When I make chicken broth, I always use peppercorns, a Bay leaf, onion, carrots, and celery. Then I look around at what else I have. I practically always add basil, I have so much of it. Parsley, thyme, chives, and/or oregano often get added. My wife does not like garlic in it, but it is a "strong" possibility. I don't add salt, though some people might want to.
I use a large crock pot. I'll make up one batch and cook it on low overnight, take that out and cook another batch that day, then do another batch the next night. Then I can the following day. I usually get about 15 to 16 pints of broth, but of course that willl depend on your crock pot and how much water you add. And you can cook it in a stock pot on top of the stove if you wish. I'm sure there are other ways.
I pick the meat off the bones. A lot will have cooked off the bones and just be floating free. This cooked meat is great for soups, casseroles, tacos, lots of great things. Be careful though. You can get small bones pretty easily.
When I finish the first two batches, I strain it through a wire mesh strainer and put the liquid in the fridge after cooling it, usually by setting a metal pot of it in ice water. Most of the fat will congeal on top and can be scraped off. For the third batch, I use one of those fat separaters and use that to get out the fat. I also strain it through 4 to 6 layers of cheesecloth to get the chunks out. When I get those two batches out of the fridge and skim off what fat I can, I heat them up before running them through the fat separator. That fat floats to the top a lot faster if the liquid is warm.
Maybe more info than you wanted, but I really like that broth.
