Making Stock
Once I returned to my canning roots one of the items I began making regularly was stock. I make beef, chicken and ham stock on a rotating basis. I have also made lamb stock and vegetable stock. It will be one of the easiest items you will make in your kitchen.
I use my largest slow cooker and simmer the stock for hours. You can make stock on the stove (but that requires someone to be home) and even in your instant pot. I am just sticking with the method I have used for years.
Ingredients
Whatever stock you are making you will need bones or the carcass as the main ingredient. You can use a ham bone, steak bones, or chicken bones. Really you can use any bones you may have. If you don't have enough in your opinion to make a good stock place the bones into the freezer to save them until you have enough.
I also save onion bits and mushroom stems in my freezer. When I am making stock I put these in the pot to add flavor. Add a few sticks of celery and carrots in addition to the onion and mushrooms. I put in a few bay leaves. I then fill the insert with water, put the lid on and set it to cook for 6-8 hours. If doing vegetable stock you should only cook for about 4 hours.
I often will prepare this right before going to bed. In the morning I have stock ready to process. After the stock has cooked down I strain it into a very large glass container. I then place the container into my fridge. I keep it in the fridge for about 8-10 hours. All the fat will rise to the surface and can be easily removed.
Now you are ready to can the stock. You can also freeze the stock if desired. If you can the stock you must use a pressure canner. Meat cannot safely be canned in a water bath canner. Canning the stock makes it shelf stable and frees up freezer space.
You now have fat-free and very low sodium stock. Did you notice I never used salt in this recipe. This stock tastes better than any other you can purchase and you know exactly what is in the stock.