Hello dear readers. My! I’ve been busy lately. Working full-time outside of the home doesn’t leave much time for real food culinary adventures does it? Last week I ran desperately low on broth, which meant my day off needed to be dedicated to refilling my broth supply. Normally, I will do 3 or 4 rounds of broth over 4-5 days. But with only one day off, I just didn’t have time.
I started the broth a day beforehand, left it to simmer while I was at work, and at the end of the day, I canned a full batch in the pressure canner. I refilled the pot with filtered water, reused the same bones and veggies and simmered another batch for another 24 hours and canned another round at the end of day two. But on day three, I went back to work and knew I wouldn’t have time to pressure can at the end of the day.
The bones and veggies were still good for another round, so I refilled the pot, simmered for another 24 hours and then at the end of 24 hours, removed the bones and veggies from the pot, straining out all the little particles, and then brought the broth to a rolling boil. I left the broth on a rolling boil until it reduced into a thick syrup. You need to keep an eye (and an ear) out for when the broth reduces enough to become bubbling syrup, as it can burn after this point.
After it reduced, I added a bit of salt and used a spatula to scoop the syrup into a pint jar and stuck it in the fridge.
Today, in a rush to make lunch on my lunch break, I sauteed onions, carrots, and celery in butter until soft, added 2 cups of water, a teaspoon of my broth reduction, some beaten pastured eggs and VOILA! Instant broth for a quick lunch of egg drop soup. Bon appetite!
If you don’t have a canner or the time to can or it’s simply too hot to can, reducing broth can be a great option. I have a few friends that even dehydrate the syrup and then powder it so that they can take it on planes and travel with the powder. I reduced 2 gallons of broth into a cup of broth concentrate. Easier to store and simple to use! Try it!
Hi Courtney-
How long do you process your homemade broth in the pressure canner? I’ve been freezing mine but would like an alternative.
Thanks in advance!
Laura
You have to vent the canner for 7 minutes, then bring it up to 10 lbs of pressure, and I do 15 minutes for pints, then turn off heat and let the pressure go back to ZERO before opening lid. My best suggestion would be to buy this pressure canner and follow the directions in the booklet. This is the canner I have: http://amzn.to/17F1GUc