Homemade Chicken Broth

How to Make Homemade Chicken Broth

I was recently asked if I had ever cooked a whole chicken and up until just a few days ago the answer to that was nope! Even though I grew up on chicken wings and thighs, we have typically been a boneless, skinless, chicken breast kind of family and this is about to change! The recently posed question got me thinking about why I had never attempted this and then when I saw our local grocery store (which always has a great selection of meat) I was sold!

This may get lengthy but I wanted all of this information in one place for next time! I bought a whole fryer chicken for $6.48 (really wish I remembered exactly how many pounds this was ... if I had to guess I'd say about 4).  We are lucky enough to have a smoker, but you could very easily cook your chicken on the grill or in the oven. Using a brine isn't a must but you will not be disappointment if you take the time to do this, SO MOIST & JUICY!

Brine for Whole Chicken - borrowed from Extraordinary BBQ

1 gallon baggie
2 quarts water 

1/4 cup salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

Rinse whole chicken and place in baggie. Pour remaining ingredients into back. Give it a swoosh and refrigerate over night.

Whole Chicken in the Smoker

1 - 3 to 5 pound whole chicken, brined, drained. and ready

6 tablespoons of butter, softened

1 teaspoon of rosemary

1 teaspoon of thyme

1 fresh lemon, quartered

4 to 5 red potatoes

Preheat smoker on low (cooking temp should be about 250 degrees). Cut up potatoes in 1 inch cubes, place in a bowl. Add quartered lemon, 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon thyme, toss until blended. Put potato and lemon mixture into chest cavity. In a separate bowl, combine remaining butter, rosemary, and thyme to make a herb butter. Separate the skin of the chicken from the meat and spread the herb butter between them. Place in preheated smoker directly on rack with a drip pan below it.  Smoke for 4.5 to 5.5 hours or until internal temperature is 165 degrees. Remove from smoker and cover with foil.  Allow 10 to 15 minutes to rest before cutting. Enjoy!

I am still learning how to properly cut a whole chicken, so my dinner presentation wasn't the greatest, but we did enjoy this for dinner along with leftovers for lunch the next day! I stored the leftover bones and meat in a container in the fridge until I was ready to make the broth. I used Taste of Home's recipe but there are plenty to pick from and I am sure I will be tweaking this as I go.

Homemade Chicken Broth

Leftover bones and meat (about 2 pounds worth)

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 sticks of celery, chopped

1 red onion, quartered

2 bay leaves (optional, or add more thyme)

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

1/2 teaspoon of rosemary

8 peppercorns, whole

2 quarts of water

Combine all ingredients in a stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours. Allow to cool and then remove bones and strain the remaining broth using cheese cloth or a colander lined with paper towel. Chill overnight. Discard bones, vegetables and seasonings. Once chilled, skim fat from top and store in the refrigerator. 

I am looking forward to using this to make some homemade chicken and noodles! Be on the look out tomorrow for the noodles. :)

Additional Cost: $0.79 for onion, we are not be fresh onion eaters so never have these on hand ... I flavor with onion powder mostly.  All the other ingredients we already had on hand.
Cost Comparison: Will let you know once I see how much this makes!

Today's Question: Do you eat soup year round or does it depend on the outside temperature?

Upated 5/5/15 - Used this with my homemade noodles today, YUM!