Chicken Stock Experiment (was Skimming the Chicken Fat - Why?)

[Guest guest]

i recently made chicken stock the way I always do except that intsead of

cooking for 14 or 16 hours I cooked it for about 15. I used an old rooster

from a friend, some chicken feet of ours and a few leftover bones. Soaked

it in cold water first with grocery store ACV. Cooked in slow cooker 3

hours on high then 12 hours on low. Last batch of the same ingredients of

cooked for about 30 hours in the slow cooker. The fat smelled stale so I

threw it out as usual. It was a liquidy type gel. But this recent batch:

had no burnt or stale smell.

gelled solid

tastes fabulous both the stock and the fat

.

So why do you think it gelled more completely than longer cooked?

i always thought that the longer you cooked it the more minerals were

extracted. But I also thought that the firmness of gelling is an indication

of how much of the minereals you have extracted.

Also this experiment came out of the discussion of what the chicken had

eaten having an effect on preserving the fats while cooking. This chicken

was from the same farm as the last batch.

i am not sure what to think about whether the fat is oxidized or not with

the shorter cooking. But I used some of this fat for sauteeing already and

will keep some of it in the stock itself when I make soup. With fats, i

tend to go by my nose , or my tongue.. But would like to hear opinions.

Ellen