My wife and I are sick, so I'm making chicken soup

[LevelSea]

if you wanna sound fancy, the wrapped up herbs is called bouquet garni btw

 

[Fritzo]

if you wanna sound fancy, the wrapped up herbs is called bouquet garni btw

Nobody calls it that though I like to keep it simple so it's more accessible.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

It's pretty ridiculous that there is a fight over the quality of chicken soup for a sick person.

They're sick, their ability to taste is going to be fairly limited as well as the "giveashits" over how good chicken soup may or may not taste.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It's pretty ridiculous that there is a fight over the quality of chicken soup for a sick person.

They're sick, their ability to taste is going to be fairly limited as well as the "giveashits" over how good chicken soup may or may not taste.

Yeah,just give them dog food and call it good.

 

[NetWareHead]

You guys are quick to respond with troll accusations but he is right from a culinary standpoint.

You're getting almost no chicken flavor with a 30 minute simmer

Correct, I simmer my chicken meat for hours until I can pull it with my fingers at the end end discard all of the cartilage, bones etc... Thats the only way to get the essence anf flavor of the meat into the soup

You're getting NOTHING at all from the bones. They should be whacked with a cleaver and then cooked. You'll double the flavor on that one step alone.

Correct again. You cant make chicken soup without a meat cleaver. You need to expose the marrow to boiling water. All major bones are sectioned at least once

You're getting nothing from the vegetables. Build your stock with one set of vegetables, discard when spent, then add more into the soup for eating.

I personally eat the soft veggies but to each his own. Nothign wrong with adding some more veggies for fresh veggie flavor

you're browning the chicken, that's good,

Yes very good.

I also like to add a bag of chicken feet at the beginning of the boil(wash thoroughly first and cut off the claw part as the claw has a tendency to separate). Find them in any asian market cheaply. Chicken feet are unbeleivably rich in gelatin which adds tremendous body to a soup. There is enough fat in chicken (make sure you boil the skin too) without needing to add butter etc... at the end. You'll see if you chill the soup and the fat forms a layer up to. And, if you cooked the gelatin out of the cartilage/feet etc... that gelatin will also form a layer floating at the top of the soup.

 

[NetWareHead]

It's pretty ridiculous that there is a fight over the quality of chicken soup for a sick person.

They're sick, their ability to taste is going to be fairly limited as well as the "giveashits" over how good chicken soup may or may not taste.

Its not exactly for that reason. Making soup correctly extracts all sorts of healthy components from the stock ingredients.

 

[MongGrel]

Good chicken soup will really clean your sinuses out, even if sniffing it in a bowl while eating.

We always start out throwing a whole chicken in the crock pot and cooking it for starters. Take all the bones out later and it advances in a few stages from there I guess. Cooking the noodle separately and adding them later is one of the last steps we do, prefer wide egg noodles myself.

Seems a few people have all ready mentioned other things in the process, so details are moot.

We usually just add some veggies later, rather than discarding the originals.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Its not exactly for that reason. Making soup correctly extracts all sorts of healthy components from the stock ingredients.

Irrelevant. Studies have shown that there isn't any statistically significant effect on recovery times with/without chicken soup and also no difference between homemade and store bought generic soup

The only real benefit is the psychological effect of being cared for.

 

[Homerboy]

You NEVER put the noodles IN the soup. Those stay separate and you ladle the broth over the noodles in a bowl. And ALWAYS egg noodles for chicken soup. ALWAYS

My wife is a soup master. One of the reasons I married her.

 

[NetWareHead]

Irrelevant. Studies have shown that there isn't any statistically significant effect on recovery times with/without chicken soup and also no difference between homemade and store bought generic soup

The only real benefit is the psychological effect of being cared for.

Thats not my argment, store bought vs homemade. I've seen several studies where chicken soup was proven to contain cold fighting ingredients.

My point was that you extract more flavors, compounds etc etc... from the ingredients and put them into the soup where they belong. Especially when you simmer for long times and expose the marrow to the water. Thats what I meant by making it correctly. Furthermore I would think that commercial soup producers would want to extract max flavor from their ingredients for reasons of economy and better taste.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You guys are quick to respond with troll accusations but he is right from a culinary standpoint.


