Chicken question please. I bought a fresh, frozen chicken from the farm yesterday...

B

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
defrosted it, cut it up into pieces which will get cooked today. I want to save the carcass and the wings for stock. My question is can I refreeeze these raw? If not should I just roast them for a bit and then cool and freeze?

 
Yes, you can wrap in plastic, then put into freezer bags. I also save all the backbones this way

keep adding them to the freezer bag and when I get around two carcases, I make stock. Ina Garten uses three whole chickens to make her stock...I often wonder what she does with all that chicken meat...I don't think I have ever heard her mention that she does anything with it. Hummm
Anyway, they keep well and I often have them in there for up to six months. You can also use a Food Saver bag if you have a lot of bones to freeze.

 
Like Karen, I also collect in the freezer then make stock

I always have a 2-gallon Zip Lock with bones-both raw and cooked- in the freezer. I add to it constantly until it is full then I make stock. It is my golden "secret" flavor ingredient. I do not wrap in plastic before bagging. Sometimes I have pork, lamb, beef and chicken bones all together, sometimes just chicken or turkey carcasses. Whatever I have I make into stock.

 
That is a great idea Cathy. Does your combo bone stock work well

for anything calling for stock? I guess what I am asking, if something calls for chicken stock, do you every get another flavor detected, like lamb? I've never thought of combining them.
The reason I wrap in food grade plastic wrap is because I don't want them to freeze in one huge lump that I may not be able to get into my stock pot. Also, we reuse all our freezer bags, and because of that, I do not want to get raw meat juice on them. I wash with warm soapy water and hang to dry. Works well and saves me some money.

 
I get your method, Karen- I freeze on cookie sheets then put in the bag

But usually I just fill the bag and do one big batch.

The bulk is chicken or turkey bones- once in a while I get lamb chops so those bones go in, once in a while pork bones- rarely do I have beef bones to add to the pot. So my combo stock really does work for most everything. The only time I vary from it is when I want to make a pure beef stock- then I beg the butcher to save me beef bones to buy. Even when I make Julia's French Onion Soup I use a combo of bones- more beef than anything then but still a combo.

 
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