How does BD make 6-12 quarts of chicken stock, for soup, Chicken 'n Dumplings, Chicken Noodle Soup, etc? Well, I learned from a master chef trained at Cordon Bleu.
Use a 10-12-quart pot if you have one, but for the bigger stock pots, you will need more than a single carcass. That's one reason to freeze bird carcasses.
First roast a fat chicken or buy a roasted one. Then remove the breast meat and the thigh meat, but keep all of the bones, wings, scraps, juices, giblets (not the liver) etc. You can roast the carcass and bones a little, if you want, and then toss it all into a big pot of water.
If we have any left-over turkey wings or carcass from Thanksgiving or Christmas in the freezer, or any pheasant or chukar carcasses or freezer-burned birds or bird parts, I put them in too. Sometimes I will roast or sautee a pack of chicken wings and throw them in. The richer, the better. Crack the bones if you have a cleaver to fully extract the goodness.
Roughly chop (skins on) a couple of onions, a head of garlic (skins on), a couple of carrots (skin on), a couple of celeries, the top parts of a leek, and toss them in a hot skillet to sautee until slightly browned in olive oil. Don't worry about the skins. Then throw it all in the pot. You can throw in some frozen peas, beans, potato peels, whatever, too, to deepen the vegetable flavor. Have fun with it, but no tomato or mushrooms in this: it's meant to be mild.
Throw in a small handful of black peppercorns, a tablespoon or two of Kosher salt, a little sugar, a few sprigs of Thyme, some bay leaves, and some parsley sprigs. Pour in a bottle or two of dry white wine, and let the whole mess simmer happily for a few (3-6 hrs, adding wine or water as needed). A crock pot would do it too, bit it's really a winter weekend project.
When you're tired of doing it, let it cool a little and run it all through a strainer and toss the remnant solid stuff in the trash. Voila! Bird Dog's Poultry Stock, good for whatever ails ya and a good foundation for any poultry construction.
If you want to freeze it, cool, skim the fat off, and freeze. It's fine for 6 months. If skilled, a poultry consomme is a fine dish.
