Chicken Soup

Notes

• I use two 4 gallon stock pots for this recipe. One to make the broth in and another to strain it into for the final soup.
• I don't boil the carrots any because I put the soup immediately in the freezer. This keeps their texture. If you're looking to eat it right away though, you may want to add them earlier with the celery/onions.

Making the broth

1. In a 4 gallon stock pot, add the chickens. Make sure to clear out the cavity
2. Cut an onion in half (2 if they're small) and add
3. Cut 2 stalks of celery in half and add
4. Peel and cut 3 carrots in half and add
5. Add some oregano, parsley, and basil
6. Add garlic salt. It takes a lot for 4 gallons!
7. Fill the stock pot with water. I usually stop about 4 inches from the top.
8. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 2 hours. Cover the pot.

Straining the broth

1. Remove the chickens and put them on some plates. I try to separate the breasts from the chest bone and open things up so they can cool a little faster.
2. Run the broth through a strainer into another stock pot. I like to use a small sauce pan to scoop the broth and pour it through the strainer a little bit at a time
3. Discard the vegetables used for the broth

Making the soup

1. Dice onions and add to the broth
2. Cut celery into soup size pieces and add to the broth
3. Boil for ~20 minutes
4. Peel carrots and cut them into your favorite soup sized pieces. Add them back to the broth
5. Pull the chicken apart and cut up the meat
6. Add the chicken back to the broth