Chicken Soup

Steps

1. simmer15 min
   cold water start, brought up slowly, skimming
   whole chicken + cold water to cover by an inch — start cold so albumin rises as a raft you can lift off; if you start hot or let it boil, that protein shatters into the liquid and no amount of straining will make the broth clear again
2. simmer25 min
   bare simmer, lid ajar, surface barely trembling
   + onion + 2 whole carrots + 2 whole celery ribs + garlic + parsley stems + thyme + bay + peppercorns + 1 tsp salt — whole vegetables give flavor without disintegrating into cloudy pulp
3. poach20 min
   same bare simmer; breast reads about 155F
   continue until the breast is just firm, then lift the whole bird out, cut away both breast halves, and return the rest of the carcass to the pot — breast muscle has almost no collagen, so every extra minute past done only squeezes water out of it
4. simmer50 min
   uncovered, never boiling
   legs, thighs and frame in the broth until the thigh meat pulls from the bone and the liquid has body — this is the collagen window, and it needs time at low temperature rather than higher heat
5. prep10 min
   strain hot, discard spent aromatics
   pull the chicken out, strain the broth through a fine sieve, and shred all the meat off the bones while it is warm; skim the surface fat or chill and lift it as a cap = clear broth + shredded chicken
6. simmer8 min
   gentle, strained broth only
   strained broth + sliced carrot + sliced celery + optional parsnip and leek, until just tender with a little resistance — cooking the garnish vegetables fresh in clean broth is why the finished bowl tastes bright instead of stewed
7. season3 min
   off the boil, tasting
   + shredded chicken + remaining salt to taste + ground black pepper + parsley, heating just until steaming — season now, after reduction, because broth that tasted correct at the start will be too salty here; a squeeze of lemon lifts a broth that reads flat rather than under-salted