Correct, I simmer my chicken meat for hours until I can pull it with my fingers at the end end discard all of the cartilage, bones etc... Thats the only way to get the essence anf flavor of the meat into the soup

Correct again. You cant make chicken soup without a meat cleaver. You need to expose the marrow to boiling water. All major bones are sectioned at least once

I personally eat the soft veggies but to each his own. Nothign wrong with adding some more veggies for fresh veggie flavor
Yes very good.

I also like to add a bag of chicken feet at the beginning of the boil(wash thoroughly first and cut off the claw part as the claw has a tendency to separate). Find them in any asian market cheaply. Chicken feet are unbeleivably rich in gelatin which adds tremendous body to a soup. There is enough fat in chicken (make sure you boil the skin too) without needing to add butter etc... at the end. You'll see if you chill the soup and the fat forms a layer up to. And, if you cooked the gelatin out of the cartilage/feet etc... that gelatin will also form a layer floating at the top of the soup.

Idiots reacting like children when it's pointed out that they're idiots. Without that, what would the internet be? In the real world teach people how to make soup and they're grateful. On the internet teach them how and they get their panties in a bunch.

Actually, you and I both missed yet another thing the OP did wrong. Vegetables should be browned too. After the chicken is browned the veggies should be browned in the same pan before it's deglazed to make the stock. Yet another opportunity to add move flavor and turn the finished product into something more than water with chicken dipped in it.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Irrelevant. Studies have shown that there isn't any statistically significant effect on recovery times with/without chicken soup and also no difference between homemade and store bought generic soup

The only real benefit is the psychological effect of being cared for.

Now that's what's irrelevant. The healing qualities of chicken soup are of course vastly overrated. For the most part soup is just the first step back to solid foods. When you're sick you eat liquids or soft light foods until your stomach recovers. You're not making decent chicken soup to aid the recovery. The point is that if you're going to go through the trouble of making soup at all rather than buying it you might as well grow a brain, take a few extra minutes and make it right so that it tastes good. If all you're doing is heating water and adding some weak-ass chicken flavor for a fake soup, you can make Lipton's Cup-A-Noodle or drop a bullion cube in some water.

If you think a 30 minute simmer creates chicken soup, you clearly don't understand cooking or eating. To each his own. But if you're going to start a thread claiming to teach people how to make soup you better know how to make soup properly yourself. Teaching people to do things completely half-assed so that the end result is flavorless swill is a waste of time. Either make good soup or don't make soup at all.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The Bouquet garni was a nice touch. :thumbsup:

I do a few things different, it will take longer though. One is, after the chicken is removed from the bones, then I make the stock using the bones. And I use a whole cut up chicken for soup, since I have white and dark lovers in the house. No, you cannot pick out just one or the other when ladling, but it keeps the peace never-the-less. Presuming I have no extra stock in the freezer. Tip: Onion peel in the stock will give it that nice golden color. I also use the parts of the veggies many throw away as well. I.E. carrot and celery ends, leaves, and skin for the stock.

And I saute the veggies and chicken meat in butter and s&p before adding back to the stock. I almost exclusively use butter for such things because fuck the olive oil mafia that's why http://www.businessinsider.com/fake-olive-oil-2012-1?op=1 You can just use canola or whatev instead. Unless you like the taste of the crap we mostly get that they say is Italian olive oil. I use grapeseed oil, peanut oil, etc. for other things. Feel free to start some shit over my opinion though guys, it is what we do here. After the balsamic vinegar thread I read here, I wanted to offer head or gut to some of the people in that thread.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The point is that if you're going to go through the trouble of making soup at all rather than buying it you might as well grow a brain, take a few extra minutes and make it right so that it tastes good. If all you're doing is heating water and adding some weak-ass chicken flavor for a fake soup, you can make Lipton's Cup-A-Noodle or drop a bullion cube in some water.

