Roasted vs. Regular Chicken Stock

The boiled stock on the left has a much lighter
 color than the roasted stock on the right.

Making homemade chicken stock is easy and it utilizes the parts of the chicken that just go to waste.  It adds tons of flavor to soups and sauces and you can alter the flavor depending on what you decide to put in your stock.  Here I am looking at the difference between roasting chicken stock and boiling chicken stock.  I used the same ingredients in each, but the flavor turned out completely different.

Ingredients (for either roasted or boiled)

2 lbs chicken bones, innards, trimmings
6 whole sprigs of parsley
1/2 a whole lemon
2 bay leafs
1/2 onion, quartered
1 carrot, cut in 4 large pieces
1 stalk of celery, cut in big pieces
4 large cloves of garlic
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

This is a picture of the ingredients in roasting pan.  The first step to making roasted stock is to drizzle olive oil over the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roast for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is starting to brown.

Cover the ingredients with water, bake uncovered for an hour.  After the first hour reduce heat to 225 and cover stock with tin foil.  Cook for 2 to 3 more hours.

To boil the chicken stock add the same ingredients and cover with water.  Place the lid over the pot and let simmer on medium low for about 4 hours

Once the chicken stock is done cooking strain the stock.  Pour into individual containers and place in the refrigerator.

Once the stock has cooled it is easy to skim off of the fat because it all rises to the top.

The stock will be thick, almost like a jello consistency, but once you heat it up in a recipe it will quickly turn back into a liquid.

The biggest difference between the roasted stock and the boiled stock is the intensity of the lemon flavor.  The roasted stock had a very rich flavor but the lemon was not very prominent.  In the boiled stock the lemon flavor was very present, which added a fresh taste but it could be over powering in certain recipes.