What do I do if my chicken stock has no flavor after 3.5 hours? I fear I used too much water. Is there something I can do to salvage the stoc

alygator
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9 Comments

LeBec F. February 7, 2015
sam's recipe is excellent but i have NEVER seen chicken thighs at 70 cents ppound. I use all my freezer-stored chicken and turkey bones,Chicken backs and necks are also very good and inexpensive. Chicken stock can be re-tweaked/added to any time, btw. (You could freeze it and thaw it and cook again w/ more bones/meat, at some future date.) After it has the flavor you want, you can drain off the solids, and chill it, scoop off the fat layer, and continue reducing the stock til it is 1/10th or 1/20th of its original volume; freeze this reduced stock and then add it to hot liquid ( reconstitute it) to taste, as needed. This saves alot of space in your frzr! FYI, most chefs warn not to cook chicken stock too long(20 hours) or it will get a cardboard taste.
 
Sam1148 February 7, 2015
I'm rediscovering the pressure cooker I got years ago.
Chicken stock is one of the weekly things we make.
3lb of thighs. 2.20 from the local "food depot" cheapfood place. A couple of stalks of celery, bay leaf, an onion, a carrot and a garlic clove, peppercorns, salt and a bundle of thyme. Makes about 3 qts.
Bring it to pressure for 30 mins..and let it reduce naturally.
Drain it and adjust salt.
 
JaniceB February 7, 2015
I agree with all the comments about reducing, but I use Michael Ruhlman's method and put the stock pot in my oven at 200 degrees F. That way your stock will never boil and you don't need to be as vigilant. It's a great way to leave it overnight.
 
Stephanie February 7, 2015
Oh I want to try that! Thanks
 
mickle February 7, 2015
Be sure to taste after reducing it; the broth could become "too salty"
 
alygator February 7, 2015
Thank you. I will grab a book and wait it out! I just got a new (and bigger) stockpot. I will make sure to buy more chicken next time!
 
davidpdx February 7, 2015
I suspect the only practical solution to too much water is to continue to boil it down to a reasonable amount of liquid. Then add some more aromatics - onions, carrots, celery, peppercorns, a few bay leaves, maybe garlic cloves - and simmer for another hour or so. Salt will also be important, but don't add it until the end.
 

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keg72 February 7, 2015
I agree with Stephanie. You can keep cooking it down (unless you're trying to achieve a certain volume), or you can add more ingredients. If neither of those is an option, you could add a bouillon cube or some Better than Bouillon paste in order to bump up the flavor.
 
Stephanie February 7, 2015
Keep cooking - for double or triple or quadruple(!) time, or add more stuff and then keep cooking. With less ingredients to more water, it just has to evaporate more to concentrate the flavor = more time.. I'll let my stock sit on love overnight if much of the time, drain in the am, put it in fridge, scoop off fat that night and make some dinner and freeze the leftovers. Or something like that..
 
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