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Learning to cook and use the ingredients at hand are important skills for those of us who live in rural areas and are homesteading far away from grocery stores and food deliveries. Anyone who farms or ranches full-time understands the responsibilities that keep you tied to the homestead.
In harsh winter climates, you can’t just jump in the car and do a grocery run. You might be dealing with feet of snow, icy roads, or other weather conditions that will keep you tied to the homestead. Many of us rely on “shopping” in our freezers to plan meals for our families.Homestead cooks work throughout the year to preserve our harvested food animals and garden goods to cook with through the cold weather months until the next harvest is ripe.
For some, that means venison or other game harvested during hunting season, or feeding out small livestock or beef cattle designated for the freezer. It’s quite satisfying to have a freezer full of meat and pantry shelves stocked with ingredients that you’ve preserved yourself. Having these preserved ingredients allow you to create a rich and varied menu in spite of having few processed or ready-made meals on-hand.
One of those staples that it is important to have on hand is broth or stock. Broth and stock serve as the basis for many recipes including (obviously) soups, stews, gravies and sauces as well as adding flavor and nutrition to a ton of meals, including rice and potato dishes, casseroles and many other “scratch” recipes. It’s also a nutrient- packed single ingredient when you’ve got kids that aren’t feeling well, or just recovering from illness. It’s the perfect comfort food, easy to digest, and healthy for perking up a sick child. A warm cup of broth on a cold day will warm you from the inside.
Making your own broth and stock is quite easy. With a little bit of preparation and planning, you can make and can your own broth and stock whenever the notion strikes you.
Have you ever noticed the liquid that’s left in the slow cooker or roasting pan after cooking meat? You start out with water and end up with stock! Pour it off into a jar and as it cools, scrape or pour off the fat that rises to the top. You can save that jar in your fridge and use it fresh for up to a week.
One way to make and preserve your own broth and stock, is to save bones and vegetable cuttings in collection bags in the freezer until you’ve accumulated enough for a batch of stock. I keep my beef, chicken, and pork bones in separate bags, and have still another for vegetable cuttings (carrot tops, celery ends,onion stems, pepper stems, etc.) I just keep stockpiling them (pun intended), until I have the time and inclination to make my stock and broth.
You’ll notice that I keep saying stock and broth. They are two different things, and are made by two different, yet similar, ingredients and processes. Let me explain:
Stock
Stock is simmered with bones. When we have an animal harvested we always request to have bones and fat returned to us in addition to the cuts of meat we order. We render the fat into lard or tallow, and we use the bones to make stock and bone broth.
To make stock you simply add just enough water to cover the bones in a large stock pot, put on medium heat until the water begins to boil, then lower it to a slow simmer. Add salt, pepper, herbs and savory vegetables like celery, carrot, garlic and onion chunks. Continue to top up the water as it simmers for 8-12 hours or “all day.”
Strain the stock into canning jars, leaving enough head room in each jar for canning purposes (at least one inch). Top with seals and rings and pressure can according to directions below**.
As you remove the jars after canning, you should hear each jar seal with a “pop” as it comes to room temperature. Check each jar to make sure it seals. If a jar fails to seal, use that jar as fresh stock and keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. Once your canned stock is cooled, you can remove the rings for re-use and store in the pantry and use as needed.
You can make vegetable stock with the vegetable cuttings kept in your freezer. Avoid starchy veggies, such as potatoes or turnips. These will cloud the stock and change the flavor, and you won’t have the lovely clear veggie stock we’re going for. Unless you know what you’ll be using the stock for, avoid adding any strong spicy flavors. Keep more to neutral, yet savory flavors, avoiding garlic and hot chiles, etc.
Use the same method of covering the veggies with water and simmering. Add a bundle of savory herbs to the simmer, tied up with string that can be removed before canning. One way to bump up the flavor of veggie stock is to roast the veggies before you simmer them. This helps the ingredients release more flavor. You can also experiment with adding cheese rinds, such as Parmesan to the simmer. This gives another layer of flavor to your stock. Note: If this stock is for use in vegan recipes, you will not be adding cheese rinds.
