Chicken Broth...homemade and chick soup....help

[smfeet2001]

Hi

I am wanting to make my own broth but I do not know what I am supposed to do. Am I supposed to can them or ?? What do I do for storage?

Also I would love to premake my chicken noodle soups to put away for storage but I have no clue as to the best way of doing that. I do not have a pressure canner but I have a hot water canner. We got rid of canned soup such as Campellls and Aldi brand becuase of the MSG.

Thanks
Holly

[Carmen]

Are you asking just storage methods or recipes or both?

As far as storage...I make big batches of chicken stock once a month and freeze it. I use ziplock freezer bags and glass mason jars to freeze my stock.
I also freeze home-made soups that I've made using my homemade stocks. The freezing method is the same, just cool completely and put in freezer bags or mason jars (leave a good inch for expansion) and freeze.

Hope that helps.

[smfeet2001]

both....Thanks Carmen

Holly

[Carmen]

Well...there are lots of ways to make homemade broth, I'll tell you how I do it.

I use a whole chicken cut into pieces. I put the chicken in a stockpot and fill pot with water.

I add 1/4 cup of vinegar and let sit for 30 to 60 minutes. This helps to draw minerals out of the chicken bones.

Turn on high and bring to a boil. When it starts boiling you will notice a foamy scum forming on the surface. Skim this foam off.

After skimming, add chopped vegetables. I use 2 or 3 carrots, 2 or 3 celery, and 1 onion.

Reduce heat to low and simmer. The longer you simmer the better, more nutrient rich it will be. I simmer mine 24 hours.

When stock is somewhat cooled, remove chicken peices and vegetables from pot. (I always reserve the chicken meat, shred it and use it in recipes. It will be very bland so it needs lots of seasoning. You can also add it back to the finished broth for chicken soup.)

Strain stock with a fine strainer into another large pot.

Place pot in fridge and allow to cool completely. The fat will rise to the top and harden.

Scoop hardened fat off the top and put finished stock into freezer containers.

That's it. It looks like a lot of steps, but it really is easy. You will definitely want to add salt to it when serving. I suppose you could add the salt when simmering, but I've never tried it so I can't say.

Many people use the carcass of the chicken rather than one with the meat still on. I've done it both ways and prefer the flavor of cooking it with the meat on. If I have made a roasted chicken and have a carcass I will add that in the pot with my whole chicken and just increase the water and the vegetables.

[stackeyha]

Figured I should probably post this over here instead of the health board so others could find it too...besides I forgot to say when I add the salt.

Broth (actually my in stock but same diff...broth is a little clearer I think) is super simple...maybe I missed the other post...

Here it is Stock Ala Stack

a couple pounds of chicken wings
a couple medium onions
a couple heads of garlic (yes I use a couple heads...less if you don't like it)
4-6 ribs of celery
some folks also like carrots.
(misc spices whatever you have handy, celery seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, fennel is nice)
And you're gonna need salt in the end

clean and roughly chop the veggies...just peel and smash the garlic...throw them in a good sized pot.
Throw the spices in (NO SALT YET)
Put the chicken wings on top
cover the whole shebang with water
then I like to turn a veggie steamer basket thingy upside down over the stuff and press down...it helps with straining later.

Cover and Put it over med hi heat until it boils, then reduce heat to low. For the first hour skim off any of the foam that shows up...then leave it alone for like 8 hours.

After 8 hours-strain it into another pot...TASTE IT...ADD SALT TO TASTE...IF IN DOUBT UNDER-SALT YOU CAN ALWAYS ADD MORE LATER...put that pot in the fridge

Next morning, skim off the fat...once cooled the stock itself should be gelatin like (good bone stock)
pour stock into several size containers and freeze...I use the ziplock tupperware stuff...I freeze in 4 cups measures and 1 cup measures. Then I can make chicken noodle soup with one of those rotisserrie chickens and whole wheat noodles fast and easy...assuming I don't have time to roast one.