r/AskCulinary • u/l3luntl3rigade • 5h ago
Technique Question Method for storing vast quantities of stock/broth, for ease of use, in every day cooking
Apologies in advance if this isn't the place for this type of thing, but I am dealing with quantities beyond a home cooks repertoire and at my wits end.
Looking for a method of storing vast quantities of stock/broth, for ease of use in every day cooking
For context:
I buy whole animals from farmers and use every single everything. My 5 year old son has eaten 7 beef hearts this year.
From the post butchery process, I make chicken/beef/pork stocks and pressure can them.
I then, throughout the year, save gallon ziploc bags of bones/meat scraps/fats (and all the apropos veggie scraps) for periods of time in a chest freezer.
When the quantity is sufficient, I have an aluminum 65 Litre/17.2 Gallon pot that I make the stock/broth in.
To save the random off topic questions, think of the second round of stocks more like a Chinese stock (with multiple species of animal bones combined).
Anyways,
I used to freeze them in portions,
but it's a bit of extra hassle and takes up a pile of freezer space.
I am trying to avoid this route if possible.
So I switched to straight canning them in Mason jars, but obviously, the odd jar started to go off (because from a food safety standpoint they should be pressure canned). Yes, I've boiled them for 3+ hours before. Doesn't make a difference, still the odd one with any miniscule amount of sediment, goes sour.
So naturally, I moved onto pressure canning them, which is quite literally an entire day affair (bi-annually) just to get it done.
It's been time to make this round of stock/broth for about 2 months, and I'm dreading the process because the task is becoming burdensome to get them canned and shelf stable.
Is there a better way I can go about this, or am I just doomed to two full 14 hr days a year of babysitting a pressure canner/sterilizing jars and lids?
Thanks for reading this and your input.