Store bought chicken broth

[Laura PourMeADrink]

what brand do you like?

started a homemade chicken stock and then felt the need to zhoosh it up and absolutely ruined it using Swanson's. Then I actually smelled the broth and it smells nothing like chicken.

I was hooked on Manischewitz kosher broth until my store stopped selling.

Just read about this broth "Aneto"and people raved...but $49 through Amazon for 6 32 oz cartons ! Get what you pay for.

And what's up with "bone broth" see everywhere? isn't broth always made by cooking chicken with bones?

[PJMcK]

1. Homemade

My fiancee loves to cook almost as much as she likes to save money! We roast a chicken every two weeks or so and I've been taught how to make the left-overs into either soup or broth. We freeze the broth in 16-oz. containers so it's usually just the right amount for many uses.

Of store-bought brands, I've used Swanson's and it's pretty good. Since we're in NYC, I'll have to try Manischewitz but not until I'm alone for a couple of days!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

3. Oh, I totally agree on homemade. Maybe I am putting too much water

in - but whenever I make - it always seems to be too weak. Been using a small organic whole chicken - perhaps not enough.

I have been trying to recreate my Russian grandma's chicken soup all my life. My mom said it's impossible because she walked to store and bought a fresh hen.

What vegetables do you make your stock with? I always add a parsnip that adds a hint of sweetness ever so slight.

[blaze]

25. Have you tried roasting the bones first?

I think that adds some wonderful flavor.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

37. Like the meat is on them..? Debone?

[blaze]

40. No meat on the bones.

Just the little bits that are left after eating. The bones get golden brown and produce a richer flavor when making your stock. The stock will be a darker color than you might be used to.

You could also roast some vegetables along side the bones. They'll pretty much dissolve and add more wonderful flavor.

Now I wanna go make some stock!!!


edit to add: This is how Bobby Flay does it. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/rich-chicken-stock-recipe-1917265

You can find lots of examples via google. I never think far enough ahead to have more than one chicken carcass, but I've had good luck with just one.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

49. thanks for link !!

[Scoopster]

51. Roasting the bones works wonder.

Really concentrates all that marrow flavor so that it can enrich the broth. Also you wanna crack open the bones before adding them to the mix.

I usually use the standard veggies & pepper for the broth, plus a little bit of thyme & garlic (not too much tho or it'll overpower the chicken flavor).

[PJMcK]

31. Stock ingredients

Generally, we don't put too many vegetables in the broth because we don't always know what we'll be using it for. Sometimes we'll do as you have and add Parsnip or Celery. But we always use Rosemary, Parsley, Thyme, Lemon Juice, Salt & Pepper and a splash of red wine.

Your quest to recreate your grandma's soup is reminiscent of something that happened to my fiancee. Her first husband was Italian and his mother was a monster cook. She made amazing meals. Without hesitation, she would always share her recipes with her daughters-in-law. But when the DILs talked amongst themselves, they discovered a curiosity: Even if they followed the directions completely accurately, the dishes didn't turn out quite the way Mama made them. Eventually, they discovered that Mama would always leave out one key ingredient or preparatory step that would change the outcome! I guess the sneaky old lady wanted to keep a few secrets!

There's a kind of spiritualism, I think, in your attempts to make your grandma's chicken soup. How would you feel if you finally nailed it? Doesn't the search for the magic of that soup keep you connected with the memory of your grandma?

Enjoy your chicken stock, Laura!

[A HERETIC I AM]

48. Try Gordon Ransay's method

I think trusting a guy with 16 Michelin stars tends to lead to satisfactory results

[Siwsan]

2. I like to keep a jar of a soup base 'paste', on hand

There are several good ones, out there. The benefit to using the base is that it lasts much longer, in the refrigerator, than just buying cartons of broth. And it can be portioned out to taste. I use it to boost gravy, too.

As for bone broth - I think it has to do with the bones being 'roasted' and the cooking process is very long - 8 to 24 hours. When I make chicken soup, I use a slow cooker and let the carcass cook for a good 12 to 16 hours, so maybe that qualifies it as 'bone broth'.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. Interesting on bone broth. Think there is something about

cooking chicken too long though, no? Isn't there some point where it changes from being light and clear to more brown. good for gravy but maybe not for a pretty broth ? Just my experience

as you can see - this is somewhat of an obsession to me.

the only product I have ever tried that actually tastes like chicken to me is, believe it or not, Lipton's Chicken Noodle - in a red box - is actually real broth. They used to make it so that the dried broth was in nice chunk you could lift out and throw the noodles away. Now it's loose and you have to make the soup and strain the noodles out. This product has been on the market for at least 50 years

[Siwsan]

7. I strip the breast meat from the carcass, before putting it in the cooker

I cook it on low, and get a very beautiful golden broth, at the end of the process. Admittedly, there is very little salvageable dark meat left, once I finish the cooking, but enough for the cats to have a feast. I also toss in more onion, carrots and LOTS of fresh, smashed garlic. I always stuff the bird with lots of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme and sage), before I roast it so those flavors are very much still present.

