Mary asks:
I used your recipe today and so far my house smells great! My question is after you freeze the stock and you want to use it. Can you take it from the freezer and like microwave it to thaw or do I need to set it out for it to thaw? Just wondering.
If you don’t have a problem with microwaving your food I would definitely defrost it in the microwave. Just remember to make sure it is in a microwave safe container before defrosting.
I usually store my stock, made from a whole chicken in a crock pot, in recycled yogurt containers which I would not microwave.
Depending on which recipes you are using with your chicken stock I would freeze the stock in pre-measured amounts. This way you are only thawing what you need.
Another tip would be to freeze your homemade chicken stock in ice cube trays and then once they are frozen store them in freezer bags. You could take out as many cubes as you needed for a recipe and the rest would stay frozen.
I would definitely not reheat then freeze the broth again.
If you aren’t making your own chicken broth you should! It is healthier than store bought and cheaper too.
Diana says
I do the same thing–store the broth in yogurt containers, and either thaw it right in the pan for soup, or in my glass measuring cup in the microwave. You can run hot water over the yogurt container for 30 seconds or a minute, and it will thaw it enough that it slides out into your pan or other container. Love my chicken broth!
Vikki says
I don’t like to thaw foods in the microwave myself. I’m afraid the foods will be in the danger zone (temperature wise) for too long. so for the most part I thaw in the fridge. However for soup I and crockpot dishes I often place frozen stock in a pot and heat on the stove until melted and heated through. Much easier to keep stirred and let heat evenly, than the microwave. Besides my microwave will not fit in my kitchen and is in my laundry room just off the kitchen and I don’t use it much anyway. It’s kind of a steam veggies – left over warmer, I could do without it kind of appliance in this house. Just something that works for me.
Johanna says
I like to freeze my broth in muffin tins and put in a freezer bag. Just like the ice cube idea, but larger amounts. They thaw quickly too!
Shauna says
I just cooked a whole chicken yesterday and made the broth overnight last night. I am storing my broth in mason jars, but I will be using it later this week.
Jennifer says
Muffin tins? Genius! I use regular clear Tupperware that has measurements on the side so I can thaw the amount I need.
Johana Dugan says
LOVE the muffin tin idea! I use the ice cube trays. The frozen cubes also work nicely when cooling off hot broth based soups for my kids!
missy says
i do the muffin tins too. although when my freezer is full it is harder to freeze without spilling 😉 what i have started doing is freezing it in old peanut butter jars. they are about 2 cups big so that works for me. sometimes i use spaghetti sauce jars or mayo (love the wide mouth ones from kraft ) and i use those larger containers when making soup. the screw lids have worked well for me because i tend to pack my freezer too full…
martha walton says
doesn’t the glass break in the freezer??