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–+ servings
quart mason jars of homemade canned stock.

How to Make and Can Meat, Chicken or Turkey Stock

Alewyfe
A well-made meat or vegetable stock (or bone broth) is the foundation of good cuisine, and isn't hard to learn how to do well, though excellent stock is an alchemical art of its own, transforming humble ingredients into liquid gold!
It's easy and economical to make your own nutritious and flavorful stock at home in large batches. However, bone broth and homemade broth are very perishable, and will quickly take up all the extra space in your freezer. Luckily, it's super simple to pressure can your homemade stock!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours
Pressure-Canning Time: 25 minutes
Course Pantry Staples, Sauces, Soup
Cuisine American, Contemporary, French
YIELD 7 quarts

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 2 gallons cold water approximate, enough to cover bones & top up as needed
  • 5-15 lbs chicken, turkey, beef, veal, or game bones use less for lighter stock, or more for a richer broth for classical French sauces or consomme. Alt method: whole chicken/turkey, see notes or post for more details & about weight ranges
  • 1 lb onion quartered or roughly chopped
  • 8 oz carrots peeled & roughly chopped
  • 8 oz celery washed & roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp whole peppercorns
  • 3-5 med-large bay leaves

Optional ingredients (use some or all of these):

  • 1 large pig's foot (trotter) (omit or sub 6-8 oz chicken feet, either is a good source of gelatin)
  • 1-2 tbsp distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar (optional, aids mineral extraction from bones)
  • 1 bundle parsley stems (save leaves for cooking, use stems in stock)
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (sub 1 tbsp dried thyme leaves)
  • 1 bundle green leek tops, well washed (optional)
  • 1 head garlic (optional, or less) cut in half lengthwise, root & stem discarded
  • 2 oz roasted tomato paste or other tomato product (optional, or sub tomato peels & cores, or large diced tomato)

Instructions
 

Roast bones for brown stock:

  • On a large sheet pan or roasting pans, roast the neck bones, wing tips, and carcasses for your stock, unless you are making a white stock or your bones were already roasted.
  • Spread the raw bones out on the pan so that they brown (if you crowd the pans they will steam and simmer instead of browning).
  • Bake about 25-35 minutes in a hot oven (375-425 F) or until the meat on the bones is golden brown.
  • Remove them from the oven; don't let them burn. Deglaze the pans with water and add this "fond" to the stockpot, unless it is burnt.
  • Optional: Roast the mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery), and the tomato paste and garlic cloves, if you are using them, for an even deeper flavor.

Make bone broth:

  • Place the bones in a large stockpot, crock pot, or Instant Pot, along with fresh or roasted mirepoix vegetables: peeled and large chopped carrots, celery, and onion (2 parts onions to one part each carrots and celery) and any tomato product or mushrooms.
  • Add a tablespoon or two of black peppercorns, a few bay leaves, parsley or parsley stems, and other fresh or dry herbs & spices if you like. Don't use sage! It turns bitter when pressure canned.
  • Top up with enough cool water to cover the bones and vegetables by about 3-4".
  • Note: If you are using an 8 qt Instant Pot to make the stock, cover the bones up to the max fill-line. You can add water after straining or make a second stock/remi to make up the volume to can a full 7 quarts of stock (see next section).
  • Simmer stock over medium-low to low heat at a very low, lazy bubble for at least 3-4 hours for chicken or turkey stock, or 6-8 hours or overnight for beef, veal, and large game bones.
  • Strain stock by carefully ladling or pouring it through a colander and then a fine mesh strainer or chinois & keep hot. For extra clarity, ladle the broth carefully through the strainer rather than pouring, and pass the strained stock through a layer of cheesecloth or a micro-mesh chinois.
  • Carefully skim any excess fat from the top of the finished stock. You can also chill the stock quickly and remove the solidified fat before bringing it back up to a simmer (esp if you are making a two-step stock, as most of the rendered fat will be in the first stock).

Make a remouillage (optional second lighter stock)

  • You can make a remouillage ("remi", meaning "rewetting") or second light stock with your stock bones after straining the first rich broth. You can treat these as two separate products, or combine the first and second stock for a single medium-bodied stock.
  • This second stock is lighter in color and flavor, but is good for cooking rice or other grain pilaf, as a soup base, and more.
  • Add fresh mirepoix vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, optional leeks &/or tomato) to the pot, and top up again with cool water and repeat the process.
  • If you are making broth to can whole turkeys or chickens, this method is particularly helpful. You can make a primary stock from the necks and carcasses to make a broth to can the chicken or turkey breast and de-boned dark meat.
  • Then, add the wing and leg bones from the turkey or chickens to your remi stock after deboning the meat for canning, and can this second batch of remi stock after you've finished pressure canning the meat in the first broth.

Pack jars for processing

  • Place the recommended amount of warm water in the bottom of your canner (check your pressure canner manual, but usually 3-4" of water) and begin to preheat the canner.
  • Pack clean, hot quart and/or pint mason jars with the hot strained bone broth, leaving 1" headspace at the top of each jar.
  • If you run out of prepared stock before completely filling the jars, you can use boiling water to top up your jars to the proper headspace, or chill the remaining stock if you don't have enough to fill all the jars completely, or transfer to a smaller jar (process combined size batches of qts & pints for the longer processing time).
  • You can add up to a teaspoon of salt to each quart jar (half teaspoon per pint) if you like. This isn't necessary for food safety but adds flavor.
  • Wipe the jar rims with a lint-free cloth or paper towel dampened with hot water or white vinegar. Top with new canning lids and jar rings.
  • If you have more stock than will fit in the canner in one batch, keep it hot while the first batch processes. Or, you can refrigerate or freeze extra stock. Use refrigerated stock within a few days or freeze for up to six months (it's safe to freeze longer but more likely to freezer burn or pick up off flavors).

