Grandmother knew best. Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily-not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons--stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain.  - Sally Fallon Morell, The Weston Price Foundation

Need more reasons to make your own stock? 

• Boosts immune system
• Aids digestion
• Increases efficiency of protein use
• Provides easily digestible minerals, including calcium
• Can improve symptoms of: joint pain, common cold, peptic ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle diseases, infectious diseases, jaundice, cancer, food allergies, colic, maldigestion, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis, pain and inflammation, cramps, muscle spasms, depression, insomnia, irritability, hyperactivity, anxiety, palpitations, hypertension, high cholesterol, allergies....

There are lots of recipes you can find on the internet, here's how I make my stock:

Cooked chicken carcass, neck, gizzards, leg and wing bones - rinse any raw parts with cold water

2 Tbl of acid - vinegar, lemon or apple cider vinegar

1 Tbl black pepper corns

2 carrots

3 or 4 celery sticks

1 medium onion

Fresh Italian parsley

*salt optional

Fill your large pot with cold water and leave a couple of inches for water displacement when you add the veggies.  Add 2 Tbls. of acid and soak the bones for 30 minutes. This will release the calcium from the chicken's bones and put it in the stock for your bones. Turn heat up high and bring to a boil skimming off the bubbles which contains alkaloids and impurities. Add veggies. No need to get fancy with cutting. Cut onion in quarters, roughly chop carrots and celery sticks (I just break mine in half or put in whole if they fit). Add in parsley, pepper and salt*.

Once rapidly boiling, turn heat down to low just a simmer and cook partially covered  for 4 to 12 hours. The longer you cook the more gelatinous the stock will be. I usually cook for 4 to 6 hours so mine is like broth. (Stock is made with bones, broth doesn't have to be.)

Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes of so before removing from heat and strain liquid into a smaller pot. Refrigerate overnight. Skim the fat from the top before placing in jars or containers for storage.  I pour the liquid through a mesh strainer right into mason jars. I like to store the stock in mason jars in the refrigerator to have daily as it makes a great drink if I want variety from herbal teas, and I freeze some for soup stock. If your stock has been in the refrigerator for a few days, boil rapidly for a couple of minute to burn off bacteria before using.