Once the broth is done, I can add back in the breast meat, to taste.

[Irish_Dem]

36. Now I am hungry for chicken soup. nt

[Hortensis]

42. Me too. I made a lot of my own broth, but

low-salt Better Than Bouillon in various flavors is available in markets even here and has what I think is good flavor, infinitely better than the canned/boxed broth I once purchased but never more. In fact, in cold weather I'll sometimes make up a cup of hot beef broth to sip.

I confess I've never done bone broth. I use thighs, and sometimes add wings or feet, to create soup broths of various types depending on other ingredients, cooking not much more than a half hour, if that, until the meat is ready for whatever I'm making. I can dilute the broth to stock if needed, and there's almost always enough extra to tuck at least a cup or two, sometimes all of it, away in the freezer. I skim off and save the chicken fat to add flavor to dishes also.

[Siwsan]

43. I'll have to try that Better Than Bouillon

I have never been a fan of leg and thigh poultry meat, so what ever is left, after our meal, gets cooked with the carcass. I can usually salvage enough for the cats. If I make a 'whole chicken' broth, I remove the breast meat, as soon as it's cooked. If I use a roasted chicken carcass, the breast meat is removed before it goes into the pot.

The next time I make a 'carcass' soup, I'm going to try roasting the carcass, with the veg I'm adding, and then toss it all into the slow cooker.

Most of my cooking is now evolving into an exercise in experimentation. In fact, about the only thing I strictly follow a recipe for is baking. I figure that's chemistry, and the ingredients are there, in that amount, for a very good reason.

[Hortensis]

44. Do. Sometimes the regular-salt variety is the only

type available. To me the flavor, if anything, is better than the organic and low-salt varieties, but it is a salt delivery vehicle. Whenever I use that kind, I go light with it and taste before adding any other salt.

Ohmygosh, feeding the dark meat to the cats?! Too much! We are complete opposites, except for happy cats.

As it happens, since chicken breasts are often a good buy, I just went through a period of trying to find really good recipes that would make us look forward to white meat. All dismal failures. No matter how delicious the sauce, we were still stuck with very disappointing, flavorless meat. And no matter how carefully moist I cooked up the white meat, it always failed comparison with the luscious, rich texture of dark. To us, of course. On the bright side, I did come out of it with a couple very nice new recipes for chicken thighs.

[Siwsan]

45. When I roast a chicken, I stuff it full, with fresh herbs

Sage, rosemary and thyme along with onion, carrot and crushed, unpeeled cloves of garlic. And I place more of the herbs on top - slide what I can right under the skin, and baste the bird with garlic butter. The flavor of the herbs and garlic permeates the breast meat, and it takes on a lovely, lovely flavor. Well, if you like herbs and garlic, that is.

I'm learning to appreciate chicken thigh meat, but the texture of the leg meat just comes across as slimy, to me.

[Hortensis]

46. I love herbs and garlic, my favorite ice cream flavor in fact.

Or would be, if...

That sounds delicious, Siwsan. I'll often roast leg and thigh quarters on a very similar bed, celery instead of carrot, and we love the juices that produces.

Sad as it sounds even, or especially, to me, I seldom roast whole chickens anymore since our children are grown and gone. Strange to say, they both always preferred white meat. That worked out so well for my husband and me that I used to feel guilty serving the white meat to them, but they still do, so I've mostly absolved myself of exploiting them. I still have a little, niggling feeling of having failed them, though.

[Irish_Dem]

5. I buy those rotisserie chickens sold in the stores (Cosco, Kroger). After eating the meat,

I freeze the carcass. I use two of the carcasses to make a chicken broth that is excellent.

[Siwsan]

8. Those do make amazing soup!

And, depending on the price, is actually more economical than buying and roasting a chicken.

Now I'm getting hungry for a rotisserie chicken!! Must wait until leftovers are consumed!!

[Irish_Dem]

9. Yes and the price at Coscos is not bad. I found you have to use two carcasses to make the best soup

[Siwsan]

10. I wish there was a Costco near me - the closest is over 40 miles away

We do have one place that sells them at a reasonable price, and now I'm feeling inspired. I'm thinking this is a weekend plan.

