Home Canning Stock and Broth (Bone Broth Guide)

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Home-canned stock and broth is one of the most useful things you can do with a pressure canner. Bone broth from a roasted chicken carcass, beef bone broth from Sunday’s roast, vegetable stock from kitchen scraps — all become shelf-stable pantry inventory instead of freezer-hogging quart bags. And unlike freezer storage where broth degrades in 6 months, pressure-canned broth keeps 12-18 months at peak quality.

This guide covers pressure canning chicken stock, beef bone broth, and vegetable stock at home. Pressure canning is mandatory (stock is low-acid), but the technique is simple once the process is understood.

Why pressure canning is required

Stock and broth are low-acid foods (pH >4.6). Water bath temperatures (212°F) cannot kill botulism spores in low-acid foods. Pressure canning at 240°F achieves the spore-kill temperature required for shelf stability. Same rule that applies to canning meat, fish, and vegetables — see our water bath vs pressure canning guide for the detailed reasoning.

Equipment

• Pressure canner (16-quart minimum): dial-gauge or weighted-gauge. Approved for canning specifically (not an Instant Pot). See our best pressure canners guide.
• Mason jars, pint or quart: both approved for stock. Wide-mouth easier to pour and clean.
• New lids + rings per jar.
• Jar lifter, funnel, ladle, bubble tool.
• Large stockpot for making stock.
• Fine mesh strainer + cheesecloth for clarifying stock before jarring.

Making the stock — the base recipe

Chicken stock

1. Place chicken carcass(es), backs, or wings in a large stockpot. 3-4 lbs of chicken parts is typical for 4-6 quarts of stock.
2. Cover with cold water — about 4 quarts per 3 lbs chicken.
3. Add aromatics: 1 large onion (quartered), 3 carrots (rough chop), 3 celery stalks (rough chop), 3 garlic cloves (crushed), 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp peppercorns.
4. Bring to a low simmer (not a boil). Skim any foam that rises.
5. Simmer 4-6 hours for chicken stock; 6-8 hours for bone broth (extended simmer extracts collagen).
6. Strain through fine mesh + cheesecloth. Cool slightly.

Beef bone broth

1. Roast 4-5 lbs of beef bones (knuckle, marrow, or oxtail) at 400°F for 30-45 minutes until deeply browned. Roasting develops the deep-brown color and flavor.
2. Transfer bones to stockpot. Add 4-5 quarts cold water, 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (helps extract collagen).
3. Add aromatics: 2 onions, 4 carrots, 4 celery stalks, garlic, herbs.
4. Simmer LOW for 12-24 hours (longer = richer bone broth). Never boil hard.
5. Strain and cool.

Vegetable stock

1. Vegetable scraps saved in freezer (onion peels, carrot tops, celery ends, mushroom stems, herb stems) — 8-10 cups.
2. Cover with 4 quarts cold water.
3. Aromatics: bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme sprigs.
4. Simmer 1-2 hours (shorter than meat stocks — vegetables extract fast).
5. Strain.

Pack style

Stock is hot-packed: bring strained stock to a boil, ladle hot into jars, process. Do NOT raw-pack — cold jars in a pressure canner can crack.

Jarring

1. Sanitize jars in hot water. No need to sterilize (pressure canner handles that).
2. Bring strained stock back to a boil.
3. Ladle hot stock into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace.
4. Add salt (optional): 1/2 tsp per pint, 1 tsp per quart. Salt is for flavor, not preservation. Many prefer canning unsalted so seasoning can be adjusted per recipe use.
5. Wipe rims clean. Apply lid + ring, finger-tight only.

Pressure canning

1. Fill canner with 3 inches of water. Place rack in bottom.
2. Load jars on rack. Do not stack.
3. Lock canner lid. Vent steam for 10 minutes with regulator OFF (removes air from canner).
4. After 10 minutes venting, place weight/regulator on.
5. Bring to processing pressure:
   • Dial gauge: 11 PSI (0-2,000 ft) / 12 PSI (2,001-4,000 ft) / 13 PSI (4,001-6,000 ft) / 14 PSI (above 6,000 ft).
   • Weighted gauge: 10 PSI (below 1,000 ft) / 15 PSI (above 1,000 ft).
6. Once at pressure, start timing:
   • Pints: 20 minutes for meat stock (chicken/beef); 30 minutes for vegetable stock.
   • Quarts: 25 minutes for meat stock; 35 minutes for vegetable stock.
7. Turn off heat when time is complete. Let canner cool naturally — do NOT force cool. Wait ~45-60 minutes for pressure to fall to zero.
8. Remove regulator, wait 10 more minutes, then unlock lid (steam side away).
9. Remove jars with jar lifter. Set on towel-covered surface undisturbed for 24 hours.

