My chicken stock turned into jelly and I freaked out at first

Made a batch of chicken stock in the slow cooker last Sunday with some leftover rotisserie bones, carrots, celery, and onion. Threw it in on low for about 14 hours. When I went to strain it the next morning, the whole thing had turned into a solid brown jiggly blob in the fridge. I thought I messed up big time lol. My mom laughed and said that's a good sign, means the collagen worked. Poured it into a pot and it melted right back into liquid. Still feels weird to see jiggly stock though. Has anyone else gotten that super thick jelly consistency on accident?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_singh128d agoTop Commenter

And that's honestly the best feeling once you get over the initial freak out (which I definitely did too, the first time it happened to me). That jiggle is basically pure collagen, which means your stock is going to be incredibly rich and flavorful. It's actually pretty hard to get it that thick on purpose without using feet or wings, you know? So you got lucky with those rotisserie bones, they must have had a good amount of connective tissue. I've started aiming for that jelly texture now, it just makes everything taste so much more satisfying.

fisher.mason28d ago

I mean yeah, it's cool that your stock turned out jiggly and all but honestly I think people get a little too intense about this whole thing. I've made plenty of good stock that never got that thick and it still worked fine for soups and stews. Unless you're specifically trying to make something super restaurant grade, I don't know if it's worth stressing over whether your bones have enough connective tissue or whatever.