It was another fun day in the kitchen. I had a few large bags of scraps from all the vegetables that I made meals out of. I save them in the freezer until I have a huge amount that can be cooked and canned for vegetable stock.
This is the second year in a row that I have taken the time to save all types of veggie scraps. You would be surprised at how fast you can accumulate enough to make stock with. I had two different kettles going to make this batch and am so happy with the results.
The process is quite simple really and you can use whatever vegetables you prefer. I am listing what I used below to give you an example.
Onion tops and skins
Garlic skins
Celery
Carrots
Broccoli stems
Tomato skins
Corn Cobs w/o the corn
Fill your kettle with water and simmer away for a few hours on the stove. It is that simple. You can add some seasoning if you want but I prefer to do that when I use the stock in a recipe so I know exactly what I need at the time.
After the stock has cooked to your liking, let it cool down a bit, and then strain all the veggie scraps out of the liquid. I strain it once through a colander and then compost the scraps. Next, it is wise to strain it again but this time through a few thicknesses of cheesecloth. This will remove any debris that was left in the stock.
Return the stock to the stove and heat it enough to hot pack it into canning jars. I prefer to process mine in the pressure canner since I make so much of it throughout the year. Or, if you want to, let it cool completely then place it into containers to freeze for later use.
While the stock is heating up I prepare the jars and lids and get all the tools needed for canning.
Look at how pretty the stock came out. I will have enough for meals throughout the winter season in my pantry. This will save a few dollars since a bottle of vegetable stock is almost $2.00 each at our grocery store.
Vegetable broth or stock needs to be pressure canned for 35 minutes at the correct pressure for your altitude. Mine happens to be 10 lbs of pressure and since I used quart jars it had to be for 35 minutes to heat it enough to kill off any bacteria.
If you do not have a pressure canner then it is safe to freeze your stock until you can use it. I hope you will try your hand at making stock for your own pantry. It may just be me, but I think it tastes so much better than store-bought and I know exactly what went into it.
Until next time, this is Sunscape
Sun. Scape. Ing Your Day
