How Long to Can Chicken Broth?

[baymule]

Sorry about that, a pressure CANNER with the pressure dial. Thanks for the info!!

 

[mrscoyote]

Thanks FarmerJamie that is what I meant.

 

[Wannabefree]

Jamie, don't forget the garlic cloves!!

 

[Justme]

Just finishing up a batch- about 7 gallons worth. I have had the bones since Thanksgiving but have been waiting for it to get cold enough to use the woodstove for a long period. Finally gave up and took the opportunity to use the last cold snap and opened the back door to let out some of the heat.
I have made stock or broth for many years but it was always mediocre until I started raising my own chickens and stumbled onto a few tips. Now I have to say it is pretty awesome. So here's my method.
1) chunk all vegi scraps into a gallon freezer bag to use when you are ready to make stock. This may include anything. My last batch had the root ends and tops of onions, root ends of celery and garlic, stems from broccoli and artichoke, carrot tops, even a few green beans and butter beans. Don't worry about peels just make sure it's all clean.
2) roast everything. Dump all bones and vegis(add more if you didn't save enough- I will usually add a few extra quartered onions,garlic,celery and carrots. Don't worry about pealing anything just chop into chunks ) in a big pan and roast it all for an hour or so at about 350-400. If it is mainly single layer you don't need to worry about stirring much but if a big pile then mix up every now and then to get all the bones toasted a bit. If you are using bones with a lot of meat on them then after the meat is cooked let them cool till you can handle them and take the meat off.
If you are butchering your own chickens then everything but the crop and intestines and bile duct can go in. Skin, bones and spare parts. Peel the socks and toenails off the feet. Some people will use the head to but personally I have been hungry enough yet to have eyes in my stew pot.
3) after roasting and removing meat If you can cut into the bones to expose the marrow inside. Dump everything into a big stew pot and cover with water. Add a glug of AC vinegar (I used almost a cup for my 8 gallons worth) and any spices you may want. I try not to be too heavy with the spices so I can flavor it as I desire when I use it but I do want it flavorful enough to have a quick "instant " soup if need be.
4)with the lid on heat to a good simmer and keep it there for as long as you can. I like to go for at least 24 hours- hence the reason I like to use the woodstove. You don't have to go that long but the flavor is richer.
5) Strain out the liquid and let it cool. Again here is another reason I like to do this when it is cold. My refrigerator is not bigg enough for my stock pots but if I time it right and mother nature cooporates then a critter proof spot outside overnight is good. After all my refrigerator is set at 37 so anything below that is just as good as in the fridge. After cooling the fat will solidify at the top and can be scooped off. And you are ready to process in a canner or freeze the stock.
6) after I strained my bones and such they still smelled so good I added a few onions,garlic bay leaf and rosemary a covered them again with water a simmered again. This second cooking resulted in just a slightly weaker broth but still very good.

I will usually run the bones and vegis through a meat grinder( yea by now the bones are kinda soft) and freeze the resulting mash for treats for the hens later. They love it.

Also this time I ran across a way to make bullion.
Take your stock after the fat has beed removed and keep simmering until it is reduced to a thick bubbly syrupy paste. I took a gallon of stock and ended with about a cup to cup and half. Stir steady at the end. The next step I tried two different ways. The first I poured the paste onto one of my solid trays for my dehydrator and dried it more. It was a bear to get off the tray but it did come off clean. The second batch I poured into a silicon baking pan and let it cool in the fridge for a couple hours. Then popped it out and cut with a pizza cutter. Then put the pieces in the dehydrator. If you have a heat setting on your dehydrator keep it low at first or the pieces will get so soft they will drip. The woman I got this from said she tested hers to see how much stock she could make from her bullion and it seemed that she could make almost twice as much as what she started with. That is in my case I started with a gallon and now two one cup jars dried chips. But according to her I can dissolve the chips and make close to two gallons of stock. It is a mystery but somehow the flavor seems to expand as it concentrates. I havent really tested mine yet but it does seem this may hold true.
Oh and I ground some of the dried chips in a coffee grinder. Worked great. So I will be able to get exact measured amounts and should dissolve quicker and easier. Only thing is I will need to find an anti caking agent for. Any suggestions?

