Comments on: Thomas Keller’s Chicken Broth

By: Randall

Randall — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:41:23 +0000

Perhaps in a commercial kitchen where you are constantly stripping the birds of meat for other uses… purchasing bones and backs can be expensive.

Our local stores sell the backs and necks for $1.19 per pound, but I buy my whole chickens for 59 cents per pound and throw them in the freezer. so for those more budget conscience, here’s my adjustment:

Use whole hens. Be sure to reach inside and strip the kidneys out, as that’s where most of your blood is.

Stay true to all of the other directions, but at the 25 minute mark, pull each bird out (I do two at a time) and with tongs and a fork, pull the perfectly cooked and juicy breasts and thigh meat off the bird… bag it and set aside for other uses.

This way I end up with basically bones to finish my stock. I also end up with perfectly, gently cooked chicken for salads, sandwiches, etc.

Miconian: After the results of the stock are strained, I allow the leftovers to cool, and go through it with my fingers for the proteins… bag this overcooked stuff chopped fine for a tasty addition to your pet’s mealtimes.

By: shadowcook

shadowcook — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:08:01 +0000

To tell you the truth, since I posted this, I’ve been simmering the stock for an extra hour. In Keller’s book, he explains that he’s seeking a very lightly flavored broth that will complement a wide variety of uses. Gelatin is exactly what he doesn’t want. I like his light broth. It works for some risotti, especially ones that involve shrimp or another delicately flavored ingredient. But, I now use broth mainly for soup and for that I want a bolder flavor. So, an extra hour.

I should say, however, if you let the water come to a boil slowly, as Keller recommends, the simmering time is a lot longer than the 40 minutes at a full simmer. When I follow his instructions, the total time is well over an hour.

I don’t throw the chicken away, but I don’t eat it either. Most of the flavor has been leached out of the meat. So, I supplement my dog’s food with it.

Eat well.

By: miconian

miconian — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 14:56:42 +0000

But what do you do with the chicken when the stock is made? Do you throw it away? That’s the dilemma I face whenever I make stock starting with a raw whole chicken. By the time the stock is done, the meat is a weird texture and has had the hell cooked out of it.

Also, your cooking time here is very short compared to that recommended by, say, Michael Ruhlman. It’s interesting that Keller doesn’t seem interested in spending much time drawing the gelatin out of the bones.

By: joyce

joyce — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:53:21 +0000

I totally concur with your observation about using chicken bones vs. a fresh organic chicken. I like the flavor of stock better when you start with an uncooked chicken.

By: Paula Wolfert’s Red Beans with Pork and Carrots « Shadowcook

Paula Wolfert’s Red Beans with Pork and Carrots « Shadowcook — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:32:47 +0000

[...] Thomas Keller gives for bringing chicken slowly to a boil before adding the aromatics in his chicken broth recipe. If the water comes to a boil too quickly, too much of the scum from the beans will fold right back [...]