Butchered over 60 chickens last weekend, which left us with a lot of scraps, and feet. Baked it all for 3 hours with some celery, carrots and onion, then tossed it all into two 5 gallon stock pots. Strained the mixture through cheese cloth after everything had simmered for about 8 hours, then cooled it overnight.
The next evening I skimmed the fat off the top,which was pretty easy since the stock had set up like jello. You know its good stock when it jiggles. Then I heated the mixture back up to a boil, seasoned it to taste, and I strained it once again. Again, I let it cool, and then a second skimming of fat the next morning.
Yesterday and today I had my pressure canner all set up, along with cookers to heat the stock, and also to boild water for jar and lid sterilization. A third propane burner heated up the pressure canner. All of this was done outside. In the end, I canned up total of 6 gallons of stock. 40 minutes at 15lbs, but the book only said 20-25 minutes at 11lbs. Better to over process than to chance it. I was able to cycle through a pot everyhour or so by keeping the stock hot and having multiple burners.
I also sorted throught the bones and such and took out the hearts, livers, and any chunks of cartiledge, meat and carrots, packaging those in 1 quart bags. I'll use that for dog food. So far, my dog approves.
If you haven't cooked with fresh canned stock before, try it. You'll never buy stock again.
The next evening I skimmed the fat off the top,which was pretty easy since the stock had set up like jello. You know its good stock when it jiggles. Then I heated the mixture back up to a boil, seasoned it to taste, and I strained it once again. Again, I let it cool, and then a second skimming of fat the next morning.
Yesterday and today I had my pressure canner all set up, along with cookers to heat the stock, and also to boild water for jar and lid sterilization. A third propane burner heated up the pressure canner. All of this was done outside. In the end, I canned up total of 6 gallons of stock. 40 minutes at 15lbs, but the book only said 20-25 minutes at 11lbs. Better to over process than to chance it. I was able to cycle through a pot everyhour or so by keeping the stock hot and having multiple burners.
I also sorted throught the bones and such and took out the hearts, livers, and any chunks of cartiledge, meat and carrots, packaging those in 1 quart bags. I'll use that for dog food. So far, my dog approves.
If you haven't cooked with fresh canned stock before, try it. You'll never buy stock again.
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