The Chicken Stock Mystery

Okay, so.

I put about 3 lbs. of chicken necks & backs in a big pot with three and a half quarts of filtered water, a small bay leaf, a medium-large onion cut in six wedges, and a couple teaspoons of kosher salt.

I bring it (slowly) to a simmer, and skim the foam as soon as it appears.

I let it simmer for another four and a half hours, checking occasionally to be sure it never gets above a simmer, and skim off the scummy bits.

I lift out the chicken bits and onion chunks with a tongs, then pour the resulting gorgeous, fragrant, golden liquid through a paper towel-lined strainer into two medium size bowls.

I let the bowls sit out on the counter for 10-15 minutes, then cover them with a piece of plastic wrap and put them in the refrigerator overnight, hoping to skim off the fat in the morning and freeze one half of the batch for gumbo base later this week, and use half for pasta e fagioli tonight.

This morning, I go to the refrigerator to do the fat-skimming thing and find that overnight, my lovely clear golden liquid has gone all grayish-tinged and cloudy.

What did I do wrong?

bewilderedly,
Bright

If so, it's supposed to do that. Heat it up and it should become clear and liquid again.

Otherwise, I'm wondering if it wasn't something with the salt...I was taught not to salt stock until after it's done.

And I didn't salt it until about an hour before it was done.

wonderingly,
Bright

.... but I honestly can't even say why. I never salt stock, so I'm not sure what effect it actually has (or might have).

The only way to get the golden color in the broth itself is to use saffron, food coloring, or chicken feet.

The latter is preferable, since the collagen also improves the flavor of the broth.

...so for this week I'll use a pinch of saffron. Maybe it'll clarify a bit as it heats up, too. Next week I'll ask the chicken guy to save some feet for me. I'm betting the appropriate procedure is to cut off the toe joint and rinse thoroughly before adding it to the other stock-making materials, hmmmm?

I'm just so disappointed that it looked so nice going into the refrigerator and so... unimpressive coming out.

resignedly,
Bright

to sterilize them with bleach. Soap and water and friction (a brush helps) will do the trick, and any microbe still clinging to one of the folds will be KOed by the hot water. In some cultures they're considered a delicacy. I've never developed the habit. Blech.

Also, fat is one of the things that carries flavor, so resist the urge to eliminate all of it. Leave some of it when you take that layer off the top. The calories per serving won't be that great, and your tastebuds will thank you.

:hug:

First, 4 1/2 hours is a long time for chicken stock. I usually do it for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Have you cooked it this long before & was the stock clear?

Oh, did you wipe the scum off of the sides of the pan? That scummy stuff gets back into it.

Second, stock should be set to cool uncovered, then refrigerated covered. Ten minutes doesn't seem like enough time for it to cool down enough.

The paper towels is another 'maybe culprit'. I always use two layers of rinsed out cheesecloth. And be sure not to press hard on the meat/veggies if you want a clear stock. If you want it really clear then it's best to ladle the soup.

I don't know that any of these answers why it went from clear to grey though.

You can probably clear it up by using the egg white/shell trick.

...so I appreciate it. Maybe should have let it cool a bit longer uncovered, but here at 7500 feet things cool awfully fast.

I did wipe down the sides and did NOT press the bones, in fact I removed them from the pan before I poured out the liquid.

It did clear up a bit on heating and lose some of the greyish tinge, but it wasn't the golden loveliness of last night. Tasted fine, though.

Maybe I'll try cheesecloth next time, though my mom and grandmom always did the paper towels thing, which tends to eliminate much of the fat (there was so little left this morning that I didn't bother to skim... just a few smallish, diffuse patches.) Maybe that's the thing to change, though.

4-5 hours is what the Cook's Illustrated cookbook recommends for stock from raw chicken parts (as opposed to cooked.) Maybe if the paper towel isn't the culprit I'll try a shorter simmering time.

appreciatively,
Bright

When I was little, mom could get "soup chickens". I think they were older birds and there was no need for adding a condiment to get that lovely golden color. She probably used the feet, too, as has been suggested. Most of our chickens these days are young fryers that don't quite deliver.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=89668&hl=

Pictures and wonderful tips. It was suggested to include the wings. One person posted that they add in the skins of large, brown onions to achieve the golden color. The OP of the thread says that parsnips are essential. I agree. When I started using them I noticed a difference in flavor. But that's enough spoilers. Good luck with your stock adventures!

golden to grey overnight? I think that's her question.

But I found it a helpful thread nevertheless. I always seem to be learning how to make a better pot of soup.

In her second to last paragraph she wrote that it went from golden to grey overnight. :shrug:

I don't know why it would do that & thought that that was what she was wondering too.

:hi:

I thought you were asking me if anyone in the thread at eGullet brought up the issue that our dear OP asked. I couldn't find that anyone there had the same problem. But I liked that thread so much. It reminded me of some of our great threads here in C&B where people post pictures as they describe how they prepared a meal. So I decided to come back and post the url and some of the tips over there.

Thanks for clarifying what you were really asking me. I sure went sideways on that! And we sometimes meander from one thing to another in our threads here in C&B. Reminds me of dinner table conversations! I hope we can learn why the mystery chicken stock changed color. We could use a chemist like Alton Brown has on his show.

I think Alton Brown would be the best to answer this. Do you think we could contact him? I'm just curious why her stock would change colors.

:hi:

...that my mother's "secret" crosses my mind here. She was reported to make the best chicken broth and poached chicken in town. Her secret, as told to me, was to add chicken stock to the pot, not plain water. Probably made from bouillon cubes. I use Better Than Bouillon when making poached chicken or stock, and like the result quite a bit. I also throw in a handful of parsley, some celery tops and leaves, and a couple of carrots for flavor.

The other thought I also had has to do with cooking time and temperature. I have a friend whose idea of cooking chicken for stock is to throw it all into a kettle and boil, boil, boil. Everything comes out gray. You did say that you barely simmered the chicken bones, but I too think the cooking time might be too long.

Good luck!

until she and my pop had to go low salt. She never did get the hang of chicken broth, but disguised the unappetizing color by adding loads of veggies and noodles to the pot so you really couldn't see you were eating stuff the color of dirty dishwater.

Anything loaded with veggies was OK by me.

...has made many a pot of chicken soup seem more flavorful.

which is why it's one of the fixes I suggested.

I don't suggest turmeric, though. It's got a sort of muddy flavor that overshadows the delicate flavor of a good chicken stock.

I put a drop of food coloring into a pot of soup. When it wasn't enough I added another and another. I didn't stop in time and it was downright scary. It was so unappealing that I pitched it down the disposal. That was almost 30 years ago and I didn't remember it until this thread.