Save all the bones, stuffing, skin, and shreds and put them back in the roasting pan for the stock.

Each pound of raw chicken makes about 3/4 cup of cooked meat; a 4 pound chicken makes about 3 cups.

Since you are not serving, use your good kitchen scissors and your clean hands to do most of the work. Place the chicken breast side down on a plate, so the juices will be caught and put in the roasting pan. Remove the backbone and thigh bones, the neck and shoulder blades. Break the two leg quarters away, skin them, then remove the meat from the thigh and legs, and put the bones and cartilage in the roasting pan.

Break the wings away, put the skin, bones and whole end joint in the roasting pan.

Slice off as much of the white meat as you want to store slices, put aside. Then work the rest of the meat off the rib bones, and put the whole carcass in the roastong pan.

Somehow, roasting the chickens before you make the soup lifts the stock to a whole different level.

Turn all the scraps, bones, skin, onions and stuffing, etc., into the roasting pan and add any leftover parsley, vegetable scraps, extra onions, celery, etc. No garlic, though; the flavor doesn't keep well in the stock. Add a couple of teaspoons of turmeric or mild curry powder.

Cover, bake 70 minutes at 400 degrees or microwave 40 minutes (only if you used a glass or microwave safe pan!). The pan will be pretty heavy. Open carefully,, it will be full of steam. Ladle or drain the first stock into a large storage container, stir all the bones and scraps in the pan and mash them down. Add water just to cover, repeat the cooking uncovered this time, then drain and strain the liquid into the storage container and discard all the solids.

Cover the container and chill overnight, You will have a golden, jellied broth with a layer of fat which you can easily remove when you are ready to use it. If you will leave the fat layer on and store in a cold part of your refrigerator, it will keep 4-5 days. Or remove the fat, transfer the stock to ziplock freezer bags in amounts you will use, and freeze flat until you need them.