Pressure can the jars

  • Carefully place the filled jars into the preheated canner.
  • Check that the canner vent isn't clogged and close & seal the lid. Bring the canner up to pressure over medium heat with the vent open, and once the canner is venting a steady stream of steam, set a timer for 10 minutes.
  • When the canner has vented for 10 minutes, regulate the heat if necessary and drop the weight over the vent (or close the petcock if you have an older unweighted dial-gauge canner).
  • Can quarts of stock for 25 minutes (20 minutes for pints) at 11 PSI dial gauge/10 PSI weighted gauge up to 1000 ft (adjust to 15 at higher altitudes with a weighted canner). See notes for altitude adjustments.
  • Start your processing timer only once the appropriate PSI has been reached (11 PSI on a dial-gauge canner for up to 2000 ft, see notes for altitude adjustments), or when the weight is jiggling to indicate that the proper pressure has been reached.
    Watch or listen carefully, adjust heat as needed, and reset the timer to zero and restart processing time if you lose pressure below the correct processing pressure at any point.
  • After the processing time is complete, turn the heat off. Once the pressure canner has cooled and returned to neutral pressure (the dial will drop to zero, and no steam escapes from the weight or petcock if jiggled) you should open the canner and remove the jars (follow your canner instructions for opening).
  • Remove the jars from the canner using jar tongs or the jar rack.
  • Place the jars on a folded dish towel, cooling rack, or wooden surface. Protect hot jars from cold surfaces like granite, stainless, or concrete countertops until they have cooled.
  • Process additional batches if needed. You can also chill the stock for up to three days before reheating to a simmer and canning it if you are short on time.

Storing your canned homemade stock

  • Let the hot jars cool in a draft-free place where they can rest overnight or for up to 24 hours.
  • Don't touch the rings until the jars have completely cooled and the seals are set (disregard this for Tattler/Harvest Guard reusable lids only; for these, follow manufacturer instructions to carefully tighten rings immediately after removing from the canner).
  • Remove the rings and check the seals on the jars after they have rested at least overnight or a minimum of 8 hours.
  • Metal canning lids will ping and have a clearly depressed seal-button in the center of the jar, and reusable lids (Weck & Tattler jars) will have a strong vacuum seal holding the lids firmly in place without the clips or rings, and seal failure is very apparent.
  • Promptly freeze or refrigerate any jars that did not seal and use within a few days. You can also reprocess these jars within 24 hours.
  • Gently wash all sealed jars with soapy water, label clearly, and store in a cool, dark place. Do not stack jars or store them with the rings on.
  • Protect jars from freezing or other extremes of temperature in storage.
  • Safely discard the contents of any jars that lose their seals in storage or show signs of spoiling (off-flavors or aromas, hissing, bubbling, or spurting when opened, or any mold) and sterilize jars before reuse.

Notes

About Bone Quantities: I give a large range of weights for the bones in this recipe. Beef, veal, and large game bones are very dense and heavy, while chicken, turkey, and other poultry bones are hollow and light.
Use the larger range for meat stocks and the smaller weight range for poultry stocks.
If you don't have a scale, just fill your pot half to 2/3ds full of bones, then add the other ingredients and top up with water to cover by at least a few inches. It's a rough ratio and you don't have to get too precious about it!
Instant Pot Note: If you are using an Instant Pot to make the stock, cover the bones up to the max fill-line. You can add water after straining or make a second stock/remi to make up the volume to can a full 7 quarts or 14 pints of stock to fill your canner. 

Altitude Adjustments for Canning Stock:

Processing times remain the same (25 minutes for quarts, 20 minutes for pint or smaller jars). 
Adjust pressure for weighted gauge: 15 lb for any altitude above 1000 ft. Adjust pressure for dial gauge: 0-2000 ft (11 lb) 2001-4000 ft (12 lb) 4001-6000 ft (13 lb) 6001-8000 ft (14 lb)
Source: USDA Guide 5, Preparing and Canning Poultry, Red Meats, and Seafoods

No-Knife Skills/Whole Bird Broth Method:

Poach whole chickens or turkeys:

    • If you aren't handy with a boning knife or want an extra meaty flavored poultry broth, you can poach a whole chicken or two, or a small turkey in a large pot of water instead of deboning them.
    • You can roast the bird first in a roasting pan or sear it in the pot to make a darker, richer flavored stock.
    • Place the whole bird in the pot, then add the veggies, herbs, seasonings, and cool water to the pot to cover the bones by at least a few inches.
    • Bring up to a low, lazy simmer, and poach the whole uncooked or seared bird until the meat is just tender enough to remove from the bones.
    • Carefully remove the chicken or turkey to a pan until it is just cool enough to handle. Remove the meat and set aside. Return the bones to the pot and proceed as above until the stock has a rich full flavor and is ready to strain and can.
Keyword bone broth, broth, budget bites, budget-friendly recipes, canning, comfort food, farmhouse food, food preservation, frugal, healthy, meal prep, meal-in-a-jar, pantry meal, pantry staples, pressure-canning, soup supper
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