Scarcity Solutions during Coronavirus Pandemic: The Humble Whole Chicken

The coronavirus pandemic has led to scarcity – and not just in personal protective equipment and toilet paper. Many Americans have been hit in the pocketbook by stay-at-home orders and a global recession. At U.S. grocery stores, shelves are stripped clean of canned soups, rice, and pasta, and limits have been instituted for the number of beef, chicken, and milk products customers can purchase.

My solution to an insufficiency of funds and food has been working with inexpensive products that can pull double, or even triple duty. Enter the humble whole chicken.

With a low per-pound cost, a whole chicken will not only feed a family for a night, but its carcass can easily be turned into chicken stock for a soup that beats any pre-packaged product. Remaining bones can be picked clean, rendering still more meat for soup, chilaquiles, or chicken salad.

For the kitchen novice, cooking a whole chicken may seem intimidating. In reality, the process is simple, and chickens are notoriously difficult to ruin. (Even roasting one upside down, I’ve learned, doesn’t harm the taste.) 

My preferred method, and the easiest, is to roast the chicken. By filling the inner cavity with any available onions, carrots, celery, lemons, or garlic, the meat stays moist, and both vegetables and carcass make excellent stock material. 

There are several simple methods to grill a whole chicken. “Beer Butt Chicken,” or whole chicken cooked over an open beer can, is a good option, if you can spare a beer. My favorite grilled variation is the spatchcocked chicken, which involves butterflying the chicken after snipping out its spine. If you choose this method, make sure you have good scissors, and reserve the spine for your chicken stock. 

Chickens don’t require a complicated marinade like the one in the spatchcock recipe linked above. Instead, rub the bird with your favorite spice mixture. If you’re roasting your chicken, stuff some butter under the skin and rub softened butter into the skin before adding your seasoning.

After you’ve eaten your chicken, save all the bones, giblets, stuffing vegetables, or other reserved pieces in a large plastic bag or reusable container. If you don’t want to make stock right away, freeze the carcass for later use. Otherwise, the next morning, launch those ingredients into the largest pot you own. (If you prefer, you could make your stock in a slow cooker or an Instant Pot.)  

The recipe below is basic, but still renders a delicious result. (During times of plenty, try a recipe like Ina Garten’s.) My recipe calls for a massive 20-quart stock pot and two chicken carcasses. If you aren’t a stock-maker or a home-brewer, scale down accordingly. Also, remember that you can always add salt, but you can’t take it away.

Just the Basics Scarcity Stock

3 gallons water

2 chicken carcasses, plus stuffing vegetables, giblets, or other reserved parts 

4 carrots

1/2 onion

2 Tablespoons salt (I prefer kosher, but any will do. Add more to taste as the stock is closer to being finished)

½ Tablespoon pepper (whole peppercorns or ground)

1. Place all ingredients in large stockpot. Break as many of the chicken bones as you can so marrow will be released during cooking process

2. Boil contents at high heat for 1.5 hours

3. Skim fat and any bubbles from surface

4. Lower heat, simmer 3.5 hours 

5. Turn off heat, allow contents to cool at least 1 hour

6. Strain stock with colander or sieve and pour into containers. I use recycled glass tomato sauce bottles that can withstand the stock’s initial heat.

7. If desired, set aside pieces of carcass with usable meat. When these are cool enough to handle, separate usable meat from bones and reserve for future recipes. This can take some time, and I like to do it while listening to Audible or watching Netflix. From experience, I don’t recommend picking through a carcass while watching the Tiger King episode about Carole Baskin’s missing husband. 

Stock will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days, and may be frozen for up to three months. Good homemade stock will be gelatinous due to its collagen content. It will add great, healthy flavor to risotto, jambalaya and endless other dishes, and is an inexpensive base for brining a Thanksgiving turkey (substitute for vegetable broth in this recipe). 

Turning stock into homemade soup is easy. Sautée onions, celery and carrots. Add stock and pulled chicken, available aromatics like ginger, thyme, rosemary, garlic, and pepper, and frozen vegetables like peas, corn, or spinach. For a heartier meal, serve with bread or add rice, canned beans, pasta, homemade dumplings, matzo balls, lentils, or quinoa. Like stock, soup freezes well for up to three months.

Learning to make stock will pay dividends even after the coronavirus crisis, and scarcity, dissipate.  I hope you find that stock-making becomes a regular part of your cooking routine.

Are you facing any scarcity dilemmas or do you have any scarcity solutions? Send either to Beth at [email protected].