top remove it (a procedure known as degreasing). The stock itself should be fairly clear and gelatinous. If you find there is debris in your stock bring it just to a boil and strain through a finer mesh.

A few points on stock making in general:

• Never use hot water to begin stock; this will result in a cloudy stock.
  
• Do not cover the stock, even when bringing it to a simmer.
• Do not allow the stock to boil.
• Do not stir the stock; don't disturb the bones. This will push impurities back down into the stock.
• When straining to not push on the strained items, it will simply force out impurities.