Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade Chicken Stock

I was given a good amount of local chicken, well, chicken parts, and I wanted to use them for stock. Freezer space is at a premium right now so I decided to can it. It was really easy and now whenever I want to make soup I’ll have homemade stock on hand. Seven quarts so far and making another batch tomorrow. I made my stock the way I normally do but I used non-iodized salt. Iodized salt should never be used in canning- it can result in an off flavor. I added the chicken with lots of veggies to a stock pot. I browned them a little first then added water to cover and cooked for a few hours. Seasoned with salt, pepper, turmeric and parsley. Strained the stock, cooled it down and put it in the fridge to chill. That way I could easily skim off the fat. The next day heated up the stock to boiling and placed in quart jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Processed in a pressure canner for 25 minutes  at 10 pounds pressure.For low acid food, like stock and any meat product, you must use a pressure canner- a water bath will not get hot enough to insure a safe product.

Just a fun bit of information. When I took the stock out of the fridge it was very gelatinous. Normal with soups made with bones. However, after canning and cooling down the stock was liquid. Why? In pressure canning the temperature goes up high enough to break down the gelatin in the stock.