Cool and can the stock as shown below. Once cooled, check to make sure that each jar is sealed correctly. You can then store it in your pantry and use it as needed.
You can also make seafood stock out of shrimp tails, crab and lobster shells, etc., with the above methods. Just make sure that anyone you may be serving it to does not have a shellfish allergy!
Broth
Broth is made from simmered meat and is usually left unseasoned. It’s a milder, more bland product, where stock is richer and more flavorful.
You can make broth from chicken, beef, pork, seafood, or vegetables, and the process is largely the same. You can it in the same way (see below), and use it for the same purposes. It’s quite versatile in that it’s not pre-seasoned, so you only get the flavor of whatever you made it with, and it’s a more pure ingredient to begin with.
I admit that I am guilty of combining both broth and stock recipes, making a type of bone broth. This involves taking a chicken carcass, for example, that was previously roasted with seasonings and vegetables, and simmering it until it falls apart, straining it and skimming the fat, then canning it. This broth will have the qualities of both broth and stock, in that there is meat that comes off the bones, and nutrition from bones being roasted, as well as the original spices and seasonings that were used when the chicken was first roasted.
This soup base is a smoked and scored ham hock with onions, celery and herbs simmered until the meat falls off the bones. The meat and bones are removed and the stock is blended (I use an immersion blender), until smooth. You can then add lentils, beans (I’m using cannellini), or split peas for a delicious and hearty soup which can be canned as instructed below.
I have also done this with the broth used in a shrimp boil, using the shrimp shells and tails and the spicy broth with the sausage to make a delightful spicy broth/stock that, surprisingly, makes a wonderful base for Asian-inspired soup.
This brings us to the last of our types of broth:
Bone Broth
Bone broth has become popular in recent years, with many nutrition experts touting the drinking of bone broth daily for its many health benefits. It’s currently being sold in health food markets and nutritional stores as a powdered supplement as well. While these nutrition companies charge big bucks for these canisters of powdered bone broth, you can easily make and can it at home.
Any bones that have been roasted can be made into bone broth. It’s truly a “hybrid of stock and broth.” Simmering the bones for at least 12 hours also helps to release the amino acids proline, glycine and glutamine, which further support joint and gut health.
Bone broth is easy to make at home. All you need are roasted bones (any bones will do: wings, tails, feet( peeled) , legs, knuckles or necks), a large pot, your favorite herbs, veggies and seasonings, and a little bit of patience during the simmering process. You’ll also need roughly 2 tablespoons of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar to help draw out the nutrients from the bones.
Once the broth is done, pour it into canning jars. Can according to directions, and once cooled, check that each jar is sealed and store in a cool dark place to use as needed.
You might notice that I didn’t talk about bullion. Bullion is dried broth or stock. Those little cubes you buy and dissolve in water? They are incredibly convenient to have on hand, but not really needed if you are making and canning your own healthy broth or stock. They are often loaded with sodium and not the most healthy additive to your recipe.
The good news is, you can learn how to dehydrate or freeze dry your homemade healthy broth or stock here: This is a great way to clear space in your pantry for the next harvest and batches of canned goods.
** Canning Guidelines
Pressure Canning Your Healthy Broth Or Stock
Start with 10 pounds of pressure for a weighted gauge, and 11 for a dial gauge (some experts say up to 15), you’ll have to adjust through trial and error. You’ll need to further adjust for altitude. I recommend talking to someone who lives locally and has experience in canning to learn what their baseline pressure is.
Process 20 minutes for pint jars
Process 25 minutes for quart jars
Adjust for altitude:
Add one pound of pressure for every 2 thousand feet of elevation
Sea Level- 2000 = 10
2000 ft- 4000 ft = 11
4000 ft- 6000 ft = 12
Let cool on the counter on a towel for 10-12 hours.
Test each jar for a tight seal and remove the rings before storing your jars in the pantry or another cool dark place.
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