What's in Your Stockpot?

At Big Bowl, after we cook the noodles for the day, we begin the process of making chicken stock for our broths, soups, and sauces.  We’re proud of our stockpot.  Our 60 gallon steam heated kettle contains just two ingredients; chicken backs and water.  That’s it.  Chicken backs have lots of natural gelatin and tiny bits of meat to give the finished broth a deep, rich flavor. Good broth starts with good ingredients and needs a low, slow fire to cook out all the goodness from the bones.

Starting this week, our chicken backs will come from naturally raised, vegetarian fed Freebird chickens.  We love Freebird chicken for their wholesome, good tasting chicken and their commitment to the never-ever approach to raising poultry.  Freebird chickens, unlike some natural chickens, never-ever receive antibiotics, growth hormones, or animal byproducts in their feed.  They're fed a special diet of corn and soybeans and are free to roam the barn.  We also like being able to utilize another part of the chicken that may go to waste.

Making homemade chicken broth is a lot of work.  It’s something many restaurants stopped doing long ago.  There are plenty of options but nothing comes close to the real thing and ours just got better.