What is the difference between chicken broth and chicken stock?

Q. What is the difference between chicken broth and chicken stock, both found on the soup aisle in the grocery store? Can they be used interchangeably?

A. That's a perennial question. And truthfully, it has a lot to do with semantics. Technically, stock is the flavored liquid you get when you simmer bones and flavorings such as fresh vegetables, and then strain it, discarding the bones and vegetables. Chicken stock, for instance, is made with bone-in chicken and vegetables, traditionally a mixture of diced onion, celery and carrot called a mirepoix.

Broth is the liquid left when you cook meat — with or without bones — and vegetables. See the difference? Neither do I.

The fact is, the two terms often are used interchangeably. Both are flavorful liquids, both are used to cook things, such as soups, or to make things, such as sauces.

I've even seen some sources claims that stock is used in restaurants and broth is used in homes. Nonsense — given a good hen and a pile of onions, carrots and celery, you're just as capable of making stock as any chef.

In practice, when a recipe refers to stock, it means a liquid that is richer and darker than a broth.

Until recently, the product sold in supermarkets usually was labeled broth, not stock. But recently, some brands have come out with a version labeled "stock." ( (c) 2009, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.).