Making your own chicken stock (or any kind of broth, really) is amazingly effortless, especially if you own a pressure cooker! I threw this recipe together after butchering a naughty hen from our egg layers – you can see more about that experience in my Homestead Kitchen Diary – but you can use any whole, raw chicken you pick up locally or from the supermarket.
The key to making fabulous broth is using the best ingredients. I have never tasted better bouillon than the batch that I made from this summer’s dinner scraps, straight from the garden! Try to use the freshest whole ingredients you can find and the steam will do the rest. It’s that easy!
In this strange day and age there has been a consistent shortage of pantry staples in local supermarkets; but as long as you can find fresh chicken you can always make your own stock at home. Any excess can be frozen or pressure canned for long-term storage.
Whole Chicken Stock
Whole Chicken Stock
Description
Dunk all these wholesome ingredients into a pressure cooker for a fantastic, easy soup base!
Ingredients
Instructions
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Combine all ingredients in the instant pot. Add enough warm water to bring the liquid up to the fill line. Pressure cook for 1 hour on HIGH. Allow pressure to natural release.
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Using a sieve lined with cheesecloth strain the broth from the mixture into a large bowl or pitcher. Spoon off any excessive fat from the top of the broth when it settles. Reserve the meat from the whole chicken for another meal, if desired. Discard bones and vegetable scraps. Immediately use the broth or prep for canning/freezing. This recipe should yield about a gallon of broth.