Homemade Chicken Soup Canned

Today I spent two hours making my Chicken Stock from the Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserving. I have listed the recipe on a previous blog. After I strained the stock I placed it directly into a new stock pot.

For the soup you will need 

16 cups of chicken stock ( homemade or bought)

2 cups carrots

1 1/2 cups chopped onion 

1 1/2 cups celery

3 cups chicken 

Salt ( optional)

Pepper ( optional)

Directions:

Bring stock and chicken to a boil. 

While you are waiting for everything to heat up to a boil cut up the produce.

Once it comes to a boil bring it back down to a shimmer and place the produce , salt, and pepper into the stock. Let the mixture simmer for 30 minutes.

Process the jars by boiling them in hot water to sanitize. This will make 4 quarts or 8 pints. I made 4 quarts today. 

Place the mixture into the jars leaving 1 inch head space. ( That's the space where the water stops to the top of the jar) 

I tried to even out the mixture of carrots, onions, chicken, and celery but it is hard. 

Wipe the rim of all the jars off with water and vinegar ( following the directions from book ) I boiled the lids before placing them on. Twist the lid on just tight enough you can get it off. You will want to store it without that lid so don't twist to hard.

You must process this in the pressure canner. You cannot do this with the water bath method. That is how you can get sick and you will not kill any bacteria that may be present if you water bath.  Pressure canners run around $70.00 at Walmart for a basic one and it works just fine. Read the directions for your area for the pressure setting. Read the directions carefully that came with the pressure canner. They still scare me a little so I am very careful. I had mine set 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes.

Do not take the lid off of the pressure canner. Just wait it takes time. Do not rush or you can have a disaster. 

They will get a little darker after the process. Let them sit on the counter for 24 hours before moving. They are super hot. When you hear a pop you know they are sealed. 

I am now waiting for winter and someone to get a cold so we can just heat this up and enjoy. I hope you enjoy as well. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. 

Thanks for reading,

Miss Stetson