Great Refrigerator in the Sky
No, I’m not saying that our refrigerator has shuffled off this mortal coil (heaven forbid!).
What I’m saying is that, with all that lovely cold, cold air out there … what better way to swiftly cool a pot full of the chicken broth I made last night? Because, of course, there are all sorts of bacterial rules to follow–you have to cool it quickly before bacteria can take hold, and yet you can’t put a container of boiling-hot liquid directly into your refrigerator, either, because it will bring down the temperature for everything ELSE.
So, why not take advantage of all that nice, chilly air outside? It’s about 25 degrees today–a twenty degree improvement over the same time yesterday–but that’s still colder than our refrigerator AND I’m reasonably confident that one pot of hot chicken broth is not going to affect the overall air temperature out there.
Evidence of how warm the pot was when I put it down (and how dirty our deck is).
This, of course, was after the broth had simmered ALL night long. Even before I ate breakfast, I pulled out all the solids and transferred the liquid to a new pot for cooling, so I could get the stock pot clean. I transferred to my stainless steel pot because (1) the largest bowl is currently filled with leftovers from last night’s supper and (2) it’s got handles. If I’d been truly smart, I would have stashed the clean pot in the freezer overnight so as to start the cooling process as quickly as possible.
Chappy, of course, couldn’t understand why I was bringing food out onto the deck–but, more importantly, why I wasn’t opening the gate so he could go PLAY in the snow!
Oh, and other than the fact that I still hadn’t had my breakfast or my coffee and was wearing my slippers (aka Keds Champion slip-ons)? There’s a hard, crunchy layer there, and he came back to the door a lot more carefully than he ran out there–it only LOOKS soft and romp-able.
Besides, when I got him back inside, I gave him some of the chicken from the pot … so, I don’t think he was unhappy for long (grin).
Still, here’s the result. The color at least looks like chicken broth, but the spoonful I tasted still doesn’t taste like chicken SOUP. I’ll be interested to see if this gels at all in refrigerator, like my grandmother’s used to. See the pile of clean pots and bowls behind it? That’s what’s left to put away. You THINK this is just going to take one pot and then you end up with all these extras!
And, I hope my sister didn’t want that disposable food container back. It came full of cookies for Dad’s birthday last week and Mom washed it out to send it back, but it was such a nice, handy size … I kind of adopted it. (Um, Patty? Just let me know if I owe you another one!)
Okay–got to go check on the cake. Because–those berries I bought yesterday? There were extras (since they were having a buy one-get one sale), so I had to bake SOMETHING to serve the berries with, right?
Click here to subscribe via RSS
Follow me on Twitter!
Tannenbaum.
House Calls
Thank you for answering my question as to where my third large container was. You can keep it. I need to get more anyway before watermelon season. Love you!
I’ve always made pretty good “from scratch” chicken broth, whether I use raw parts, a whole chicken, or the carcass from a Costco rotisserie bird. The trick to the flavor is to reduce the stock after it’s been strained and clarified. As for tasting like soup, well you have to add back all the stuff you took out, only fresh, before it tastes like soup!
If you simmered it overnight and the chicken bones snapped easily in 1/2 without a whole lot of effort, it should gel up in the fridge.
Yum, homemade chicken stock! And I’m with Marcia. Season it nicely, reduce it, and then make SOUP with it. The canned stuff only tastes different because they add lots of salt. The other thing you can do is roast the chicken parts and your veggies in the oven in a roasting pan for a bit before boiling it.
Lorette’s last blog post..Resolutions
i so had to laugh~ hubby always says i’m so “ghetto” when i do that with a pot! Half of our xmas dinner was stored on the deck under the eaves . My mother in law just laughed when i opened the back door to “get dessert”. When it is 30 degrees out (or colder) i have no qualms about this, and our deck is 20 feet off the gorund, so no coyote or racoon or bear is going to get in the pots. So thank you for posting this so hubby cannot give me crap any longer! smile… ps, i made the blueberry muffins from table talk this morning and yum!! i got 24 regular sized muffins from the recipe!
Tanya’s last blog post..it’s hump day! and a pimp!
i just put my beef barley soup in the garage, lol, so i’m not going to judge. we often use the garage as a third refrigerator in the winter (we have 2, but with teenage boys in the house, they’re always full).
part of your problem with the chicken soup is that you’re using chicken meat to make the stuff. true chicken stock is made with bones. i will save up backs, necks, and any breast bones from the split chicken breasts that i buy, when i bone them. i toss them all in a ziplock bag and freeze them (after i force out as much air as possible)
an alternative is to buy necks and wings from your local butcher.
if you wanna know more, email me, and i’ll fill ya in, lol (sorry, culinary arts degree talking here
minnie’s last blog post..outrage
Looks like a great idea. I’m surprised the critters didn’t come for a bite.
Jennifer’s last blog post..Everybody Loves a Baby
Great use of mother nature to cool the broth. Cool photo of the trees reflected in the pot lid.
Kim’s last blog post..As Promised
So did you make stock or broth? Stock shouldn’t taste like soup and in fact shouldn’t really be seasoned. That way when you use it in the soup recipe you can season it accordingly. I’m a huge fan of homemade stock and I agree, I always end up dirtying more dishes than I think I will while making it!
Julie’s last blog post..Weavette Blanket
I learned to make 20 gallons of chicken stock at a time in culinary school and Iuse it in everything. There is no more satisfying feeling for me than having a freezer full of chicken stock.
I keep a “bone bag” in the freezer and throw in all the chicken bones we accumulate. When it’s full I sometime add fresh chicken but not always.
A great trick I learned in school is to save the brown outer skins of onions to add to when making stock. They add flavor, but more importantly, rich golden color.
Susan’s last blog post..More Favorite Pics
[...] seeing what you think you’re seeing. Homemade, from scratch, chicken soup, using the chicken stock/broth I made last week. I’ll have to let you know later how it tastes … although the sip I had a little while [...]