[Irish_Dem]

12. I make a Mexican rice soup the is really good, but any chicken soup recipe works.

In terms of price, I have a meal or two with the breast meat and wings.
Freeze any leftover chicken for soup or other recipes.
Then a couple of meals with the soup.
So I think it comes out to be a bargain.

[Siwsan]

13. I stock up on and freeze whole chickens when they go on sale

I like to roast them, stuff with lots of fresh herbs, veg and garlic. I usually get a couple of meals before soup time, and then a couple more interesting soup meals, after. I really like adding Bob's Red Mill whole grain and beans to the broth. Served with some crusty bread, it's a very filling meal. And chicken noodle with Spaetzle noodles.

[Irish_Dem]

14. I love to roast a chicken too, along the lines you mention. I add lemon.

And yes love to add beans and have bread.
I had not thought about adding Spaetzle noodles to the soup.
Do you make your own or is there some store bought brand you recommend?

[Siwsan]

18. I buy my noodles at Aldi's. The brand is Deutsche Kuche

They are a product of Germany. Aldi's is pretty much my go-to place for most groceries. There isn't a vast selection of products, but they definitely sell some very interesting imported products.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Thanks I will look for it. The Aldi's in my area is very small and mostly carries paper products

and odd knick knacks. Very few groceries. It is a real disappointment.

[Siwsan]

20. I've read that they are doing some major changes to Aldi's stores

Adding more produce and adding more organic, and rearranging and expanding some of the products. So take hope!

[Irish_Dem]

21. That would be great. I remember about ten years ago when Aldi's was a real grocery store.

It was great and then just turned into a five and dime store.

[Siwsan]

22. Mine has about 3/4 of an aisle stock with non grocery stuff

paper goods, cleaning stuff, and what ever they have on special. I bought my compost bin at Aldi's.

But the rest of the store is grocery. I always keep on the look out for the Trader Joe's type products. They are 'sister' companies. The nearest Trader Joe's, to me, is about a 45 minute drive, on a good day, so I appreciate any little treasure that may show up at Aldi's.

[Irish_Dem]

23. I need to go back and look for the items you describe. I was clueless and shocked

at the change.

[elleng]

34. and I use those carcasses to make chix SOUP,

I don't bother with 'broth!'

[Irish_Dem]

35. Yes if I use two chicken carcasses the homemade broth is amazing.

Much better than anything you can buy.
And healthier too I would imagine.

[Brainstormy]

6. Costco organic n/t

[GentryDixon]

33. That's what I buy.

2 cases at a time.

[Happyhippychick]

11. You want to know how to make chicken soup, you ask a Jewish mother

I'm here!

You need a soup chicken, not a regular chicken. Regular chicken is too young. You can get a soup chicken at a kosher store. If you don't have that, a regular chicken is second best but will do. Fill a stock pot with cold water and the chicken, add in some turkey wings if you can. Boil gently and keep scooping out the foam. When the foam is gone add in the veggies: turnips, parsnips, onion, carrot, celery, dill, garlic cloves. Boil gently, partially covered, three hours. Strain it all, toss everything except for the beautiful golden broth. Add salt and pepper.

[Siwsan]

15. I haven't made a 'whole chicken' soup in a long time!

But when I do. I buy a small 'stewing hen' from the poultry shop at our Farmer's Market.

I've never used any root veg except for carrots. I'm going to try turnips and parsnips, next time. And dill? Yum!!

Damn, now I'm getting REALLY hungry for chicken soup, and I just finished a batch, last week!

[Happyhippychick]

24. It's the best. And stewing hen is perfect!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

39. Another great ingredient is a leek..mild and

Subtle. The only two herbs I add are garlic and parsley. Dill sounds interesting but just like Rosemary. Way too strong for what I am aiming for personally... subtlety.and delicate flavors from the vegetables. Definitely a to each his own thing.

[Polly Hennessey]

16. For store bought

I like the “Imagine” brand.

[Saviolo]

17. Up here in Canada:

We have a chain of grocery stores called Loblaws, and their house brand is called "President's Choice" and some of their stuff is actually quite excellent. If we need to buy chicken broth instead of making it, we usually get the Blue Menu reduced salt chicken broth:



We do try to make it when we can, but we have a shortage of storage space, currently. Living in a rental, so we don't have the size of appliances we'd hope for. But we did make a video on making your own chicken and beef broth!

And yes, bone broth is the currently popular term for broth, as far as I can tell. Lunatic Alex Jones sells his bone broth as some kind of cure-all on his show. There aren't enough eyerolls in the world for me to listen to THAT particular sales pitch.

[Demit]

26. I tried chicken broth in a carton ONE TIME and went back to cans.

It tasted very weird.

