Saving Feet or Heads for Chicken Stock

[HenCrazyMom]

What a great idea. I love it. I am going to try to do this. I can lots of stuff from the garden so I have everything to do it. Would love my own chicken stock!!!!!!

 

[galanie]

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I use the Ball Complete Book. 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes for pints, 25 minutes for quarts if you're less than 2,000 feet in altitude. The National Canning and Food Preservation website also has complete instructions, including details on how to use your pressure canner and lots of recipes. It says 11 pounds but I think that's because it is a safety issue in case you use a dial gauge, which can be up to two pounds off. I have weights, which come in 5-10-15 pounds. Seems silly to round up to 15 pounds so I went with the Ball recommendations, which are also considered current and safe. I have the newest Ball book, BTW, which is important in canning, I think.

I have a VERY old Ball book, and it has exactly the same recommendations. I'd have to look at it but I think it's from the 50's. Good to know that hasn't changed, though I do look up things like this for newer information before canning. Better safe than sorry!

I made my first stock with chicken feet yesterday. Ok, they look super creepy once they're cooked, like Zombie Feet, but they do make a marvelous stock!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use the backs, necks, wings, gizzard, heart, and feet. If I pluck the chicken instead of skinning it, I put a lot of skin in there as well. I throw in some peppercorns, a carrot, celery, an onion, and usually basil, oregano, parsley and chives, depending in what is available in the garden. My wife does not want me to use garlic, but that is another option. All that plus as much water as I can fit in goes in the crockpot for maybe 10 hours, set on low. You can cook it in a stock pot if you wish. I usually do 2 or 3 batches at a time. With the first ones, I put then through a strainer and put the liquid in the refrigerator. When I take them out, the fat has firmed up on top and can be taken off. A lot of times that liquid is more gelatin than liquid when cold, but not always. That depends a lot on the age of the chicken you are processing, both from size and maturity level. The older ones have more "connective tissue".

I pick the meat out and use that as cooked chicken meat. Chicken tacos, chicken salad, in casseroles, however you would use cooked chicken.

I then finish separating the fat from the liquid. I warm up the stuff from the refrigerator since the fat will separate better if it is warm, and use one of those fat separators where you plug the spout, let the fat rise to the top, then unplug the spout and pour the good stuff out from under the floating fat.

I put a regular strainer over a pot and put four or five layers of cheese cloth over that to catch the big bits and strain it in a big pot. Bring that to a boil, fill the pints with 1" head space, and process at 11 pounds for 20 minutes. I use 11 pounds instead of 10 due to the elevation adjustment.

We all have different ways of doing it, but this is my basic procedure. I usually get about 5-1/2 pints per batch, but that depends on the size of your crock pot. My last canning was 16 pints from 3 batches.

 

[AlbionWood]

The feet are easy, especially if you can raise the scalding temp a little bit or scald a little longer than you would for the feathers. No worries about tearing the skin! I keep a pair of pliers handy for popping off the toenails. And they really do improve the stock.

Heads are trickier unless you have a plucker. I made a cheap DIY plucker for a drill and while it wasn't ideal for the whole bird, it did a great job on the heads and necks. So we saved several of those for stock making. Haven't used the heads yet but am expecting to get a little extra thickness and richness from them (along with the backs, necks, wingtips, feet, gizzards, and breastbones).

You have to pressure-can stock, boiling isn't hot enough. Mine has a dial gage so we do 11 lbs for 20 minutes (pints). I use home-canned stock all the time, for braising, deglazing, simmering, etc.

 

[sovia]

I strained all my stock before pressure-canning it, but, I would LOVE to have a chinois to use for this purpose! If you are fortunate enough to have one then by all means use it. I used a big china hat, but it didn't give me that gorgeous clear liquid I hoped to have. It still tasted good!

 

[krcote]

At this very moment I have stock boiling away on the stove. Today it is 4-5 carcasses left over from our home grown baked chickens not feet. I find there is plenty of flavor left for stock in these. I keep a few large zip-lock bags in the freezer and add to them until there is enough to work with. Makes me feel like I am really putting the whole bird to use

 

[sovia]

I wanted to add that chicken feet are an amazing source of glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen, calcium and trace minerals. They are good for you!

 

[itsy]

So for those who don't want the effort of pressure canning stock - you could simply freeze it, no?

 

[AlbionWood]

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Sure! it's just less convenient to use, because you have to plan ahead to thaw it out before using, and it won't keep as well in the freezer as it will canned. The effort of pressure-canning is more than made up for by the convenience of having it ready to use in whatever quantity I want, whenever I want it. If I am cooking some chard and want a tablespoon or two of liquid to braise the stalks in, a pint of stock is ready. Before we started canning, I found that frozen containers of stock accumulated in the freezer and only got used when I made a big pot of soup. Now I go through the stuff all the time.

 

[krcote]

Quote:
Sure! it's just less convenient to use, because you have to plan ahead to thaw it out before using, and it won't keep as well in the freezer as it will canned. The effort of pressure-canning is more than made up for by the convenience of having it ready to use in whatever quantity I want, whenever I want it. If I am cooking some chard and want a tablespoon or two of liquid to braise the stalks in, a pint of stock is ready. Before we started canning, I found that frozen containers of stock accumulated in the freezer and only got used when I made a big pot of soup. Now I go through the stuff all the time.

Alternatively, you could freeze some of it in ice cube trays, then empty the trays into zip-lock bags to keep on hand when you just need a tablespoon or two. I can large amounts, but also use this very convenient "stock cube" method. I chuck a few cubes into a lot of what I am cooking, gives everything a nice flavor