I'm not Annie, but I've certainly canned stock. Personally, I don't find it suffers at all from being canned, and I would think it's one of the easier products to begin with. The processing time is relatively short and once the stock is made it's easy to prep jars, fill and can.

As far as shelf life is concerned, basically indefinite. What I mean is that assuming a food is processed appropriately in terms of jars, time, pressure, and has a good seal, it's not going to have any more bacterial load after 10 years than it does when it's first canned.

For most properly canned foods, quality may suffer over time, but the food does not become any less "safe." Quality is an issue with things like pickles and relishes, which will soften, or fruits and jams, which will lose color and flavor. Other products, like tomato sauce, will suffer less. Regardless, over time a canned product may not taste as good, but it will still be perfectly fine to consume. Your risk does not increase as long as the seal is still intact and safe processing guidelines have been followed.

Be sure you follow current recommendations for your canner, which includes a full 10 minutes of venting time before bringing it up to pressure and starting to count minutes for processing. Once the processing time is done and the pressure has returned to zero, wait 10 minutes before removing the lid and taking out the jars.

I've provided a link from the NCHFP which gives information about canning stock, in case you need it. Don't trust canner manuals. They're often out of date.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Can Stock

Joanna or Carol, I'm still a canning novice-still on marmalade and salsa--so I can't help with your question. But, if you don't mind sharing, what containers and container sizes do you use to freeze the stock?

*I have chicken feet in the freezer waiting to contribute to stock.

Now, I'll sit back and take advantage of expert answers to your questions.

I generally can about 40 to 50 quarts of chicken broth a year in 3 or 4 batches throughout the year. I find most commercial chicken broth to be way too salty. A few observations:

1. The quality and flavor is excellent; however, because during the canning process you are raising the temp high enough to kill the botulism spores, some of the proteins may denature and cause the broth to be slightly cloudy. That's completely harmless and does not affect the nutritional value, and is only an issue if you want to make a super clear consomme. I never do, so it isn't a problem to me.

2. Label the jar lid with a date and rotate your stock. I have consumed stock that was a few years old, but that was because a jar had worked its way to the back of the cabinet. Still, the quality is best within a year or so of canning. Since I go through the stuff pretty rapidly, old stock never becomes a problem.

3. One problem is getting rid of the fat in stock. One way is to chill the stock and then take off the solidified fat; however, that means you have to go through a chilling phase where the broth is susceptible to bacterial contamination. One method recommended by Alton Brown is to fill plastic water bottles, freeze them, and immerse the bottles in the hot broth to chill the broth. (take the labels and label's glue off the bottles first, of course :) That gets the temperature down pretty quickly without the broth lingering in the tepid-warm phase which the bacterial critters love.

I have a different technique that has worked fine for me without any spoiled broth, but it does involve an investment in a specialized piece of equipment. I make my broth in a stockpot with a spigot. I put all my bones and meats and whatever in the stockpot and let it simmer for hours and hours. When I get ready to can, I get the pressure canner ready and have my canning jars preheating in the oven at around 220 F.

The fat rises to the top of the broth in the stockpot, so by taking off stock through a spigot at the bottom, all the jars are filled with fat-free broth. I fill the hot jars with hot stock, put the lids on and get them in to the pressure canner and process them. That way I don't have to chill the stock and de-fat it, and the stock never gets into the danger range for bacterial contamination. If you do a lot of stock-making, you'd find the spigot stockpot a worthwhile investment. The link is to one brand of stockpot with a spigot (a fancy one) but several companies make them.

If you do the math on making stock, you really don't save much money over buying store-bought. To me, though, it's worth it because I like to have absolute control over the ingredients, and I hate the saltiness of most commercial products. Even the allegedly 'lower sodium' products taste too salty to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: bourgeat stockpot with spigot

A stock pot with a spigot, sigh. I can only dream, but it is beautiful, LOL.

I agree that stock can be purchased very cheaply, but the quality difference is so great the effort of the homemade is worth it. For me, that's even more true for beef stock than chicken. The flavor difference is huge.

To answer the question about freezer containers, there's been a lot of discussion on Harvest about this. There seems to be a consensus that the kind of container mentioned at the link below is the best. The square shape takes up less space, they hold up well year after year without cracking and are inexpensive, especially over the long-term.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Freezer Containers

readinglady, thank you for the advice and the link. Usually I will just jump in and try anything. I had no problem attempting sauerkraut and pickles in a fermenting crock, but those, well, you can SMELL if something is off...botulism, not so much!

