Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Prepare the raw parts. Weigh the necks and backs and the optional feet. Following Mamane's preparation, rinse them with cold water until the water is clear, removing visible blood and attached organs. Keep the skin and meat on the necks and backs. Keep raw-poultry water and utensils away from ready-to-eat food, then clean the preparation area. Reserve any organs separately in the refrigerator for another preparation.
- Blanch only if needed. If rinsing does not clear the water, put the necks and backs, without the feet, in the pot. Add separate cold water to cover by a few inches. Heat slowly and skim. When the water ripples, before it boils, drain the parts, rinse them and clean the pot. This preliminary water is discarded; it does not replace the measured stock water.
- Start the measured stock. Put the prepared necks and backs and optional feet in the clean pot. Add the measured cold filtered water. Heat gradually with the pot uncovered. Skim the gray or tan protein foam as it appears, rinsing the skimmer between passes.
- Add the measured ice. As the liquid reaches a gentle simmer, reduce the heat and add the measured ice cubes to the pot. Let them melt, then bring the stock back to a very gentle simmer. Keep the fat rather than deliberately skimming it off; remove the protein foam.
- Simmer gently. Maintain a surface that barely moves, with occasional small bubbles, rather than a rolling boil. Mamane's gentle stock temperature is about 180°F (82°C). Continue for about three and a half hours in total once simmering, checking and skimming as needed. The meat and connective tissues should become soft. The bones stay in the pot throughout; this plain version has no aromatic vegetables to add after the initial two hours.
- Rest and strain. Turn off the heat and leave the pot undisturbed for about ten minutes. Support a cheesecloth-lined fine-mesh sieve over a suitable heat-safe container. Ladle the stock through without pressing the solids. Leave the muddy sediment at the bottom of the pot behind. If fine particles remain, strain again through fresh cheesecloth. Taste the strained stock and add natural salt.
- Save the edible soft tissues. Separate the tender meat, skin and other edible soft tissues from the bones. Check carefully for small bones and keep the edible parts for serving with stock or adding to a separate soup. Keep the fat with the food.
- Cool promptly. Put the strained stock containers in an external ice-water bath and stir the stock often. Keep the bath water below the container rims. Mamane's cooling method brings the stock to about 70°F (21°C) in under an hour, then finishes cooling in the refrigerator. Use a food thermometer to check; do not judge cooling only by whether steam is visible. Cool the saved edible tissues promptly too.
- Refrigerate or freeze portions. Refrigerate the stock for up to two days, or freeze smaller portions for longer storage. Transfer only cooled stock to suitable freezer-safe glass, leaving expansion space and following the container's directions. Reheat the portion you need on the stove and serve warm.
Notes
Plain GAPS adaptation: The measured chicken, water and ice base and gentle extraction method come from Mamane's Basic Chicken Stock in Mastering Stocks and Broths. This animal-only version omits the original vegetables, herbs and peppercorns, and retains the chicken fat. Use raw meaty necks and backs, rather than a bare cooked carcass.
Ice: The measured ice goes into the pot early in cooking. Two US quarts of cubes weigh about 1.3 kg at 1×; at 2×, four quarts of cubes are about 2.6 kg. A quart measure of cubes is not a quart of liquid water. Separate external ice-bath water stays outside the cooling containers.
Time: Plan roughly five to six hours overall, including preparation, gradual heating, three and a half hours simmering, ten minutes resting and initial cooling. The six-hour card total includes about three and a half hours simmering, with the rest for preparation, heating, resting and initial cooling. Hands-on skimming is spread through the batch, so choose a time when you can stay nearby.
Yield and scaling: One batch is one stockpot preparation, not one person's serving. Measure your actual strained yield; it varies with pot, heat, evaporation and parts. At 2× use twelve pounds raw meaty necks/backs, two pounds optional feet, eight quarts water and four quarts ice cubes. Use sufficient pot capacity or separate batches; cooking time does not automatically double.
GAPS: This plain stock is for Intro Stage 1 and Full GAPS. Keep the fat and edible soft tissues rather than discarding them with the bones. Use the food-introduction guidance for your stage.
Cooling and storage: Cool promptly in an external ice-water bath, stirring the stock. Mamane's method reaches about 70°F (21°C) in under an hour, then finishes cooling in the refrigerator. Check with a thermometer. Refrigerate up to two days or freeze smaller portions; use cooled stock, expansion room and suitable freezer containers. Reheat portions on the stove and serve warm.