Hey Ridgerunner, About that chicken broth...

[bobbi-j]

I wasn't sure if I should post here or on BYC, but I thought I'd try here first. You mentioned canning chicken broth, cooking it with various spices, etc. Do you leave the spices in the broth when you can it? Everything I've read says to strain them out, but I don't know why. Is it just for a nice, clear broth? Or does it affect the canning process somehow? We're butchering some old hens and extra roosters tomorrow. I'm going to can the breast and leg meat and want to boil the carcasses for broth. Last time, I strained out the spices, but I'm not entirely sure it's necessary.

Anyone else have experience with this?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think mainly it is for a clear liquid. I don't know that it would hurt to leave herbs in but I don't.

My procedure:
After it is cooked I use a slotted spoon to remove bones, meat and any vegetables and herbs. Eventually I separate out the bones and send them to the landfill. The herbs and vegetable remnants go to the chickens. The meat I pick out goes into casseroles or sandwiches.

I then put the broth through a fat remover. I remove all the fat I can.

Then I filter it through several layers of cheese cloth to remove all the particles and bits I can. When I process it some of the residue often clumps together to form some unappetizing looking lumps but these are not in the least dangerous or bad. I give a lot away and appearance is important to many people. I want it to be as clear as I can get it.

Then I process it.

 

[journey11]

I strain my broth that I can, just because that's how I'll use it anyway. But I sometimes like to leave the peppercorns, onion and bay leaves in with chicken meat pieces when I can it. I don't know why, just looks pretty.

However, bear in mind that chicken soup or chicken meat need to be processed for an hour and 30 minutes, while a quart of clear stock only goes for 25 minutes. If you leave onion and stuff in there, it will probably need the longer processing time to be safe.

ETA: Not usually mentioned in the recipes, but if you add a tablespoon of white vinegar to your stock pot as the broth is simmering, it will help extract more valuable minerals from the bones. You can also break the bones in half if you have a meat cleaver or something else strong enough to do the job. Also, avoid letting your stock reach a boil. Slow simmering will produce a much clearer broth.

 

[bobbi-j]

The first batch I made (a few months ago), I used a slotted spoon and got all the meat, herbs and spices out, but didn't strain through a cheesecloth. The jars have what I would call a "silt" on the bottom of them. It's not really bothersome to me, I figure it just adds to the flavor. I froze the chicken bits with the herbs and spices and added all that back into the soup when I made it. I was just curious as to why it needed to be strained. Unfortunately for my poor mother, I have always wanted to know "why". She got her revenge. DH and I raised 3 sons and they're all the same way. "Because I said so" wasn't always enough.

Journey, do I understand that you can what comes off the bones? That would be good. Soup, stew and casserole starter kits! My freezers are full, so canning would be a good way to save all that. My pantry is full, too, but with some creative rearranging, I think I'll find room... (Still haven't gotten the potatoes in there from Tues. yet)

 

[canesisters]

Wow, I'm gonna die. I don’t put NEARLY that much work into it.

Maybe I"m making stock instead of broth? I processed 3 turkeys around Thanksgiving. The one we had for the family dinner and 2 others just for canning (cause I found them at a TERRIFIC price).
After roasting I cut/pick off most of the meat and sit it aside - then toss the skinless carcass into the big crock pot with some carrots/celery/onion and let it go for about a day. I pick out the bones but everything (juice/meat bits/ boiled to bits veggies) else goes into jars for canning. I also put the big chunks of meat into jars with some of the broth and can it for later use. That makes the BEST soup – and even turkey salad.

 

[Carol Dee]

You all put me to shame! I feel so lazy now. Almost every thing goes into the freezer. I tried canning broth from the turkey bones after Thanksgiving. Got 4 quarts. They all failed. I did a hot water bath and not nearly long enough it seems.

 

[canesisters]

ACK! You have to use a pressure canner for things like broth.

 

[Carol Dee]

It was a quick fail! No one tried to eat! I keep learning.

 

[journey11]

The first batch I made (a few months ago), I used a slotted spoon and got all the meat, herbs and spices out, but didn't strain through a cheesecloth. The jars have what I would call a "silt" on the bottom of them. It's not really bothersome to me, I figure it just adds to the flavor. I froze the chicken bits with the herbs and spices and added all that back into the soup when I made it. I was just curious as to why it needed to be strained. Unfortunately for my poor mother, I have always wanted to know "why". She got her revenge. DH and I raised 3 sons and they're all the same way. "Because I said so" wasn't always enough.

Journey, do I understand that you can what comes off the bones? That would be good. Soup, stew and casserole starter kits! My freezers are full, so canning would be a good way to save all that. My pantry is full, too, but with some creative rearranging, I think I'll find room... (Still haven't gotten the potatoes in there from Tues. yet)

You can do that. It would get the 1 hr and a half processing time anytime there is meat in there.

We butcher our own chickens for meat and I cut most of them up into pieces. I used to vacuum pack and freeze all of the meat, but last year I started canning most of the whole legs and thighs since we weren't eating them as fast as the breast meat. They go into a quart jar with water and some seasonings and I pick the meat off the bone when I open the jar to use them for soup or whatever (see the BBB directions for hot pack).

From butchering, I save the backs, necks and wing tips (sorry, can't stand the thought of using the feet!) and make my stock from those. If I roast a whole chicken, I also make stock from those bones after picking off all of the meat like Canesisters talked about. Roasted bones actually have a really nice depth of flavor, but the raw backs, etc. make good stock too.

For stewing hens, I make stock from the whole thing. I leave mine simmering until it completely falls apart, several hours. I don't think the meat has much flavor or texture after that, so I give it to my pets.

 

[waretrop]

Wow, This is a very old thread.....Can we revive it??? I have something to share.....I make mostly bone broth...You get more nutrition out of it. I use broiled bones, carrots, onions, celery along with vinegar and water. I cook it slowly for up to 3 days. When I am done there is no solid stuff. I strain it and let it cool and refrigerate it. Then I can take the fat all off. Every bit of it. I even sometimes use a paper towel to scrape it off. Then I double strain it in cheese cloth and either pressure can it for the 25 or 30 minutes or make soup with new meat and veggies and pressure can it for the 90 minutes. I keep allot in the pantry all the time. I use it even for making rice instead of water..Now I save the fat of whatever kind of meat it is. I freeze it in snack zip lock baggies with 2 tablespoons of fat in each. When I need to make gravy and want to start with some fat, of whatever kind of meat I am cooking, I use it for that. Also the best thing is all the strained junk that I have goes out to my chickens. They eat every single bit of it. not a bit of waste. That's the best part.

Beef bone broth

Turkey bone broth

Here is part of my pantry shelf. It's an old picture but it will do.

Even though this is an old thread maybe someone would be interested..