Hooray for the return of soup season! There are still some warm days ahead before we really get into fall, for sure, but I'm already hankering for big pots of simmering soup on my stove. When it comes to the stock to make those soups, where do you stand? Make or buy?
For today's match-up, let's take a look at Swanson's Natural Goodness Chicken Broth as compared to homemade. Unless otherwise noted, all costs were taken from Peapod Online Grocery.
• Swanson's Natural Goodness Chicken Broth from Peapod Online Grocery
• Homemade Chicken Stock
COST COMPARISON:
• Swanson's Natural Goodness Chicken Broth
TOTAL: $2.99 for 32 oz
PER 1 CUP SERVING: $0.75
• Homemade Chicken Stock
Note: Although you do have to buy the chicken to get the bones, it doesn't seem quite fair to add the entire cost of the chicken into this calculation for the stock. Let's compromise and count the bones as a third of the cost of a 5-lb chicken.
Bones and carcass from one roasted chicken: $1.85
2 onions: $1.78
3-4 stalks of celery: $0.99
1-2 carrots: $0.50
2 bay leaves: $0.80
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme: $0.66
6-8 parsley stems: $0.50
Optional Extras - whole garlic cloves, fennel fronds, leek tops, whole pepper corns (Let's add a base of $1.50 here to cover whatever extras we'd add.): $1.50
TOTAL: $8.58 for (roughly) 4 quarts
PER 1 CUP SERVING: $0.54
I feel like this cost is a little skewed because one of the cool things about making your own chicken stock getting to use leftover vegetables and herbs that might otherwise be heading for the trash or composter. While homemade chicken stock isn't free, it's also not quite fair to only look at the cost of fresh ingredients.
CONVENIENCE
There's no way around it: making a batch of chicken stock just takes time. You can simmer it on the stove, put it the oven, or even use your slow-cooker, but it still takes several hours to fully extract those awesome flavors from the chicken bones and vegetables.
On the other hand, this is almost entirely hands-off time. After bringing the stock to a simmer, you just need to check it every so often and give the pot a stir. Most of the work actually comes after cooking. This is when you strain the stock, wait for it to cool, divide it into zip-lock bags or freezer containers, and stash them in the freezer.
You can thaw the stock before using it, but I usually just toss the frozen block right into the soup. It melts within a few minutes.
One thing to mention is the issue of freezer space, which may be a problem for you or it may not. My own freezer is often packed to the gills and it can be challenging to find space for containers of stock. Since one batch of stock usually makes quite a bit (which is otherwise a positive in terms of convenience), it takes up significant freezer real estate.
TASTINESS AND HEALTHFULNESS
Not all store-bought chicken stocks are created equally. Swanson's regularly gets top marks from sources like Cook's Illustrated. I also like the Trader Joe's brand of organic chicken stock and the Nature's Promise brand carried by many grocery stores.
Look at the labels. Most store-bought broths have straight-forward lists of expected ingredients (ie: chicken and either dried or pureed vegetables), but others can get into strange territory with their flavorings and additives.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that homemade isn't always tastier. Sometimes homemade tastes wonderfully robust and with an excellent balance of flavors, but I find that it can also sometimes taste watery or less fully-flavored than I want. It can depend on how long you cooked the stock, the vegetables you used, the number of chicken carcasses you had on hand, or how much you've perfected your own stock-making method.
That said, even the most bland homemade stock is definitely on par with what's available at the grocery store! You'll never do worse when you make homemade, and with time, you'll likely do much better.
MAKE OR BUY?
Making stock requires that you have first cooked a chicken. In my house, we use more stock than we eat roasted chickens and this is a deterrent for having a ready supply of homemade stock. If you eat a lot of chicken, it seems natural to make use of the bones. For me, I make stock when I have a chicken and rely on store-bought the rest of the time.
VERDICT: Make when you have bones, but it's certainly fine to buy when you don't.
What do you think?
Related: Kitchen Shortcuts: An Easy Trick for Straining Stock
(Images: Peapod and Emma Christensen)
How To Cook Fluffy, Tasty Quinoa
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Elizabeth Apron fro...
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
DEFINITELY make. Better tasting, healthier, and cheaper than buying. Plus, if your cooking chicken anyway, you kill two birds with one stone! (pun intended). And if you grow your own veg. and herbs like I do, its even cheaper!
