A Serious Stock Situation

Although COVID turned me into a food hoarder, my canning habit pre-dates COVID. And I have been canning homemade stock for years. When I say “stock,” I am referring to the liquid produced after slow cooking/simmering bones in water for days.

I started making stock for a few reasons. First, and most importantly, I can never remember to buy it at the grocery store. Inevitably, I will be in the kitchen, 30 minutes into dinner prep, and realize that the recipe calls for stock. I guess that I am not great at reading the entire recipe before I begin!

While I am very blessed to live in the mountains (pictured below), that also means that there is no Target five minutes away where I could quickly pick up the forgotten stock that I need. Living in the mountains,  if I realize that I am missing an ingredient in the middle of dinner preparations, there are major implications.

So, having a stock pile of homemade bone broth is extremely useful.

I also make stock because I do not like to waste food or resources if there is a practical use available. I often make stock from a chicken carcass or other bones from meals that we have prepared.

My method for cooking stock is incredibly simple. I place bones or a carcass in the crock pot and add water. I keep the crock pot on low for at least 4 days and continue to add water each day. By the end of the process, the stock is thick and dark in color.

After the stock is prepared, I can it using the pressure cooking method. If you are new to canning, check out my Canning 101 post here: https://www.kettleandcanyon.com/blog/canning-101

I prepare the pressure canner by filling it with 2-3 inches of water and turning on the burner to begin warming the water. I fill the jars with the hot stock, wipe the rim with a vinegar-soaked rag, and seal the lids. I place the jars into the canner with the water that is already boiling. I close the lid to the pressure canner and allow the steam to clear the vent for a few minutes. Then I seal up the canner and wait for the pressure to build.

At my elevation, I almost always can at 15 PSI. For quarts of stock, you must can the jars for 25 minutes and pints require 20 minutes at my elevation. You can find more information about what is required where you live by clicking on this link:

​nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/stock_broth.html

I make beef, chicken, elk, lamb, lobster, turkey, and venison stock. I always have at least ten quarts of homemade bone broth/stock on hand in the cabinet, just in case I forget to read a recipe all the way through before I begin cooking dinner.