What does your freezer look like? This time of year, mine is loaded up with homemade bone broth.
The picture above is the top shelf of my kitchen freezer. The container third from the left is actually a full gallon container (you can’t see how wide it is from the picture), so the total is over 3 gallons of stock right now in my freezer. The middle containers are duck stock, the quart container on the far right is fish stock and the container on the far left is turkey stock.
All those containers of stock you see in the picture will last my family of 5 about one month to six weeks.
I use stock liberally – I even cook rice in it instead of water. The kids don’t even know they are eating stock sometimes!
Stock is my secret weapon to keep my family free of tummy bugs that are running rampant through school and the community at large during the winter months.
Homemade stock contains ample amounts of gelatin, which is a colloidal substance that attracts digestive juices to it and prevents gastrointestinal bugs from attaching themselves to the gut wall. Natural gelatin both assists digestion and keeps you well!
Store bought soups and broth/stocks – even if organic – are nutritionless, loaded with MSG (using deceptive and misleading pseudonyms of course) and do not contain any beneficial gelatin.
Making plenty of homemade soups with homemade broth and you have rediscovered one of the most important and delicious ways Traditional Societies stayed well!
Best of all, stock is FREE. All you have to do is use the bones of whatever meat you have roasted, add water and a bit of vinegar, and simmer for 24-48 hours.
Eating well does not have to break the bank!
Don’t have time to make soup?
Try this 5 minute healthy soup recipe that you can make with a quart of frozen bone broth right out of the freezer.
Another super fast soup is this recipe for panata, frugally referred to as bread soup.
I’m pretty surprised you store in what looks like plastic. What kind of plastic containers have you found to be ok to use? I’d love to know about it. I use the straight pint size mason jars or zip loc bags but I find zip loc are the easiest considering they take the least amount of time to thaw sufficiently to get out of the container. I’m trying to get away from harmful plastics. Any advice?
Hi Sarah, if you never put the plastic jugs in the dishwasher (hand wash with warm, not hot water and mild dishsoap), use wooden utensils so as not to scrape the plastic, and make sure the stock has cooled before pouring into the plastic, you can use plastic containers safely.
I need to make more stock, but I usually have tons on hand! My farmer sells chicken feet so I tend to buy those and throw them in with the bones. If I have no stock I’ll buy chicken legs or stewing hens and toss them in a pot and let them cook all day, then add my veggies and stuff towards the end. Also works well in a crock pot. Easy soup even if you forgot to make stock ahead of time! In fact…I need to do that in just a minute here!
That looks like the top shelf of MY freezer! While I was off work last week I made beef stock from grass-fed beef bones I’ve had in the freezer since we bought last year’s quarter, and turkey stock from Thanksgiving’s carcass. I think I have enough stock to get us through until the summer! 🙂
I too love having stock in the freezer and yes, Kelly,….. my dogs love it as well. They have never eaten better. I also am thankful for the reminder of how it assists the gut. I have a brain that when it agrees with something, begins the practice but puts the reasons in a file folder in the brain and forgets to bring out that folder on occasion to review.
Thanks Sarah for encouraging us once again and reminding us of what is really a simple thing but so easily forgotten or overlooked.
The only thing that bummed me out about the article was the picture of your neat and organized freezer! LOL It is a good thing you didn’t ask us to show you our freezers!!
Dorsey, my freezer is not all that organized. You should see what is BEHIND those jugs of stock! LOL
Thank you for this post. I had an aha moment when I saw the how you freeze your stock in the juice pitchers. What a great idea! I love to make and use stock, but what to freeze it in has been tricky for me. You have opened my eyes to new possibilities!
I freeze mine in mason jars or in plastic ziploc bags. If I do it the bags then I can freeze them flat like bricks and they take up way less space. I freeze three cups in one bag or one cup in a bag so I don’t waste any when defrosting.
Stock is my obsession! Sadly my stanless steal pot is only a gallon…(my big one is aluminum, don’t want that leaching into my stock). So I make some sort of stock every week. I have learned that the crockpot is great for stock…I have a 2 gallon crockpot.
I use stock in everything that is boiled. Consequently I was heartbroken when I had to strain something and my stock was just going down the drain. One day it hit me…I use it for my dogs food! If it keeps us healthy it’ll keep them healthy too. They LOVE it!
I give my dog all my scraps from making the stock too. He thinks its manna from heaven.
Hi Sarah
Question for you…I make my stock per your instructions. My stock is almost never gelatinous. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I know I need to get some chicken feet but even without those it should still have it. Any tips?
Hi Daryl, if your stock doesn’t gel then it has too much water in it. Just boil it down a bit to where it has the gelatin consistency that you prefer.
Adding feet will help the gelling process. Scald the feet with boiling water and score them – that helps release the gelatin. You can also smash up the bones – again, helps release all the good stuff.
I made some beef stock over the weekend: couple of beef shanks with marrow bone and a piece of beef chuck I boiled in the soup. It’s gelling in the fridge as we speak!! We’ve been eating it all this week – I won’t get a chance to freeze it this time.
Hi Daryl,
Another way to get gelatinous stock is to add more bones and scraps to the stockpot. If I use enough, It is always gelatinous. You also get a more concentrated dose of the other nutrients.
Great post, Sarah! I love to see how others’ freezers look! What kinds of containers are those? I’d been freezing my stock in little ice cube trays and then breaking them out into a freezer safe ziploc bag, but, having all of in a big container might be easier for larger meals.
I got those containers at Big Lots or maybe Walmart (not quite sure). I’m sure other closeout places would have them also. Just be sure to NEVER put them in the dishwasher or put hot liquids in them. The stock should be cooled before it goes in there and wash by hand with a mild dishwasher soap so that any leeching of chemicals from the plastic is prevented.
When I saw the photo, I was so surprised to see the plastic containers and was so grateful you explained why you were able to use them – don’t put in dishwasher and only put cooled liquid in them. I will have to use this idea now. Thanks.
I think I’m doing something wrong when I make stock as when I put it in the freezer it doesn’t freeze! It just stays like a liquid jelly, am I doing something wrong? Should it actually freeze hard anyway? I’d appreciate any help at all. I would like my stock to look as yours does in your freezer!!
What I’m thinking is that you perhaps boiled down the stock so much that all is left is the gelatin basically. If you add some water to it it should freeze hard.
Thanks so much, I’m trying another batch at the weekend so I’ll try that. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I love homemade stock! I think that it is so much better than store bought! Haven’t tried DUCK yet.