Homemade Bone Stock

Eating lunch at a recent first aid course, I got a surprise supply of ingredients. The organisers had a couple of supermarket roast chickens to provide some sandwich fillings, the carcasses of which were abandoned at meal's end. I snapped them up quickly and took them home to make myself some stock.

Store-bought stock tends to be tasteless (apart from the overwhelming taste of salt) and I've been a staunch supporter of making my own for a few years. It started when my local shop started packets of turkey bones, wings and necks, all the bits that don't look good in the Christmas family photo. It wasn't December, but enough Australians hold a Christmas-like celebration around June 25th (which is now bizarrely being called Christmas in July, apparently named after the entirely unrelated United States tradition intended to boost retail sales) that turkey can become reasonably prevalent in the frozen section of shops during June. I got a few assorted "offcuts", marinated them and shared a decent meal with some friends. But afterwards, I was left with a pile of bones... and decided to learn how to make stock from them. This recipe is the result of a few adaptations leading up to the present day, and needs little or no adaptation to be used with turkey or beef bones.

Chicken Bone Stock
Ingredients

• 2 chicken frames
• 1 onion, skinned and chopped into eighths
• 1 leek, including green section of stem
• 1 bunch celery, including leaves 
• 1 carrot
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 1/4 C vinegar, apple cider or white wine
• black peppercorns
• 2 egg whites, to clarify the finished stock

Directions

1. Cut chicken frames into chunks and place in your stock pot if it is oven-proof, or spread in a roasting dish if its not. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°C (fan forced), turning as necessary, until the pieces are golden brown. Cooking time will vary depending on whether you're using cooked or raw carcasses. Do not allow bones to burn. Take out of the oven and allow to cool.
2. Chop the green top off your leek and cut it (the green section) into 3cm lengths. This recipe does not require the white flesh, so you can use that for one of the many recipes that demand no green leek be included. Chop the leafy tops off your celery. Again, leaves work just as well as stalk for this recipe, so you can use the stalks elsewhere. Chop carrot into 3cm lengths. Rinse parsley and all vegetables then add to your stock pot.
3. If you baked the bones in the stock pot, skip ahead to part 4. If you baked your bones in a roasting dish, add these to the stock pot. If there are any juices in the dish, pour these into the pot as well (don't worry if they include chicken fat. You can remove the fat later. If there's any caramelised juice on the dish add some warm to dissolve it and pour this into the pot. 
4. Add the vinegar (apple cider or white wine), bay leaves and pepper to the pot and pour in enough cold water to cover. Bring to a simmer over medium heat (do not allow to boil vigorously), reduce to low and leave at a gentle simmer for 4 hours.
5. Straining your stock is easiest if done in a couple of steps and requires another pot or a large bowl big enough to hold your stock, a colander and some muslin or cheesecloth. Place the colander over the second pot. Pour the stock through, discard the chunks left in the colander and rinse your stock pot. Place a piece of cheesecloth in the colander, and place over your stock pot. Pour the stock through.
6. Now for the egg whites. Keep the colander and second pot handy; you'll need them again. Put the pot of strained stock back on the stove and bring back to a simmer over low-medium heat. Beat egg whites with 2 tablespoons of cold water, then pour into the stock and leave for several minutes. The egg white should form a "raft" on the surface, to which sediment in the stock will bind. Remove from the heat and strain through cheesecloth to remove the egg whites. Place stock in the fridge to cool.
7. Once cold, any fat in the stock will form as solid crust on the top. Skim this off and your stock is ready for use. It can be used immediately, or frozen in smaller containers for later use.

Stock before and after filtering with egg white.