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I save chicken bones like a fiend. It's almost an obsession. I am guilty of overkill in stock making, I suppose. But this is how I was taught in culinary school and how I continue to make stock.

1. In a large roasting pan roast bones and coarsly chopped aromatic vegetables (carrots, onions, several cloves of garlic and celery) in a 400 degree oven until everything browns a bit.

2. Using tongs, transfer bones and vegetables to stock pot. Pour off any fat and deglaze the pan with wine, (red for beef, veal or duck, white for chicken or turkey,) scraping all the browned bits (fond) off the bottom of the roaster. Pour the wine into the stockpot and add about half a bunch of parsley.

3. Add cold water to cover bones and vegetables plus half again more cold water. (In other words, if it takes a gallon of water to cover the bones, add another half gallon.)

4. Prepare a boquet garni. In a small square of cheese cloth (or muslin) place two or three bay leaves, a small handful of peppercorns, and a small bundle of thyme. Tie with kitchen string and place in stockpot. (That's the "correct" way, but I'm lazy and just throw it all in loose.)

5. Heat to a gentle simmer and set the fire so that the water just barely has a few bubbles rising to the surface. Stock should never come to a full boil.

6. Whenever you see foam (we called it scum) rise to the surface of the stock, skim it. This will make the end result more clear.

7. The length of cooking time varies depending on the kind of bones and desired result. I always want my stocks to be as rich as possible so I gently simmer them for long periods. I simmer chicken, turkey or duck stock either all day, or over night. Beef or veal stock takes at least 36 hours.

8. When you have deemed the stock "done" remove the bones with tongs and as much of the vegetables as you can with a slotted spoon. You can cool the stock quickly by placing a couple of one liter bottles, scrubbed, filled with water and frozen, into the stock and "stirring" the stock with them. Much of the fat will cling to the frozen bottles.

9. When the stock is cool enough to handle strain stock through your smallest mesh strainer into a large container. I use my chinoise, but if you don't have a strainer that is very fine, use a couple of layers of damp cheese cloth inside your strainer.

10. Your stock is now completed and you have a couple of options. You can either refrigerate it as is and then use it within a week or so, being careful not to disturb the protective layer of fat, or chill it and remove the fat and reduce it by half for frozen storage.

You can also just reduce it without further chilling which is usually what I do. When it has reduced by half I let it cool enough to handle (as above) and then bottle it in one liter bottles which I store cap side down so the fat ends up on the bottom of the bottle. That just makes it easier when you want to thaw it out and use it. The fat will stay in the bottle and the stock will squirt out. It won't pour out because the gelatin makes it foo firm. Even if you forget to store it upside down, the fat usually stays in the bottle. Cold fat is very firm and it usually just pivots and moves out of the way of the stock. I have also seen stock frozen in ice cube trays for use in sauces. The cubes work very well in stir-fries, too.

Thanks for the proportions, Lou. None of my reference cookbooks phrased it quite that way, so this will help. I'll experiment with weighing the bones and judging by that how much stock it should produce.

Thanks to Calichef too - if the number of steps is directly proportional to the quality of the results, I'm willing to give your method a try!

Calichef's instructions are excellent. I'd like to add three things. First, I use the carcass of a chicken that I've roasted along with whatever chicken is still clinging to it. I sometimes also through in some chicken necks or wings that are kicking around in the freezer to add to it. I put all of this in my largest stockpot without measuring, weighing or whatever and fill the pot with water. Secondly, when you bring the stock up to a boil, you should keep the water at a low enough simmer that the water doesn't really boil because that will cause the broth to be gray and cloudy (boiling protein is just about always bad, ruptures the cells). Finally, if you leave the stock in the refrigerator overnight, the fat will solidify on the top and can be skimmed off, giving you fat-free stock. I freeze it in two cup batches using the containers that olives and things come in.