Bone broth help

[Maeschak]

Can I ask what kinds of things you like to make with pressure canned chicken? Sounds like a very practical thing to do with tough birds.

Sure, but first I'd like to note that for my mouth, canned chicken is far superior to frozen chicken meat. (Unless you are growing CornishX- you can't get more tender than that! I have DP and laying breeds so unless they are 12 weeks old can always be more tender).

Once I freeze my chicken (cooked not raw) the meat turns very rubbery and sort of dry in comparison to pressure canned.
I used to butcher my chickens and then simmer/crock pot/roast the entire bird, pick the meat off, throw the meat into freezer for enchiladas or whatever and then use the carcasses for stock. The chicken meat (again, in comparison to canned) once frozen is much coarser, firmer, etc- plus, I have to thaw it before use... Plus I've used precious food saver bags that I use in the process of vacuum packing!
So, once I pressure can my chicken I use it several ways:
- super quick chicken salad (cold or hot)
- super quick chicken soup
- super quick tacos
- super quick enchiladas
- super quick 'pulled chicken' (I mix w a bit of bbq sauce) for sandwiches
- anything requiring meat such as mamwhich, tuna helper, meat for crackers, over rice, chicken chili, etc.
As a side note my favorite quick recipe w canned chicken is soup- I throw in 1 pint of canned chicken w all of its natural stock, 1 pint of canned bean (I like garbanzo), a handful of rice or potato, corn, and canned chicken stock that I made from the chicken after butchering. It's done as soon as the rice/potatoes are done.

The Pros for pressure canning:
- no rest period for carcasses after butcher (those birds take up a lot of space resting in the fridge)
- the chicken is fully cooked, seasoned, and ROOM TEMP when u go to use it (this saves me tons of time) so no thawing with its messy wet bags, time on the counter, etc.
- the texture of the meat.. Even the oldest birds come out nice and tender

The only chicken that I do not pressure can is chicken that is capable of being tender when roasted or grilled (very young birds for me), chicken wings (I like mine meaty and chewy so I'll eat just about any chicken wing), and I sometimes freeze drumsticks whole for use in tomato based soups that simmer for a long time (or something like ossobuco or shank braise) since it is so difficult to cut the meat off of the drum stick.

Hope that helps-

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is a pressure cooker necessary vs boiling canning? I intend to can vegetables this summer too, will a pressure canner make life easier?

It might keep you alive. There are some things where the boiling water bath canning works when canning. Mainly jam, jelly, or pickles though there are some other things. It mainly depends on the acidity of the product. Tomatoes are on the border. Some tomato varieties are acid enough to water bath but there are some low acid tomatoes out there. Plus if you add enough other things to make a sauce you might need to add lemon juice to get the acidity right.

The problem is botulism. The microbe that caused botulism cannot live in a high acid environment but thrives in an low acid airless environment like something you have canned. Botulism is tasteless, odorless, clear, and can kill or make you bey sick. Proper pressure canning kills kills that botulism microbe. it gets the internal temperature high enough that the microbe dies. The density of the product you are canning determines how long you need to maintain the pressure. For some things it can be a few minutes, for some it can be an hour and a half. Chicken broth doesn't take long. Vegetable soup is a long day.

This sounds complicated but it does not have to be. Do like Bobbi said and get the Ball Blue Book and follow the recipes. And read the basic instructions. One you understand those it's really pretty easy.


How long is pressure canned broth good for?

Impossible to answer. If the seal remains good it can last for years if you followed the recipe. If the lid comes off easily toss it. If it smells or you see a mold toss it. That's true for anything you can, pressure or water bath. Some people will arbitrarily pick a number, 6, 8, or 12 months as long as the lid is tight, it does not smell bad, and you don't see mold.

 

[1 acre willows]

You can go to the USDA's web site, they're the ones who pretty much write the times for using canners. You can download the times as a pdf, I can keep iton my phone that way for a quick reference

 

[bobbi-j]

Sure, but first I'd like to note that for my mouth, canned chicken is far superior to frozen chicken meat. (Unless you are growing CornishX- you can't get more tender than that! I have DP and laying breeds so unless they are 12 weeks old can always be more tender).

Once I freeze my chicken (cooked not raw) the meat turns very rubbery and sort of dry in comparison to pressure canned.
I used to butcher my chickens and then simmer/crock pot/roast the entire bird, pick the meat off, throw the meat into freezer for enchiladas or whatever and then use the carcasses for stock. The chicken meat (again, in comparison to canned) once frozen is much coarser, firmer, etc- plus, I have to thaw it before use... Plus I've used precious food saver bags that I use in the process of vacuum packing!
So, once I pressure can my chicken I use it several ways:
- super quick chicken salad (cold or hot)
- super quick chicken soup
- super quick tacos
- super quick enchiladas
- super quick 'pulled chicken' (I mix w a bit of bbq sauce) for sandwiches
- anything requiring meat such as mamwhich, tuna helper, meat for crackers, over rice, chicken chili, etc.
As a side note my favorite quick recipe w canned chicken is soup- I throw in 1 pint of canned chicken w all of its natural stock, 1 pint of canned bean (I like garbanzo), a handful of rice or potato, corn, and canned chicken stock that I made from the chicken after butchering. It's done as soon as the rice/potatoes are done.