Whenever possible, I make stock. I keep a carton on hand, but I only use it if I run out of the homemade stuff.
I always buy. If I'm using the stock, then I'm cooking and I don't want to go through a whole process just to get an ingredient.
I just made my first (successful) broccoli cheese soup the other night. The "cooler" weather we go this week (highs in mid 90s, but so nice in the shade and mornings) has made me so pumped for Fall. It's heating up again, but I'm praying for cooler weather by the end of the month!
Definitely make, but the store-bought stuff comes in very handy sometimes.
My butcher sells the bones and bits of meat and skin collected when they debone breasts and thighs. I like making chicken stock from bones, but sometimes buy for the convenience.
I definitively make it. About once a month I cook a 7lb chicken in the slow cooker. Once it's done and cool enough to handle, I get all the meat off. Then I put all the bones, skin, and cartilage back in the pot with an onion, some celery, a carrot or whatever else I feel like throwing in. Then I cover everything with water, set it on low, and let it go all night. By morning I have the most amazing stock. All I have to do is strain!
Um, you don't have to roast a chicken to make stock. I use chicken thighs when they go on sale. 6 thighs per large pot with an onion, simmered for a couple hours. The meat off the thighs can be shredded and added back for chicken noodle soup or used in tacos/stir frys. The flavor is more chickeny starting from raw chicken parts then that made from roasted bones, but it's still great for soups, it's fattier, but the fat is easily taken off once it's cooled and congealed at the top.
Why not pour cooled stock into a gallon ziplock and freeze flat? That's what I do. Much less of a freezer footprint and thaws faster.
For chicken soup or other recipes that feature the stock in a large, noticeable amount I make it. But for recipes that just call for a cup or two, I buy it. I usually always keep some on hand in the pantry. I like the Kitchen Basics brand or Trader Joe's. I would like the get in the practice of freezing the stock I make in an ice cube tray so I can take out smaller amounts, but I don't buy whole chickens very often so when I have them I usually like to use it for chicken soup.
DEFINITELY make. I roast a whole chicken once a month or so. After removing as much of the meat as possible, I bag the carcass up and freeze it. When I get enough chicken cadavers - and time and ambition - I make a ginormous batch of broth and freeze it in one cup plastic containers.
Haven't made chicken stock in years but.....definitely it is the best.
My go to broth is Better Than Bouillon
I always make! Once I realized I could use the crock pot, making it became barely any work at all. Plus I buy packages of 3 whole chickens and I chop them up into pieces myself, so I always have the carcass leftover which I freeze for stock. And I keep whatever bones are left and leftover vegetable scraps, too. Once I have enough, I make my stock and freeze it in 4 cup containers. All I have to do is pull one out, defrost it, and I have the perfect amount for soup or risotto or whatever! It makes me feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of my purchase since from three chickens, we can have about 6 different meals. Besides, homemade chicken stock tastes better and is of better quality (i.e. not all watery).
You can also cook the stock down until it's very condensed and add water later. It takes less freezer space when you do that.
I made stock once. I prefer the convenience of the aseptic packages; I use the Kitchen Basics brand.
I do save my chicken carcasses and scraps of veggies to make soup with, however.
I obviously prefer homemade, but its just a hassle for me(I realize everyone else will complain its not a hassle, but to me it is) When I do, I just do it with a whole chicken in my crock pot so we eat the chicken that night, but the premade is so convenient.
Make. I really don't like the ingredients in most store brands (almost all have MSG in some form) plus I've started buying whole organic chickens instead of individual cuts just for the cost savings.
I don't count the time it takes to simmer because it's completely no-fuss. I also don't bother with buying veggies to add, I just keep a carton in my freezer for onion and carrot scraps. So in that sense it's essentially free. Freezing it is the only part that actually takes time; I use a cupcake tin for 1/2 cup servings and then transfer those to a plastic bag.
Make. Only. That pee-colored stuff from the store is vile. It tastes nothing, nothing like stock. If I don't have homemade I use water.
I make large batches ever couple of months using five pounds of chicken backs and four legs plus whatever roast chicken scraps we have.
I can take the stock that is purchased. I dont like it at all. As someone said, you dont have to cook a chicken. Use thighs as they mentioned, etc, and then you also have meat to shred for other recipes. I freeze homemade stock in one cup increments. Nothing better. And why get more chemicals from store-bought products when this is so easy to make. Especially easy in the crockpot too.
