CONOR POPElooks at chicken stock

Fallon Byrne Chicken Stock €2.95 for 300ml

Okay, let’s deal with the big downside straight away: the price. It is very expensive and will be out of the price range of all but those with very deep pockets or a careless approach to their credit card. The stock is undeniably top quality and the best of the store-bought options, and it comes in a resealable tub so you don’t have to use it all in one go. It is easily the match of the home-made option and is less hassle but it all comes back to the price and, if you do buy it, you might want to save it for special meals rather than splashing it about like tap water.

Verdict: Lovely, dear. ***

DIY stock €0.50 for 2 litres

We were pretty smug about this and fairly certain it would win hands down. It doesn’t. It is incredibly cheap however, and once you have a chicken carcass ready to go you can make stock for half nothing. You get the chicken – and some chopped onion, carrot, celery, herbs, and salt and pepper – and boil the bejaysus out of it for two hours, strain it, let it cool, skim off the fat, put it into freezer bags and you have the cheapest and richest of stocks. There are downsides. It is more hassle than buying it and will make your house smell of boiled chicken for hours. You must have roasted a chicken in advance but it will save you money and serve as the base ingredient for amazing soups and sauces.

Verdict: Great but hassle. ****

Tesco Finest Chicken Stock €1.55 for 600ml

A couple of years ago Tesco was ahead of the chicken stock pack – its Finest range was one of the first to introduce a liquid product to the Irish market. It is grand and will enhance almost any dish. It is not excessively salty and while the chicken flavours can be detected they are not overpowering. If anything it is a little bland and it is certainly not cheap. It does take up a lot of space and you might find yourself constantly running out of the stuff at the most inopportune moments. Of more concern is the packaging, once a pouch of this is opened it has to be used – or an alternate receptacle will have to be found – which is a bit of a pain if you only want to use a small amount of the stuff.

Verdict: Has been surpassed. ***

Knorr Stock Pot Gel €3.09 for 224g

The stock market is more upmarket now than ever and even Knorr has given itself a makeover with a gel rather than a cube and a celebrity chef endorsement. This will give you four litres of stock and, while culinary snobs might turn their nose up at it, we were very impressed. It tastes of roasted chicken and not just salt, although it is salty and 500ml gives you 95 per cent of your GDA of the stuff. It will take up a lot less space in your larder and its gelatinous nature means it can be added to all manner of dishes and disappears quickly, save for the flavour. Marco Pierre White apparently uses it in his dishes. We don’t care much about that but the bottom line is it tastes great, is comparatively cheap and handy.

Verdict: A surprising winner. *****

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