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Canning your own roasted chicken or beef bone stock provides you with amazing flavor, and is also healthier for you than store bought. The recipe below is a general guide using leftover chicken bones, onions, carrots, celery and garlic, plus herbs and spices. However, you can use whatever vegetables and herbs you have on hand. Just don’t use powdered herbs or your stock will come out cloudy. (Feel free to use the same recipe to make beef stock with leftover beef bones.) Due to the low acidity of the ingredients, stock needs to be pressure canned or frozen.

People have been making and canning stock since the early 20th Century. However, it became more popular in the mid 20th Century when pressure canners were introduced. These canners made canning meat and broth much safer and more efficient by reaching higher temperatures to kill spoilage bacteria. Today, pressure canning is the standard for safety, with detailed instructions and recipes available from brands like Ball, ensuring perfectly preserved chicken stock.

Why Roast The Bones And Vegetables?

Roasting bones and vegetables deepens their flavor and adds rich color to the final broth. The roasting process caramelizes the natural sugars and browns the proteins, creating complex, savory flavors. This extra step results in a darker, more robust stock with a fuller, roasted aroma. It serves as a flavorful foundation for soups, sauces, stews, and risottos, adding depth and complexity to a wide range of dishes.

What Is The Difference Between Broth and Stock?

Broth and stock are both flavorful liquids but they differ in ingredients and preparation. Stock is made by simmering bones (often with some meat attached), vegetables, and aromatics for a long time to extract collagen, which gives it a rich, silky texture. Broth, on the other hand, is typically made by simmering meat (sometimes with bones), vegetables, and seasonings for a shorter period, resulting in a lighter, more seasoned liquid that can be enjoyed on its own.

Ingredients

Meat: Use leftover beef or chicken bones (ideally with a little meat still attached). I like to use 2 to 3 Rotisserie carcasses (including the skin). I just freeze them in a bag or container until I’m ready to can.

Vegetables: Onions, carrots, and celery are typically used when making stock. However, you can use whatever vegetables you like.

Herbs and Spices: Garlic, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, oregano and parsley are most commonly used. Salt and peppercorns are added as well.

Directions:

Roast the bones and vegetables: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (232 C). Put the raw bones in a large roasting pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Layer the vegetables on top (including the garlic). It’s okay if they fall between the bones. Roast the bones and veggies for 40 to 60 minutes, or until the bones are browned and the vegetables are a little charred but not burnt. Discard any burnt veggies.

I roasted for 40 minutes first. The onions browned quickly so I removed them and added them to my pot. I then flipped the bones over and continued roasting another 20 minutes. (Not all ovens are the same, so start with 30 minutes and check.) If you look closely, you will see that I had a “senor moment” and forgot to use parchment paper.

Transfer to large stockpot: Transfer the bone, vegetables and drippings to a large stockpot. If you didn’t use parchment paper and your pan looks like mine, add about a cup of water to the roasting pan and using a spatula scrape the leftover bits. Add those tasty bits and water to the stockpot.

Herbs and spices: Add the herbs and spices to the stockpot. Cover everything with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 4 hours or as long as 24 hours. (Do not continue to boil, it will result in a cloudy stock.) The longer you simmer, the more flavorful your stock will be. I start mine in the morning and let it simmer all day. Let it cool in the evening and refrigerate pot and all. Then the next morning I take it out, skim off the fat, let it warm, then simmer again.

Strain: When you feel it has simmered long enough, use tongs or a slotted spoon, to remove and discard as many of the solids as you can. Put a colander over a second pot and ladle the stock into the colander a little at a time, discarding the solids. Do not mash the solids or the stock will be cloudy. Do a second straining. Line the colander with cheesecloth, place it over your first pot, and ladle the stock into the colander. Let is sit for a couple minutes for it to completely drain. Continue until all of the stock has been strained.

At this point you can either can the stock immediately or freeze it. Be sure to warm the stock back up before canning.

Canning: This is a pressure canning recipe. To prepare the pressure canner, place the bottom rack inside and fill the bottom with a few inches of water according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Put the pressure canner on the stove over low heat while you prepare the jars and stock. This is also a hot pack recipe, so the water in the pressure canner needs to be above 180 degrees F (82 C) before you put the jars into the canner.

Prepare the jars: The size of your stockpot and the amount of water you used, will determine how many jars you will need. My stockpot holds about 14 to 16 cups of water which tends to give me 7 to 8 pint jars or 4 quarts. Wash jars in hot, soapy water and check for any cracks or nicks. Fill the jars with hot stock leaving 1 inch space at the top. Wipe the rims with a cloth dipped in vinegar. Place lids on top, then rings, and finger tighten. Process pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes.

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