You mention the beef stock you make: Do you brown the bones? I don't know if this is OK to do, but I made beef stock with leg bones labled pet bones in the freezer at my grocery store. That is the only way they have them. I want to do it again, but wonder if I should brown them first. OK, if this is really bad to do tell me! It's just that there are no other beef bones that I can find, only chicken.

My canner's manual is long missing. It's a huge heavy aluminum thing with screw-down holders and a guage on top. Looks like something that should be on a military ship in the boiler room.

Mustangs, yay on the chicken feet! I can finally make chicken jello! I have to go into Minneaplis to a mercado for them, but they were the missing link for me.

For freezing I simply use the Glad containers. This works for me because I give a lot of food stuff away, and in my family, that means never getting any kind of tupperware back. I don't know if that is the ideal container to use, but I haven't had a problem with it. I am considering trying freezer bags, too. I do reuse these containers till they fall apart (well, usually they just crack!), but I still wish there was a more permanet solution that worked for me. Maybe I just have to try the real Tupperware, I dunno.

arley, like you, I find commercial broth too salty. I have used it very often in the past, but now that I am no longer "stock challenged" I love making my own.

When you mention the possible bacteria contamination at the tepid temps, does that mean the subsequent canning will not kill that bacteria?

You are right, no money saved on homemade. In fact, it's quite expensive to eat with few chemicals. I have a friend (he's very strange!)that is seeing how he can get his calorie needs met with the smallest money expenditure, and he lives off things like hotdogs and pot tarts, white bread, etc. I think his grocery bill is like...$20 a week. Oh my.

Joanna

Oh my, indeed. However, I'd argue that for the "least money" he'd be far better off soaking dried beans, cooking brown rice, using frozen vegetables and adding meat as a condiment.

I doubt it would be any more expensive (if not much less) than what he's eating and it wouldn't be "empty calories." How nutritious is a pop-tart??? In a way you could argue he's paying good money for nothing. It's hardly "food" he's eating.

I've used Glad containers before but gave up on them because they shatter when they fall out of the freezer (which clearly says things about the state of my freezer . . . ). I don't use Tupperware. Too expensive for the number of foods I freeze. I consider the Bes-Pak a good compromise for my needs. For more solid items the Ziploc freezer bags are nice. You can squeeze out the air and lay flat then stack when frozen. They don't take up much space that way.

For that matter, you could line freezer containers with food-safe bags, pour in the chilled stock, freeze, then pull out the bagged and frozen broth and just re-use the same few freezer containers indefinitely.

You can ask the butcher but I'm guessing the pet bones would be perfectly fine. I think the label's more a reflection of the fact that the majority of people would not be using such bones to make stock. I don't see any problem with roasting the bones and veggies. You get delicious flavor that way.

It sounds like your canner's an All-American or a Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry (different name but same product). Those canners with the metal-to-metal seal can be intimidating, but they'll last about as long as the pyramids. My niece is using her grandmother's from the 1940's. (I just hope she's not using the canning times in the manual, LOL.)

And you're right. Pressure canning at currently recommended times does reach temperatures sufficient to kill botulism spores. Nevertheless for quality reasons, fast chilling is the way to go.

Carol

readinglady, yes yes yes on the legumes and rice! I have told him many times what you just said, and he can't fathom it. Or maybe he really just likes the way he eats, I dunno. He doesn't have a stove, he took it out and he doesn't cook, only microwaves. I have offered to get him a rice cooker and a crockpot, to clean his kitchen up and fill it will stuff he can make that is healthy, but he won't agree to it. He has put on a lot of weight over the last several years and I have no doubt it's due to all the fake food he's ingesting. He's malnourished, I am sure.

I just checked the canner label (had to wipe off the dust!) and it says All American. You were right:-) It is indeed intimidating. But when I tell people that I use a pressure cooker to make meals, they get a frightened look on their face and act like they are going to start planning my funeral. Clearly they are intimidated by it. So I am sure the pressure canner is just like that for me...if I just do it then it will all be good I will wonder why I ever waited so long and was intimidated by it.

I am going to try the Bes-Pak if I can locate the brand.