Verifying seals and storage

After 24 hours: press center of each lid. Not flexing = good seal. Flexing = failed seal (refrigerate and use within a week, or reprocess with fresh lid within 24 hours).

Store sealed jars in cool (below 75°F) dark pantry. Remove rings for storage — helps you spot a failed seal (un-ringed lid pops off if seal breaks) and prevents ring rust.

Shelf life: 12-18 months at peak quality. Safe longer if seal intact and stored properly.

Fat handling — degrease before jarring

Stock (especially chicken and beef) will have fat that separates on top. Best practice:

1. Refrigerate the strained stock 4-24 hours. Fat solidifies on top.
2. Skim solid fat off before reheating for canning.
3. Save the fat separately (chicken schmaltz for cooking, beef tallow for high-heat cooking).

Why degrease: excess fat in canned stock can interfere with the seal (fat film on jar rim), and fat can go rancid over long storage while the stock itself keeps well.

Yield expectations

• Chicken stock: 3 lbs chicken parts + 4 qt water → ~3 qt strained stock.
• Beef bone broth: 5 lbs bones + 5 qt water → ~3-4 qt broth.
• Vegetable stock: 8-10 cups scraps + 4 qt water → ~3 qt stock.

Practical batch size: one 8-hour cooking session produces enough stock to fill a 16-quart pressure canner with 7 quart jars — one big Sunday project = one week’s worth of shelf-stable pantry stock.

Bone broth vs stock — is there a difference for canning?

Bone broth is stock cooked much longer (12-24 hours vs 4-8 hours) to extract more collagen. From a canning safety perspective they’re identical (both low-acid, both need pressure canning at the same time/pressure). Bone broth has more gel body from collagen — this doesn’t affect canning process.

Gel from collagen is a good sign of quality. If your home-canned bone broth is jiggly-solid when cold and liquid when warm — that’s the collagen you paid for by cooking longer.

Safety mistakes to never make

• Water bath instead of pressure can. Not safe for stock. Ever.
• Instant Pot for canning. Not USDA-approved. Won’t hold pressure with the reliability required.
• Skipping the 10-minute vent step. Air in the canner insulates jars, under-processes the stock.
• Force-cooling the canner. Cracks jars, breaks seals.
• Adding flour, cornstarch, or thickeners to stock before canning. Thickeners interfere with heat penetration and processing time. Can strong stock unthickened; thicken when using.
• Reprocessing stock jars that failed to seal after 24 hours. Better to fridge and eat within a week than reprocess (over-processing degrades flavor).

Cost math and freezer comparison

• Home-canned chicken stock: $0.50-$1 per quart in ingredients (assumes free carcass), plus jar/lid amortization.
• Home-canned beef bone broth: $2-$4 per quart (bones aren’t free like carcasses).
• Store-bought quart of quality stock: $4-$7 (grocery) / $8-$15 (organic bone broth).
• Store-bought quart of premium bone broth (Kettle & Fire, Bonafide): $8-$12.

Cost savings are real, but the bigger win is pantry vs freezer. Freezer stock takes freezer space and degrades in 6 months. Pantry-stable canned stock keeps 12-18 months and doesn’t burn freezer real estate. If your freezer is already crowded with meat/vegetables, canning stock is the way.

Related canning topics

Stock canning is the “unlock” project — once you’re pressure-canning stock reliably, you have the equipment and technique for canning meat and poultry, canning fish, and canning vegetables. See our canning for beginners guide for the foundational technique overview.

Key takeaways

• Pressure canning is mandatory for stock and broth — water bath is not safe.
• Hot-pack only: bring stock to a boil, ladle hot into jars, process at 10-11 PSI.
• Pints: 20 min meat stock / 30 min vegetable stock. Quarts: 25 min / 35 min.
• Degrease stock before jarring — solidified fat skimmed off after refrigeration.
• Shelf life 12-18 months at peak quality. Frees freezer space vs freezing stock.

FAQ

Can I add noodles, rice, or vegetables to stock before canning? No. Adding starches or additional vegetables to stock changes the density and heat penetration properties, invalidating the tested processing times. Can plain stock; add noodles, rice, or vegetables when using the stock in a recipe.

How do I know if my canned stock has gone bad? Bulging lid, seeping liquid, off smell (rancid, sour, unusual), mold, cloudy or actively fizzing contents when opened. Any of these = discard without tasting. Note: some cloudy stock from bone broth is normal (collagen); off-smell + cloudy together = discard.

Can I re-can broth that failed to seal? Yes, within 24 hours of the original processing. Empty jar into a pot, bring back to a boil, transfer to a new hot jar with new lid, reprocess for the full time. Beyond 24 hours, refrigerate and use within a week — reprocessing at that point over-cooks the stock without safety benefit.