Make. Stock is by far the easiest thing to 'make'.
@ladidi: The cupcake tin is brilliant, thank you.
I always buy. I have three little children and it is not the season of my life yet where I have time to make real chicken stock. Plus, the little people I cook for couldn't give a damn.
"Mom, I am not so sure about this soup. I am sensing that you used some carton chicken stock. That just will not do."
Yeah, no.
homemade all the way! i can't stand store bought broth anymore. we always have end-of-their-life veggie in the fridge or scraps in the freezer and usually a chicken carcass as well. if i don't have the chicken (and don't feel like cooking one first) I pick up a roasted chicken from our local market. we eat or freeze the chicken meat and use the rest of it for broth. i usually make mine in the crock pot and season it differently for different soups or other recipes.
I just bought stock for the first time ever and it made me feel guilty and wasteful. I love making stock, but it doesn't happen more than once every couple months because a roast chicken is just a pain, as is shredding meat off any type of bone.
90% of the time I use chicken base - better than dry boillion, more most-effective than a carton of stock, super yummy and I can add a smidge into a stir fry, a risotto that needs more depth, lots of things.
If you have a pressure canner and know how to use it, you can make large batches and can it for later. I buy only whole chickens and save the wings, trimmings, and carcass for the freezer, then make large batches and pressure can it.
I go back and forth between making and buying. I have the issue of little to no freezer space since it's so packed to the gills. One day I'm hoping to have a back up freezer where I can keep an absurd amount of homemade stock on hand.
IF (and that's a big if) you have the time and/or the wherewithall to be home for long periods of time to simmer up some stock, definitely go for it. In my opinion, it tastes better and is better for you.
However, I rarely use stock for anything other than soup. And if you're just making chicken soup, it's easier just to simmer the raw chicken in some water with onion and hard veggies like potatoes or carrots first and then remove the pieces, get the meat off the bones, return it to the pot, and add your softer veggies (like peas, celery, or corn) to finish. You get delicious broth and you didn't have to do anything extra.
That being said, I do have a freezer that is rapidly accumulating plastic bags of bones and skin for re-roasting and making into stock later. Because I'm recently unemployed and have discovered just how easy (if a bit time-consuming - basting, I'm looking at you) roasting your own chicken is. Also, rendering schmaltz is awesome, even if I have no idea what to do with it other than, perhaps, brown onions in it.
Does anyone can their own chicken stock instead of freezing it? I've always been curious about that and it would make the storage issue much more convenient.
While I would love to be able to make and freeze large batches of chicken stock, it simply isn't an option for me. Living in London has forced me to downsize, my fridge/freezer combo is no exception. My fridge is slightly larger than a drinks fridge and my freezer is 1 cubic foot (and this is big!). I can't store anything like I used to in the States. I generally use the powdered or cubed stuff as it's tough to find good liquid stock.
I'm in the make camp, mostly because tossing chicken backs and wing tips plus leftover bones, scallion tops, parsley stems and carrot ends into a freezer bag until full and then getting something delicious out of what looks like garbage gives me such pleasure.
Also, I carry all of my groceries home from the store in a backpack, so I'm pretty dubious of anything that adds liquid weight to my load.
We buy all our chickens whole from a farmer twice a year, so I have lots of carcasses for stock. Also, I pressure can mine, so freezer space isn't an issue.
However, over the summer I can't be bothered to heat the house up that much so if I run out I buy organic/free range broth...which does taste like chicken to me, unlike the standard broth.
I'm actually making some broth right now. Just had a roast chicken last night. I've only make broth when we roast a whole chicken, but it is worth it. I've never frozen it before, & the muffin tins are a great idea.
I've stopped buying the broth too. I have bullion cubes when needed, they take up so much less room. If you go to the Mexican food section, you can find some without a lot of additive & much cheaper. (Same brand and everthing, just in Spanish..)
Make in the crockpot so I don't even fuss with it. I make it on the deck in the summer so it doesn't heat up the house. I only buy when I'm desperate and don't have any chicken bones in the freezer.
Make! It's the only way I can control the sodium content. My fave is making brown chicken stock by roasting the bones and veggies first. I also use extra wings because you get a lot of bone for flavor. Time to make a pot.
Ima's right, just boil it down so it's more concentrated. You can't buy the stuff that's boiled down so much that it's the consistency of jello when it cools. Yum, chicken jello.
