Quick Chicken Stock and Chicken Stock to Soup

This recipe partially depends on the size of your crock-pot or other cooking vessel. Since we use a 6-quart crock-pot, the proportions given below are for roughly that size.

A day to a day and a half before you plan on making thechicken, take one medium size to large chicken (2..5lbs to 3.5lbs or more) or two smaller chickens, and place in the fridge to dethaw if frozen.

Place some carrots, celery, and onion in the crock-pot (Cost saving tip: You can save the tips of your carrots, celery, and onion pieces in the freezer that you would not use for eating or cooking but that are perfect for making stock in a recipe such as this one).

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Add various seasonings/spices onto the chicken. A basic mixture of salt and pepper will be delicious, but you may add others as well to suit your tastes.

Add two cleaned chicken feet on the sides of the chicken.

Add about 10-12 cups of water to the crock-pot.

Add ½ cup or so of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (something very acidic and alive but safe to help leach the bones).

Cook on high for the first hour or so, then reduce the heat (which for our crock-pot means turning it down to keep warm!) and allow the chicken to cook for another 6 or more hours.

An hour to two hours or more before dinner, strain out the vegetables and, if you want, add some presoaked brown rice or potatoes to the crock-pot (make sure you turn the heat back up on the crock-pot).

If you do not add brown rice to the crock-pot (which absorbs a great deal of liquid, thus making the rice far more nutrient dense and digestible), you should yield around or just under 3quarts of excellent quality chicken stock.

The chicken should provide anywhere from 8-16 servings, depending on the size of the bird, the size of your family, the size of your appetites, and how you use the leftover meat. If you use the meat in a soup or tortillas, it will go much farther.