If you think a 30 minute simmer creates chicken soup, you clearly don't understand cooking or eating. To each his own. But if you're going to start a thread claiming to teach people how to make soup you better know how to make soup properly yourself. Teaching people to do things completely half-assed so that the end result is flavorless swill is a waste of time. Either make good soup or don't make soup at all.

While you are 60 grit sandpaper about the way you say things, I agree. The stock needs at least an hour alone. Which is why I make a big batch and freeze some normally.

 

[wabbitslayer]

My recipe for making soup when I am sick is a bit different:

open can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle and dump in pot;
fill can with water, dump in pot;
bring content of pot to boil;
dump in crushed saltine crackers;
eat out of pot standing over sink in kitchen

 

[DAPUNISHER]

My recipe for making soup when I am sick is a bit different:

open can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle and dump in pot;
fill can with water, dump in pot;
bring content of pot to boil;
dump in crushed saltine crackers;
eat out of pot standing over sink in kitchen

You sound like a bachelor. A living in the woods, ain't nobody got time for that, bachelor.

 

[Fritzo]

It's pretty ridiculous that there is a fight over the quality of chicken soup for a sick person.

They're sick, their ability to taste is going to be fairly limited as well as the "giveashits" over how good chicken soup may or may not taste.

Thank you. There's one in every crowd (or more like 1000 in every ATOT).

 

[Fritzo]

While you are 60 grit sandpaper about the way you say things, I agree. The stock needs at least an hour alone. Which is why I make a big batch and freeze some normally.

Getting a good browning on your chicken skin is a good hack to jumpstart your stock so it doesn't take so long. You're essentially condensing the flavor before getting it to the water. I picked up that tip from the head chef for a Hilton hotel when I was a sous-chef.

 

[Stopsignhank]

F, Sorry. I just wanted to tell you the soup/pasta was good.

I forgot.

No matter what you say on the internet, there is always someone that knows better.

On the internet there is there bragging in front of people you will never meet (That may be good enough for the likes of you, but it is not good enough for ME! I first found this out while shopping for my daughters flute.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Getting a good browning on your chicken skin is a good hack to jumpstart your stock so it doesn't take so long. You're essentially condensing the flavor before getting it to the water. I picked up that tip from the head chef for a Hilton hotel when I was a sous-chef.

Even an hour is not long enough to develop the flavor. And browning chicken does nothing to accelerate the other flavors some of us consider intrinsic to a good stock.

I will not debate that it is not tasty enough all things considered. Hilton not using something off the truck is good to hear. But it ain't up to snuff for real stock, no way around it.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

F, Sorry. I just wanted to tell you the soup/pasta was good.

I forgot.

No matter what you say on the internet, there is always someone that knows better.

On the internet there is there bragging in front of people you will never meet (That may be good enough for the likes of you, but it is not good enough for ME! I first found this out while shopping for my daughters flute.

Good enough is good enough. But, when there is an established criteria for something, that has existed for many many years, anything less is less. You do not get to change that without proven, peer reviewed results. I will tell you now, I cheat in the kitchen all the time. Not always time to do things from scratch, or if the prep is time consuming. But, we should never pretend our cheating is really some esoteric shortcut to full effort results.

 

[MrSquished]

While you are 60 grit sandpaper about the way you say things, I agree. The stock needs at least an hour alone. Which is why I make a big batch and freeze some normally.

signed

 

[NetWareHead]

And browning chicken does nothing to accelerate the other flavors some of us consider intrinsic to a good stock.

Agreed. The only thing browning does is introduce flavoring compounds from maillard reactions into the soup. If you like that sort of thing in your soup, brown away.

 

[CraKaJaX]

You sound like a barbarian.

ftfy

 

[Fritzo]

You NEVER put the noodles IN the soup. Those stay separate and you ladle the broth over the noodles in a bowl. And ALWAYS egg noodles for chicken soup. ALWAYS

My wife is a soup master. One of the reasons I married her.

Noodles in or separate is a preference. My grandma kept them separate, but I like the noodles better if they cook in the broth.