Stock dividends by water bath
Monday, January 21, 2008
Like Kevin, I also routinely make my own stock. Anytime I have bones leftover from something, I automatically save them and cook up a pot. Right now in my freezer I’ve got a few quarts of rabbit stock, although I generally don’t freeze my stock - I prefer to can it.
I really don’t think the way stock is preserved impacts the flavor - at least as far as I can tell. However, there are two reasons I like to can stock instead of freeze it.
- Freezing stock takes up freezer space. I have a chest freezer that isn’t full, so it’s not the worst thing in the world - but I do like to clear up as much freezer space as possible in case I get a big haul of meat or vegetables that I plan to freeze. You could also make the case that you use electricity to keep stock frozen, although if your freezer is running anyway...well, what’s the difference?
- I’m sort of an immediate gratification kind of girl. When I want to make risotto or soup or something, I don’t want to take the time to defrost stock. It seems much easier to me to can it and have it ready to use.
And it really is easy to can stock, and doesn’t require a lot of equipment. Aside from the stock and the soup pot you made your stock in, you need canning jars that you can buy at nearly any grocery store. That’s it. Now granted, nearly all canning sites will say you should use a pressure canner to can stock - but I’ve been canning stock with the water bath method for a decade and nothing bad has ever happened to me.
Have I cheated death and sickness for a decade on sheer luck? Maybe. My grandmother canned her stock this way, and so did my mother. So even though I know I should use my pressure canner for stock, I continue to use a water bath. Perhaps one day my luck will run out. Just keep this in mind before attempting my method - my method is not recommended by food safety experts.
This is how I can chicken stock:
- Sterilize your canning jars. The easiest way to do this is to put the jars and the two piece lids (not screwed onto the jars) into a dishwasher and run them through a cycle. If you don’t have a dishwasher, place the jars and lids on a cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes or so. Honestly, though, you can skip this step - if you’re going to be processing jars for more than 10 minutes, which I do. Of course, I’d rather be safe than sorry (which is ironic, all things considered) so, unless I’m in a big hurry, I sterilize the jars first.
- Pour soup stock into canning jars, being sure you don’t fill the jar above the lid threads. If you’re concerned about fat, refrigerate the stock first and skim the fat off the top before pouring into jars. I also like to strain the stock through a fine sieve and then into the jars.
- Place the lid on the jar and then screw the rings on - make sure the rings are on very tightly.
- Bring a big soup pot full of water to a boil, and place jars into the pot. I generally use pint jars (four at a time) to make sure the jars can be completely submerged in the water bath.
- Boil jars for 20 minutes and remove from the water bath. Turn the jars upside down so that they are sitting on the lid.
- Let the jars cool and then press on the lid to check for a seal - if you press the lid down and it stays down, that’s OK...but if you press the lid down and it flexes back up, that’s not OK.
I do have some things that makes canning easier - tongs, a funnel, a silicon mitt. But you really don’t need any of that stuff to can.
Keep in mind that not all food can be canned in this manner. I can most foods in a pressure canner, as recommended, and I suggest you do the same to avoid botulism. As I said, perhaps I’ve just been lucky but nothing has ever gone awry for me when canning stock in a water bath.
