Pressure canners are great for long-term preservation of homemade stock. One can save and freeze chicken or turkey carcasses and the leftover parts of onions, carrots and celery to create shelf-stable, super flavorful soup stock.
This year for Thanksgiving, I smoked a 14 lb. turkey and froze the carcass. We also saved and froze all the skins and leftover bits of the onions, carrots and celery we used when doing all our Thanksgiving cooking. Everything went in the pot to make stock.
Since I’m using leftovers, this recipe is an approximation of the quantities. Making stock is mostly throwing some carrots, onions and celery in with a bunch of bones, adding just enough water to cover and boiling for an hour. You can add in some salt, pepper and herbs if you want, but it’s not strictly necessary.
Don’t be disappointed if the final product isn’t exploding with flavor. The flavor will come from whatever you are adding when you use it to cook. Good stock is about adding a fullness and richness that comes from the fat and marrow of the bones. The fullness of the body of homemade stock is much greater than the store-bought kind.
As always when canning, it’s important to stick to the processing times and methods in the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning.
Ingredients:
- 1 Turkey Carcass
- 2-3 Onions, quartered
- 3 Carrots, quartered
- 3 Celery Stalks, quartered
- 1-2 Garlic Cloves, whole
- 2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 20-30 Black Peppercorns
- 2-3 Bay Leaves
- 3 Gallons Water
Yield: 8 Quarts
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and boil for one hour. Strain through a colander or chinois strainer.
Pressure Canning Instructions:
Sterilize all jars and equipment. Fill jars with hot liquid leaving one inch of headspace.
Process at 11 lbs. pressure. Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes. Allow to depressurize naturally before removing from the canner.
Schmecken! 