Chicken Broth -

Post Op Chicken Broth - no "low sodium"

Your body after any surgery is burning a lot of fat.  When you burn fat you also lose a lot of salt. So if you buy some chicken broth or stock, don't buy low sodium. Chicken stock can be made from any chicken you butcher. To see more about making roasted chicken - see my recipe. It really is a great recipe

Better to Make Your Own

Making your own chicken broth or stock is easy. Buy whole chickens and butcher them for the parts, but you have all of those lovely bones that you might otherwise throw away.  Combine those with a bit of water, some pepper, and a bay leaf and you will get a home made broth/stock that is cheap, makes the house smell delicious, and tasty.

Turn the chicken so the backbone is facing you as well as what is referred to as "the pope's nose." This is the very rear of the chicken - and contains many types of oils that are used.  This is called the pygostyle, found by the chicken butt, or "arse" is delicious when the whole chicken is roasted. But in this case we will butcher the chicken into parts to make some great stock. 

Some chef's say that if you roast a chicken you should remove this as the pope's nose delivers a bitter flavor.  In this case, we will .

Why is it called the Pope's Nose?

A parson from St. Mary's in Nantwich was slow to pay a bill to a carpenter in 1400.  The carpenter carved a chicken in a pew with the parson's prominent nose as the rump of the bird. To this day you can see that carving in the pew of the church.  

Why not just get the chicken parts?

Buying a whole chicken is about $2 less per pound at my supermarket.  It is easy to cut it up.

Instructions (see photos below):

From the Pope's nose cut on both sides of the backbone.  There are some muscles as you approach the neck of the chicken be certain to go between those.

Cut on both sides of the backbone. Now you have a chicken spine.  I further cut this spine into one inch pieces.

Flip the bird over and press the chicken down using all your force to flatten the chicken.  Then use a sharp knife and cut on one side of the breast bone. This separates both halves of the chicken. Cut the breast bone out and toss it into the pan for roasting.

Inside the bird you can easily use scissors to cut out the ribs and other bones - also place those into the pan for roasting.

Roast Over Medium Heat

Roast the bones over a medium heat. Turning them with a pair of tongs until you see the color change and you smell the chicken

Add 4 cups of water, one bayleaf and 9 peppercorns (or about 1/2 tablespoon of ground pepper).  

Bring to a boil.  You will get some foam on the top.  Remove this foam - otherwise it will be bitter. After it boils for three minutes put on simmer and it is ready in 30 minutes.

Once you are done then toss away the old chicken parts, and strain the stock into a vessel and you can use it. I like using this for making my pan-made gravy (see the recipe).

How Long Will Chicken Stock Last?

If you put it into jars and seal them and a layer of chicken fat settles in they are good for six months. If there is minimal fat or you start using it, then it is good for a five days.  After that toss it. 

Best Way To Save Chicken Stock

You can also freeze the chicken stock and it is good for a year.  I like to freeze it in an ice cube tray then vacuum seal the cubes of chicken stock. You can then take the cubes out - heat them up or microwave them and you have instant chicken soup - delicious, fresh, and mmm. 

The Pope's Nose - the backside of the bird where we shall begin

This is where the carving of the bird starts.

Using scissors, cut on either side of the backbone. 

Notice these round bits of muscle - cut between them and the backbone. 

Here the entire backbone is cut

Cut the bird in half from the breast bone, then cut the breast bone out

Using scissors it is easy to cut out the ribs, save them.

I've further cut the backbone into one inch pieces and they are roasting over a medium heat 

In a few minutes they have roasted, releasing a great chicken smell. 

Add four cups of water

Add a Bayleaf (you wondered why we had those)

Add some pepper (9 pepper corns)

Bring to a boil and skim this foamy material off - it will make your broth bitter.