There’s no denying it—even a quick stock is a bit

of a chore, and one that I don’t want to go through
every time I make a bowl of soup or need a quick
pan sauce. Fortunately, stock freezes remarkably
well. I keep my stock frozen in two different ways:

• In ice cube trays. Pour the stock into an ice cube
  tray, let it freeze completely, and then transfer
  the cubes to a zipper-lock freezer bag. You can
  pull out as much or as little as you need, and the
  cubes melt nice and fast. This is ideal for pan
  sauces where you don’t need too much stock at a
  time.


• In quart-sized Cryovac or freezer bags or
  plastic containers. If you have a vacuum-sealer
  (such as a FoodSaver), a quart-sized bag is the
  ideal way to store stock. It freezes flat, so it
  takes up very little space in the freezer, and,
  better yet, defrosts under hot tap water in just a
  matter of minutes. If you don’t have a vacuum-
  sealer, you can freeze stock in zipper-lock
  freezer bags. Make sure to squeeze out as much
  air as possible before sealing them, then lay
  them flat to freeze. Or, just use regular plastic
  deli containers.

The other trick to efficient and inexpensive stock
production is to save all your chicken parts. Every
time I break down a chicken, I toss the backs and