The Pros for pressure canning:
- no rest period for carcasses after butcher (those birds take up a lot of space resting in the fridge)
- the chicken is fully cooked, seasoned, and ROOM TEMP when u go to use it (this saves me tons of time) so no thawing with its messy wet bags, time on the counter, etc.
- the texture of the meat.. Even the oldest birds come out nice and tender

The only chicken that I do not pressure can is chicken that is capable of being tender when roasted or grilled (very young birds for me), chicken wings (I like mine meaty and chewy so I'll eat just about any chicken wing), and I sometimes freeze drumsticks whole for use in tomato based soups that simmer for a long time (or something like ossobuco or shank braise) since it is so difficult to cut the meat off of the drum stick.

Hope that helps-

What Maeschak said. All of it.

 

[Ms Biddy]

Sure, but first I'd like to note that for my mouth, canned chicken is far superior to frozen chicken meat. (Unless you are growing CornishX- you can't get more tender than that! I have DP and laying breeds so unless they are 12 weeks old can always be more tender).

Once I freeze my chicken (cooked not raw) the meat turns very rubbery and sort of dry in comparison to pressure canned.
I used to butcher my chickens and then simmer/crock pot/roast the entire bird, pick the meat off, throw the meat into freezer for enchiladas or whatever and then use the carcasses for stock. The chicken meat (again, in comparison to canned) once frozen is much coarser, firmer, etc- plus, I have to thaw it before use... Plus I've used precious food saver bags that I use in the process of vacuum packing!
So, once I pressure can my chicken I use it several ways:
- super quick chicken salad (cold or hot)
- super quick chicken soup
- super quick tacos
- super quick enchiladas
- super quick 'pulled chicken' (I mix w a bit of bbq sauce) for sandwiches
- anything requiring meat such as mamwhich, tuna helper, meat for crackers, over rice, chicken chili, etc.
As a side note my favorite quick recipe w canned chicken is soup- I throw in 1 pint of canned chicken w all of its natural stock, 1 pint of canned bean (I like garbanzo), a handful of rice or potato, corn, and canned chicken stock that I made from the chicken after butchering. It's done as soon as the rice/potatoes are done.

The Pros for pressure canning:
- no rest period for carcasses after butcher (those birds take up a lot of space resting in the fridge)
- the chicken is fully cooked, seasoned, and ROOM TEMP when u go to use it (this saves me tons of time) so no thawing with its messy wet bags, time on the counter, etc.
- the texture of the meat.. Even the oldest birds come out nice and tender

The only chicken that I do not pressure can is chicken that is capable of being tender when roasted or grilled (very young birds for me), chicken wings (I like mine meaty and chewy so I'll eat just about any chicken wing), and I sometimes freeze drumsticks whole for use in tomato based soups that simmer for a long time (or something like ossobuco or shank braise) since it is so difficult to cut the meat off of the drum stick.

Hope that helps-

Very cool, thank you! It does sound delicious. I've helped smoke and pressure can salmon but haven't gotten my own pressure cooker. There are many awesome things you can do with them. I love all the points you raised.

 

[miken56]

Can I ask what kinds of things you like to make with pressure canned chicken? Sounds like a very practical thing to do with tough birds.

My DW makes a chicken a-la-king in pint jars for a ready to use quick meal alone, over noodles or rice, or just out of the jar YUMMY

 

[Ms Biddy]

^That sounds great

 

[bobbi-j]

Very cool, thank you! It does sound delicious. I've helped smoke and pressure can salmon but haven't gotten my own pressure cooker. There are many awesome things you can do with them. I love all the points you raised.

I just learned how to do that last summer. Spent some time with friends that live in Alaska, and we smoked and canned a bunch of salmon to take home.

 

[Beer can]

Can I ask what kinds of things you like to make with pressure canned chicken? Sounds like a very practical thing to do with tough birds.

Like Maeschak posted, pretty much anything. I mostly just make the best chicken soup ever, with bone broth, carrots celery onions fresh egg noodles.

 

[Beer can]

I make bone broth similar to others, little different. All my processed birds get frozen after a resting period. Young birds get grilled. All others get the pressure cooker/bone broth treatment.
I have a old four qt presto pressure cooker, not a canner, we also have a large canner but I use the small one for cooking. I put the whole bird in, can even still be froze comes out just as done. A really large bird doesn't fit very good and sometimes have to cut the leg knuckles off and toss them in. Medium large birds fit just fine.
I pressure cook for only 20mins, any longer and you risk opening it up to a mixed up mess of meat and little bones. I go the 20mins and then rip the weight off with a towel, make sure your ready to drop the towel on the cooker if it starts spewing (depends on how much water you put in it, dw doesn't like it when it spews all over the hood and stove lol)
You can wait till it cools down and the pressure comes off it won't be a mess but does cook longer, just be very very careful pulling the bird out it will be about falling apart. Debone the meat set aside in the fridge. Put the bones (I chop them up with poultry shears)back in the pot with chopped carrots celery onions I like to add some cabbage sometimes for xtra flavor, water to cover. Couple tablespoons of vinegar (like someone else said it helps release the minerals, and you will not taste the vinegar) Pressure cook for a few hrs. Cool down in the fridge over night. Take the fat off the top, the rest if done right will be like jelly until it gets hot again. If not you just used too much water but no biggie all the good is still in it.
Smash the bones and vegis with a tater masher the bones will be soft. (A second boil probably isn't necessary but I do it anyway) and pressure cook a few more hrs. Cool off, strain, add back to the pot add new carrots onions a little celery and cook till almost tender, add the chopped meat and egg noodles, cook till egg noodles are done, season to taste, best chicken soup ever.
When you refrigerate left overs turns into chicken soup solid jello, looks kinda gross but as soon as you heat it up again it liquefies.

All this could be done in a crock pot but would take many hrs and lots more energy. Beauty of the pressure cooker is it uses very little energy once the weight gets jiggling.