I always make it. It's a great way to use leftover chicken (and other) carcasses, and vegetable scraps (like the green tops of leeks) that would otherwise be wasted. Plus, the flavor is just so much better than the store-bought stuff - I've taken up buying chicken heads and feet from my farmer's market. It makes the best-tasting stock I've ever eaten!
I always make. I've bought before and I've always been disappointed. I even stock up on the chicken feet for the best broth ever!
@whitneyingram you made me giggle out loud. At work. Not good.
I've made stock. I know it's great and I'd much rather get some use out of leftover bones than just toss 'em. But there's no way I'd be able to make it every time. So I have no problem with buying it. Love Trader Joe's offering.
I make homemade when I have a carcass available, but since I make a LOT of soups requiring stock/broth, most of the time I use Penzey's soup base. The taste is FAR superior to most canned broth, and you can keep it either in the fridge or cupboard. I LOVE my local Penzey's store, and have all their soup bases on hand.
I think that to make it is better than buy it, that is always the best scenario.. however, living a busy life is not always the best to make your own broth so I usually have a carton at hand to make soup whenever I want and the Swanson one is really good.
Make make make. I haven't bought stock in years and love it. I save all of my veg scraps, bones, and bits and pieces of leftover meat. I rarely have to add anything - I simply wait until I have a couple gallon sized zip locks of vegetable scraps and a carcass or two, throw it on the stove before leaving for work, and strain it when I come home. Easy peasy.
No contest: Make. Hands down. It tastes so amazing! You'll never get that flavor out of a box (or a can). People make a big deal about how much time and effort it takes to make stock. Bullocks, I say. You throw everything in a stockpot, and let it simmer for hours, filling your home with its amazing smell. Then it's done. However, when pressed for time, or out of homemade stock, I am very, very thankful for the store bought stuff. I may be a soup nazi, but I'm realistic too!! Enjoy, folks.
It really doesn't take any time to make if you use a pressure cooker (a method not talked about in the original article) - 45 minutes to 1 hour at most and you're done, with barely 5-10 minutes prep time to throw everything you want into it. Surprised that the pressure cooker method was forgotten given it's massive convenience and short time to make the stock!
Definitely make. So much tastier, and my cost is less than you cite.
I use: chicken feet (1/2 lb = $0.50); chicken bones (4 lbs at 0.80/lb = $3.20); 1 onion ($0.25); 1 parsnip ($0.40); 2 carrots ($0.50); parsley (5 stalks at $0.05, a whole bunch costs me $0.40 here); salt/pepper. Total $4.90 for 6 quarts. or $0.82/quart.
Way cheaper. Way tastier. makes the house smell great.
Make. I buy whole chickens and put the parts I don't use in a dish (neck, back, wings, usually drumsticks) in a pan to make stock I simmer for a couple of hours, pull out the chicken pieces and refrigerate the stock so that I can pull off the congealed fat. It makes enough for stock for dishes during the week.
I understand buying stock, and have done it, but I'm now buying chickens from a local farmer, and they come whole (REALLY whole, although no feathers). So it's a no-brainer - back/head/feet go in a pot for stock every time I use a chicken. I do have a small chest freezer for storage - that became necessary when we started buying 4 or 5 chickens a month and an 1/8th of a cow once a year, so I don't count that in the expense of stock.
Can't beat the flavor. Just keep the vegetables simple and you'll have an amazing base for almost every kind of soup you can think of.
Make. There is not doubt here. As others have said, using a pressure cooker will greatly spread up the process and give you greater extraction.
In Europe, there's a choice: salted stock cubes, a jar of concentrated fond, or make your own. Not a one-litre carton in sight.
I like to make, but there is one brand of "cube" (more of a hard paste) that I trust, as time can be of the essence.
For me, it's almost always make. Thought I do have bouillon available *just in case*
Definitely buy. I make soup in the fall and winter once a week. It would be inconcievable to me to boil chicken that often, thighs, whole, whatever-I just don't like or want to eat chicken that often. To me, it would be a waste of chicken and my time. When I really want a home made chicken soup, then I'll get an organic chicken and it will be a lovely chicken soup, but for now, unless someone is supplying me with a fresh stock they put into my freezer, I go with Progresso, more chickeny flavored and the most natural ingredients I have found from all the ready containers.