How To Make Chicken Stock in the Slow Cooker

The key to making a truly fantastic stock is letting it bubble away for hours over very low heat. That’s how you extract every last speck of goodness from those bones.

The slow cooker is perfect for this kind of work — it will hold your stock at a steady, slow simmer much better and more easily than you can on the stovetop. Plus you don’t have to babysit a slow cooker! If you like, you can skim the scum from the top of the liquid every so often, but even that isn’t necessary unless a very clear stock is your aim.

You should aim to cook chicken stock for at least eight hours in the slow cooker, but the stock will only gets more rich and intense the longer you let it go. I usually cook my stock for about 12 hours, but you can also take a cue from bone broth, and let it go for up to 24 hours, if you like! Personally, I feel that after 24 hours, you’ve extracted pretty much everything you’re going to get from the bones and vegetables. If you want to make stock in a similar hands-off way, but in less time, try a pressure cooker.

For the longest time, I thought of homemade stock as “precious” and hoarded it jealously. It’s easier now that I make stock in the slow cooker — the days when I’d tenderly fuss over a stovetop stock, I always felt like I had to use it in a way that justified all that effort!

But homemade stock is meant to be used. Make some soup, or use it to cook a pot of grains or dried beans. If you want to really highlight a particularly good batch, try making a batch of risotto or a pot of Vietnamese pho with chicken. If you don’t have a plan for using it in the next week, stash it in the freezer for later. Your future self with thank you!