Joanna

A lot of hardware stores and big general stores with groceries, cosmetics, clothes, you know the drill, carry those kinds of containers. The brand may be different, but the product is basically the same regardless.

Pressure cookers got a lot of bad press after WWII. During the war production was diverted to munitions, tanks, etc. but after the war a lot of those foundries started manufacturing pressure cookers because they had to make something and there was pent-up demand. At one point there were some 85 different brands. The problem was quality varied radically and some manufacturers were basically making bombs. That's when all the stories about exploding pressure cookers and green beans on the ceiling got started.

Today's pressure cookers have all sorts of safety mechanisms to prevent those sorts of dangerous "surprises." Probably, though, the best safety mechanism, especially when using a canner, is you. Stay within sight and don't wander off to clean the bathrooms or play outside with the kids.

A good way to get used to a canner is to do a test run or two with just water inside to see how it works. If you go over to Harvest you'll get all kinds of tips. (Like how to get the lid off your All-American when it forms a vacuum, LOL.)

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: A Guide to Pressure Canning

Joanna, you may want to ask the butcher about those bones... Years ago my Mother would buy soup bones from a local butcher who bought whole animals from the local stock yards... On one visit to the butchers shop she noticed a sign for Free dog bones and asked for a few pounds of beef dog bones... The man behind the counter told her they were NOT for human consumption for various reasons, most weren't properly refrigerated, they were all dumped in one container ( beef, pork, lamb, veal... ) some had fallen on the floor or fished out of the trash... Granted most stores today wouldn't take the chance of selling contaminated bones but... Better safe than sorry, ask if they ARE fit for human consumption.

Rita

Carol & Joanna, Thanks for the direction on freezing stock.

Arley, Cool pot.

Joanna, check this link to see if your canner looks like those products.

Nice thing is that All American still makes replacement parts for their old canners, and you can buy instruction manuals there as well.

I have an All American 930 and it has been great. Highly recommended.

Here is a link that might be useful: wafco

Nice pot Arley!

For those of us who won't/can't justify another pot, why couldn't you slightly cool the stock, then pour into an "ice tea jar" and fill your jars from there?

And they're $3.00 all summer!

I don't make that much at one time and usually just refrigerate overnight, skim, freeze in containers, when solid, knock them out and store the "blocks" in a ziploc in the freezer. But I'm only making 2-3 quarts at a time.

Deanna

That probably would work great, Deanna. Good idea! Although the next batch of sun tea might taste a little chickeny, LOL

The ice tea jar might need to be preheated to keep it from cracking, though.

For years before I started canning, I froze the stock (without chilling it) in Rubbermaid 'Sandwich Keeper' containers which held 2 cups. I never had a batch spoil on me, and I imagine I got away with doing it this way because the containers are flat and therefore are fairly efficient at cooling the stuff.

Carol, great idea about just water to test...I am also going to take it over to the county extenstion office to have them check the guage.

Rita, you are right I should definately ask the butcher. I will in case I ever do it again :-) Right now I am enamored enough with chix stock that it will keep me busy for a bit.

Arley, I realized I did not have the counterweight, so I ordered one, it was $15, but at least they still had it! My canner # is 921.

Also, I have just been putting my stock away in the freezer...as soon as it was KIND OF cool. Is that really bad for bacteria??

Joanna

Joanna

I would guess it's okay as long as the containers weren't huge. What you don't want is putting a 3 gallon pot of near boiling stock in the fridge to let it cool--it would stay in the danger zone too long.

I used to have the All American 921. It's a great item and I used it for years. I gave it to a relative because I wanted to be able to process more jars at once, so I got the 930. But you can do a fine job of canning lots of goodies with that bad boy. It's built like a tank, and your great grandchildren will be squabbling over it.

I have a 921 also. It's a wonderful canner. The only "issue" (if you want to call it that) is not all pint jars can be stacked. Ball pints are taller and more slender than the Kerrs, so depending upon the jars the canner may only accomodate one layer rather than two.

Not a huge problem, just something to be aware of. Personally, though I thought of getting a bigger canner, it was as large as I wanted to deal with. Any All-American/WAFCO is wonderful, though. Great product.

Carol

Great info here but.....where is Annie?

You know Annie. She's been working on fences at the farm (Elery's helping).

Carol