This is a staple in my kitchen. It is tastes so good and it is incredibly healthy since you control the ingredients.
One of my favorite cook books is the “Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread: A Country Inn Cookbook.” I have other favorite recipes from it that I’ll share in the future but today it is my version of their chicken stock.
I have to admit. I love Costco’s Rotisserie Chicken. It is a fast meal that isn’t fast food AND I save all the carcasses for this broth. Sometimes I buy them for an easy dinner and other times I buy them to take the meat off to store in the freezer for lunches that week. No matter what I do with the meat, I save those bones. Â My mom even saves her chicken carcasses for me.
I’ve given you the recipe for a single batch. I don’t do single batches. I usually have four pots cooking. Two large ones that will each fit double the recipe and then two smaller pots that each have a single recipe. In other words, I multiply the recipe by six. Then I pressure can it.
Another difference I will do is I actually cook this overnight. I get it all going during the day. When I go to bed at night I turn all the pots down to low. When I get up in the morning it is still really hot.
When I strain it I use a spider to lift out the solids and put them into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Once I have most of the solids out I put them in the compost bin or trash if you don’t compost and then pour my golden broth into the colander. The cheesecloth catches all of the spices and bits of bone.
To can the broth you need a pressure canner. Chicken broth is not acidic enough to be water bathed. If you don’t have a pressure canner you can store it in the refrigerator for one week or freeze it.
I can both quarts and pints. You fill each jar to a generous inch of head space. Even though I use a funnel to pour the stock into the jars I still wipe the rim of each jar with a paper towel soaked in vinegar. Vinegar removes any fat which if left could interfere with a proper seal.
Chicken broth needs to be pressure canned at 10 pounds pressure for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
This last batch of stock netted me 16 quarts and 18 pints. That should last a little while.
Canning Homemade Chicken Stock
Ingredients
- 1 chicken carcass bones, most meat and skin removed
- 2 medium whole onions unpeeled, quartered
- 4 whole cloves
- 3 ribs celery with leaves broken into 2-3 big pieces
- 3 or 4 sprigs parsley
- 1 medium leek white part plus several inches of green, split down middle and washed thoroughly (optional)
Instructions
- Put everything into a large pot and pour the water and vinegar over everything. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer. Simmer 4 hours minimum. You can add more water as the water evaporates.
- Strain stock reserving the liquid.
- Refrigerate until cooled or use right away. There shouldn't be much if any fat if you didn't use much skin.
To Pressure Can:
- Ladle hot stock into hot jars, leaving 1 inch head space. Wipe rim with paper towel moistened with vinegar (cuts through any grease). Center lid on top of the jar, screw band to finger tight.
- Put the jars in pressure canner making sure your water level is correct according to the instructions for you pressure canner. Lock lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, vent for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of venting close the vent. Heat util you reach 10 lbs of pressure, lower the heat until you maintain the 10 lbs pressure.
- Process pints for 20 minutes. Process Quarts for 25 minutes.
- Turn off heat and allow the pressure to return to zero. Wait another five minutes. Remove canner lid. Allow jars to sit for about 10 min then remove them. Cool completely before storing.
Oh, the joy of canning! All those beautiful jars of golden broth lined up so neatly. Such a feeling of accomplishment. Nice work, Karen. You have come a very long way from the young bride that would call me asking about recipes.
Love,
Karren
Canning is SO enjoyable. Seeing all that food stored up to feed your family…it’s a good thing.
Yes, I’ve improved (with help) from my days of frozen chicken patties with Canadian Bacon and Swiss Cheese for dinner.
I shudder when I remember some of those dinners in the first year or two 🙂
Thanx for all your help along the way.
Hugs,
Karen
You amaze me. I aspire to your talent with recipes, canning and cooking.
How is your hubby doing?
Did you enjoy your birthday? Surrounded by all those kids 🙂
Some day let me teach you to pressure can. It’s easy.
Enjoy the beautiful weather.
Hugs,
Karen
Karen,
What is a spider, and what is a pressure canner? I should Google this and not be so lazy.
love you
A spider is a type of skimmer. It has a long handle and the scooper part is made of stainless steel wire. It allows the liquid to drain quickly through.
A pressure canner is similar to a pressure cooker but much bigger. To preserve food you need either a high amount of acid and/or a high temperature. Botulism is the hardest bacteria to kill and the most deadly if you do not kill it. It is in soil so we assume it is on our food. You kill botulism by boiling (212degrees) canned food that is high in acid (fruit, pickles etc). The acid and 212 degree water for a certain amount of time kills the bacteria. Food that is not high in acid (meat, potatoes, green beans, corn etc.) requires a higher temperature than boiling water. A pressure canner (like a pressure cooker) uses a little water and mostly steam. Depending on what we are canning, you use either 10 lbs of pressure or 15 pounds of pressure. The temperature of the steam is between 240 degrees and 250 degrees. The viscosity of your food will depend on what pressure and length of time at that pressure. The people who determine that is the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Love this post and recipe Karen. I’ve made chicken stock many times but never canned it. Love how you did it in bulk, saves time later and great to have on hand and so much healthier than store-bought with all the additives…it also look great on the pantry shelf all lined up and ready to go! I love a stocked pantry!
I absolutely love canning. In our last home Michael built a bunch of cabinets in our garage and one really big canning cabinet. The intent was to put a door on it but it was so pretty with all the colors of food canned that I told him not to bother. My sister asked how long all that broth will last and it will last me up to six months depending on the season. I go through more in the fall winter with all the soup I make. If you don’t have a pressure canner it is a good investment. Usually around Mother’s Day they go on sale.
Take care,
Karen
What a wonderful tutorial on canning broth! I have the pressure canner but have yet to try it. This sounds like a good place to try it out. Thanks for the info ( and the nudge) 🙂
It was the first thing I pressure canned. It is simple and great to have on hand.
In the future I’ll post other pressure canning tutorials.
Glad you enjoyed it and hope you try it,
Take care,
Karen
I am so happy to learn that you save carcases to make broth. I do the same thing. There is so much nutrition in bones, collagen surrounding joints, iron and proteins from bone marrow, etc.
Thank you for this recipe. I usually pressure cook my stock and strain it and then can it. And I do it with all bones including chickens, ducks, deer, turkey, pork. I have so many jars of stock. And it makes it easy to make soups and other dishes because the stock is already precooked. You don’t need to spend time cooking it.
I will try your method of slow cooking your broth. I can imagine it makes broth very reach and savory.
Great post.
Kimberly
I really like this broth. It is one of the most used and helpful things in my canning cupboard.
I also cook with a pressure cooker (different from my canner). I bought it last summer when it would be 8:00 pm and I’m just getting dinner on the table. They are very handy.
Take care,
Karen