I use College Inn for store bought. Used it to make cucumber soup this summer & just used it yesterday to make hot and sour soup. Of course canned broth doesn't taste like real! But sometimes you want to/need to use canned, right?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

52. What I like about broth in a carton is that you don't have to use up

the entire box all at once. Just use however much you need and refrigerate the rest.

Canned broth tastes like metal to me.

[Demit]

53. What I didn't like was that the carton broth was bad when I opened it.

I had to throw it out. I've never had that experience with canned. Or with it tasting like metal, any more than canned soup does. YMMV, of course.

The cans are 14.5 oz. If for some reason you're not using all of that, there's no reason you can't refrigerate leftover canned broth.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

55. If the carton broth was bad

you ought to have gone back to the store for a refund.

I've never opened anything before it's sell-by date to find it's already gone bad.

The cans don't have a way to close them up. The cartons do. I often only use a little bit of broth at a time, especially if I'm reheating a soup or stew. For me, even the much smaller can (as compared to the cartons) would be a whole lot more hassle.

[Demit]

56. Who says I didn't?

I'm glad you've never opened anything to find it was bad. But your experience doesn't negate my experience.

If I have broth left over, I either cover it with saran wrap or I transfer it to a Tupperware container, the way I do with other leftovers. It doesn't represent a lot of hassle to me. LOL! Different strokes I guess.

[madaboutharry]

27. I often use Saffron Road chicken broth.

Saffron Road - Halal Cuisine Traditional Chicken Broth is excellent for cooking. The only place I have seen it is Whole Foods.

[irisblue]

28. I have stopped buying that brand

I think it is much too thin a flavor. I have been buying stock, & that usually costs more then broth.
I have been, happily, using a bouillon called --Better Then Bouillon-- to increase the flavor & mouth feel if I do have stock. I get no bennies from this company, I just really like it. This brand is gel like, not powered & per serving has less sodium, still a good bit, but not like pouring a jar of salt down your throat. The local Krogers grocery has it on the shelf above the canned/ jarred broths.

I bought a container ( of Pacifica brand)Beef Bone Broth to try it....I feel like I threw the $ in a trash can.
I did make chicken 'bone broth' last winter; made my usual chicken thighs, wings, rotisserie carcass in crockpot, maybe 3+# of parts to 2/3qts filtered water & added 2 T of apple cider vinegar to the mix, onions & garlic already in the pot. There wasn't a taste of the vinegar, and after 10ish hrs, the stock was really really good.

[LakeArenal]

29. Kitchen Accomplice concentrated chicken broth...

use their Beef as well..

[Wellstone ruled]

30. Remember,

Stock and broth are two distinct critters. Stock from Costco has the lowest amount of Salt and is sold as Organic. Checked the Source,and it is from Oregon,which has the strongest Organic Rules in the Nation for compliance in order to carry a Organic label for resale in Oregon.

Salt in nothing more than a flavor enhancer,whither it be Stock or Broth,regular or Organic. And the human body does not require all this additional salt.

[TygrBright]

32. I use Costco broth and add some Better than Bouillon to give it oomph.

Seems to work well enough for the simple veggie noodle soups I make. I generally add an herb bouquet. for those, from the garden.

For an asian-type, I smash some garlic and ginger together and put it in a tea ball, and add a couple of sticks of lemongrass.

I'm not real gourmet but it serves my simple purposes and makes me feel as though I've done more than just opening and heating a tin of ready-made.

helpfully,
Bright

[northoftheborder]

38. Love all these suggestions!

I think cooking the chicken/and/or bones in water needs hours - longer the better. And you can then cook it down to make more concentrated. don't add salt until you actually make the soup.

[japple]

41. Wings are the best. Chicken wings and turkey wings. Roasted in the oven until browned,

then into a pot with water, carrot, onion, celery, garlic for a couple hours. Strain. Carefully pick the chicken/turkey meat off the bones and save it for the dogs/cats. Make sure you get out all the bones--don't want them catching in throats or splintering inside their stomachs. One of my friends used to make "soft bones" for our dog. She pressure-cooked them until they were soft and completely broken down. The dogs loved them.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

58. Thanks for tip J !!! I will try

[dem in texas]

47. What I use

Kitchen Basics chicken stock or Knorr's Caldo de Pollo cubes, Forget that roasting and boiling bones, too much trouble, plus any left over meat on a chicken always goes to my critters.

[Demsrule86]

50. I have had good luck with Giant Eagle's own brand Organic stock...

Also, Stock is more flavorful than broth. You can buy stock these days. The organic one are quite good.

[locks]

54. When I was growing up

(a long time ago) we always bought fat stewing hens to make great yellow broth for soup, chicken and dumplings etc. I haven't seen these hens for years. Anybody find them?

[trof]

57. WE like College Inn.