 

[moolie]

Sorry Moolie, I didn't mean to throw you for a loop there. I was not sure of the original post. If she has a canner or just a cooker.


g

No worries Gina, my apologies for not understanding your question!

As I said above, I just breezed through the OP, totally missing the "cooker" part

 

[Mickey328]

I generally make stock rather than broth. I save pretty much all of my veggies that are a tad past their prime or are just "extra" I toss them in a zipper bag in the freezer. When the bag is full and I have chicken bones, necks, organs, etc (I also keep them in a zipper bag in the freezer till I'm ready), I lay everything into a large roasting pan. I always make sure I have onion, carrot and celery, the others are optional. I also throw in a handful of parsley or whatever other herbs I have growing and of which we like the taste. I add 2 or 3 cups of water and stick the roaster in the oven about about 350 till everything is good and brown. Then, I toss it all into a pressure cooker, add more water and process it for 45 mins or thereabouts.

When processing is done, I strain the liquid out and add salt/pepper to taste. Into jars and the pressure canner. We're at about 5000 feet here, so I can at about 12 lbs...75 mins for pints and 90 for quarts. I use both sizes because if I'm making soup, I'll need at least a quart, and other times I don't need more than a cup or two.

I also use up all the solids. The bones, after being pressure cooked, are soft and don't splinter. They can be added to feed either for the dogs or chickens. I actually save them in a big bag and when I have enough I throw them in the food processor and grind them up...bone meal! All the veggies go into the chicken run...what they don't eat will compost nicely right there.

For beef stock, I follow the same procedure. I keep separate freezer bags for beef and chicken. The beef bones don't get quite soft like the chicken bones so they often end up having to be tossed Otherwise, pretty much nothing gets thrown away.

Veg stock is also a great thing to have around...you can add it to just about anything for extra flavor. I handle it just the same way...you can use whatever veggies you have on hand and/or particularly like.

Wow, Jusme...somehow I missed your post...that's an awesome idea about making the boullion! It would be such an efficient use of space! I love the convenience of bullion, but the stuff you buy seems to be nothing but various forms of salt...ugh!

 

[ORChick]

Mickey ... could be I misunderstood your post; if so I apologize. But it looks to me like you are canning stock/broth for 75 min./pint. Is that correct? Because, if so, I think you don't have to do it for that long; not if it is just liquid, with no meat in the jar. Ball Blue Book, as well as other sources, says 20 minutes is enough for pints. Or is this different because of your altitude? I have always understood that in pressure canning the amount of pressure needs to be changed according to altitude, but not the timing. But then, what do I know, living as I do at 550 feet above sea level.
As far as making the stock I do just as you do, though I leave out the salt until the final use. But that is just my preference.

 

[moolie]

Yup, altitude only requires a pressure adjustment, not a timing adjustment. Only water bath canning requires additional processing time to adjust for altitude.

 

[baymule]

Whoo-Hoo! Thanks so much for the detailed explanation Justme and Mickey 328! That was so much help. Now I won't make plain ol' boiled chicken bits broth! Thank you! Thank you! I am not ready to butcher the little roos yet, but I wanted to be ready and now I am!

 

[Justme]

I am always confused as to whether it is stock or broth I cannot ever seem to get it right. I know one is just juice and the other has more meat /vegis left in it. Don't try and educate me it just one of those things that will not stick in my brain.
Anyways just juice with maybe a little meat bits is processed as others said at 10 pounds for 20 /25 minutes for pints/quarts. On the other hand if more meat is added then the time is a lot longer. I am not positive and since I am very comfortable on the couch will not go look it up but I am pretty sure Micky is right with 75 minutes IF she is adding a lot of meat to her jars. which is why I can the juice and freeze the meat. I may add some but usually less than an inch in a quart.
And yes it is only pressure that is adjusted for altitude not time. Just in case others don't know the pressure you use goes up with every 1000 ft in elevation. I cannot remember how much but can easily be found in any good canning book or on the Internet. Right now I am at sea level and sometimes I think below depending on the the moon and tide. I'm gonna have to relearn all my recipes when I finally move to the mountains of Tennessee.