Chicken Soup from Frames and Backs

I said before, when I made chicken soup last, that I'd like to see how this soup would turn out if it was prepared from chicken frames and backs. At that point, I knew I had a pretty decent collection of chicken carcass parts. When it was time, I took those parts out of the freezer and let them thaw in the refrigerator two days before making some soup. This time around, I cut back on the rice a bit, to 1 cup.

Chicken Soup from Frames and Backs

2 chicken frames and 4 backs

salt and pepper
2 qts water

3 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable stock
1 16-oz bag frozen mixed vegetables
1 c rice
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
2 tsp dried thyme

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Because my chicken parts were raw, I roasted them. I decided to cook them on my broiler rack/pan to maximize the cooking area (no tall edges = full exposure).

Place chicken parts on broiler rack over the broiler pan; salt and pepper the pieces.
 

Bake 20 minutes in the oven.

Flip browned chicken pieces. Salt and pepper them before returning to the oven for an additional 20 minutes. Turn off oven.
 

Remove excess skin from the chicken.

Place partially cooked frames and backs in a Dutch oven. Add water and stock concentrate before bringing it to a simmer over low heat.

Cover and simmer for an hour. Remove chicken frames and backs reserving liquid. Allow parts to cool until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones.

 

Add the remaining ingredients to the stock including the meat and mix it all together. Cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.


While this was doable, it didn't taste as good as the last soup and it was pretty greasy due to the skin I couldn't remove.  Though I haven't made stock before, I think frames and backs are best used for that purpose.