Store bought chicken broth or stock doesn’t even compare to the richness of homemade broth. Since making homemade chicken broth is so easy, it makes it a great DIY Homemade Convenience Food.
I used to always store my homemade chicken broth in the freezer {just like my cooked beans}–but I’ve found that canning it not only frees up freezer space, but it also comes in handy that I don’t have to thaw it before using it. For me that is huge since I never remember to do it!
Ingredients
- Leftover Chicken Bones or carcass
- Water
- Salt and Pepper
- Parsley
- Vegetables or Vegetable scraps {optional}
Instructions
- Place the chicken bones and vegetables {if desired} in a large stock pot and cover with water.
- Add a dash of salt, pepper, and parsley flakes {I love the added layer of flavor that this adds}.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 4 hours. You can also do this overnight in the crockpot.
- Strain the broth in a colander or through cheesecloth to remove the bones and vegetable scraps.
- Sterilize your jars in your canner, and your lids in a separate pot making sure not to boil them.
- Fill your sterilized jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
- Wipe off rims of jars.
- Add the lid and secure the ring.
- Place your jars back into the pressure canner, and finish filling your jars.
- Chicken Broth has to be canned using the pressure canning method.
- Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure {if your altitude is under 1000 feet}.
- Gently remove the jars from the canner using a jar lifter and place on a towel on the counter top.
- Let sit overnight.
- You can easily tell if your jar has sealed or not by pressing on the center. If it gives way, it did not process correctly and is not shelf stable.
- Remove your outer bands--and store.
- Go here for more information on pressure canning.
Notes
*This "recipe" is very forgiving, which is partially why there is no measure of ingredients. Feel free to use as much {or little} seasonings as you desire.
*As an added tip. I've heard that adding a splash or two of vinegar into the water while it's boiling will bring more of the nutritional marrow out.
*Also--when you're chopping up veggies or have some that are on the brink of going bad, throw them in a bag and place in the freezer for the next time you make broth.
Some of our favorite recipes that use chicken stock or broth::
Homemade Cream of Mushroom/Cream of Chicken Soup
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so glad to read this. I usually freeze my stock too, but like you said, it takes up so much precious freezer space. So, I have a couple of questions regarding this… 1) Is it ok to leave the fat on when canning the stock, or do you have to cool and de-fat it first? 2) Would canning beef stock work the same way?
Thanks for this great post!
Pam
Pam–I’ve canned by broth with and without the fat–that is total preference on your part. And yes, canning beef stock works exactly the same way! Enjoy your extra freezer space!
What does it mean in step 10 to finish filling the jars when in steps 7-9 that step has already been done? I just don’t want to mess this up! Thanks!
Julie–I should have made that more clear–that’s pretty confusing! What I meant was to fill your jar, place the lid/ring on, place in the pressure canner, and then finish filling all of the other jars. Basically what I wanted to make clear {but failed!} was that once you fill your sterilized jar with chicken stock, you need to place it back into the pressure canner so that it doesn’t lose it’s heat, while you fill the rest of your jars. Does that make more sense? So sorry about the confusion!
Thank you for a quick reply! I assumed that and moved forward. Had great seals on all 5 quarts (actually 4 quarts and 2 pints!) I’ve been making and freezing bone broth for years and have used an electric pressure cooker for a few years (love it!), but recently borrowed a pressure canner from a friend (having only done water bath canning foods prior). Combined with low freezer space, etc., I decided to do this method and it was super easy! Just in time for the allergy head cold I woke up to this morning.
Do you know how long the broth will last in the jars?
Janice–
I’m not 100% certain, but I know its good for at least a year, if not more.
Thanks so much for the great recipe! I do have a question on step 16, what is the reasoning for removing the band to store? I’ve canned a lot and never heard of this. Do you do this for everything you can or just broth?
Alicia–
I remove the band on everything that I can, for a couple of reasons. The main one being that if for some reason the jar loses it seal, the band can hold the lid down, giving a false sense of safety. Another reason is that sometimes the bands get rusty, so for me it’s easier just to remove them, and reuse them. When I open the item, I store it with a band on in the fridge, but that’s the only time.
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