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Chances are you have seen 1,000,001 ways to make beef broth, beef bone broth, bone broth, beef stock, beef bone stock, etc all over the internet. Well now mine will bee 1,000,002. Making your own stocks or broths is a good way to use up bones and veggies scraps and anything else you’d like to add and flip something very nutritionally dense into long-term storage food. I know there’s a difference between a stock and a broth, but too little too late for how I named this, because I don’t actually care. Regardless of the name, I use it in anything that needs a stock or broth.

If you raise your own beef or purchase custom beef from a local farmer, like us, be sure and ask for them to save you the soup bones! They are amazing to make stocks with. I also save all my leftover bones from steak and roasts after cooking in a bag in my freezer and usually have enough saved up every few months to make a small batch of broth in my electric pressure cooker. I simply fill the bag with bones, veggies scraps, and herbs that need to be used and dump all that goodness straight into the metal insert of my instant pot and go!

I DO NOT add vinegar to my broth. Who wants vinegar in their broth. Just, no. If you want to because you think it gets more nutrients out, be my guest, but you won’t find it on my ingredients list. That’s the beauty of making it yourself. You add what you want and leave out what you don’t!

In This Post You'll Find...

Rebel Canning

This recipe can be considered rebel canning. This means this exact recipe has not been evaluated nor approved by the USDA or NCHFP. Does the mean this recipe is unsafe? Sure doesn’t, as its one I and many others use and consume. What it does mean is as with any home canning, you should can at your own risk and use common sense. Make your own decisions because what I do and say I’m doing in my own home should not affect what you do in yours. If you are not comfortable with rebel canning, please don’t follow this recipe. In the end, you will have canned something you are afraid of and you will not eat it or use it and you will have essentially wasted your time and money. But, also, if you think the addition of different veggies than the singular tested recipe affects the density of a liquid… you probably shouldn’t be on my website :D

Ways to Make Your Own Homemade Broth

There are three main ways to make your own broth:

slow cooker method
pressure cooker method
stove top method

For the sake of this post, I will preface all 3 because depending on my mood and what I’m doing and how much I’m making, I will use all 3 methods. The meat and potatoes of this post and printable recipe will use the slow cooker method since I use my electric roaster to make huge batches for canning and can directly control the temperature it cooks at. The main thing to worry about with making stock is that you don’t actually want to boil it hard. You want it to be just below a simmer for hours to slowly extract all the goodness from the bones. This will give you the best “gel” and best nutrients. Stocks that are cooked on too high of heat, meaning boiled for hours, are cloudy and unappetizing. Don’t do that!

Let’s make some homemade bone broth! Or beef broth. Or beef stock!

Equipment You Might Want:

Electric roaster
16- to 20-quart stockpot
Slow Cooker
Electric Pressure Cooker
Canning jars
New lids and screw bands
Fine mesh strainer
Jar funnel
Jar lifter
Pressure canner

Ingredients:

Beef bones, meat scraps, beef shanks, knuckle bones, neck bones, cartilage, etc.
Veggie scraps
Bay leaves
Herbs
Water
Salt

Step 1: Roast Bones

Place bones on a sheet pan and roast in a 400 degree F oven until they are browned and smell good. This can take about 30 minutes.

Once roasted, add the bones directly to the pan of an electric roaster oven, stock pot, slow cooker, or electric pressure cooker. Each method will be explained.

Step 2: Add Veggies & Herbs

Add in any vegetable scraps, fresh herbs, and spices you prefer. I like to add carrot, garlic, celery, onion, and bay leaves to my beef stock. Beef stock tends to lean toward the flavorless side, but roasting the bones and adding lots of fragrant veggies and herbs helps it along. Remember, the stuff you buy in the store is usually made to be hyperpalatable and flavored so you’ll buy it. Don’t expect homemade to taste like store bought.

Add enough filtered water to cover bones and scraps.

Step 3: Cook

Slow Cooker Method

Using a slow cooker or electric roaster pan, set your slow cooker to low and cover with a lid or your electric roaster to 200F. Allow to cook for 12-24 hours for best flavor. I normally start mine first thing in the morning and let it go until the next day.

Pressure Cooker Method

You can use an electric pressure cooker or canner or even your manual pressure canner (like a weighted gauge pressure canner) to pack full of bones and scraps and make stock. Be sure and not overfill these, most have a line you can fill to. Using an electric pressure cooker, flip the weight to seal or with a manual pressure canner, add the weight and bring to pressure, and set the time for 2 hours. For manual pressure canners, do not worry about venting steam for 10 minutes, that’s just for canning. Slap that weight on and go. Allow to naturally depressurize.

Stove Top Method

Bring a large stock pot, covered with a lid, to a very low simmer over medium-high heat and then reduce to low heat to keep it just below a simmer. Allow to cook on the stove top for 12 hours or more. This method is my least favorite because I don’t like running my stovetop this long and it heats the kitchen up heckin’ a lot dude!

Step 4: Strain

Once the broth is finished cooking, strain the bones and scraps out using the method you like. A colander lined with cheese cloth or a fine mesh sieve works well, or I have a small mesh strainer I use placed over my jar funnel and ladle broth directly into jars, running it through that strainer. Any bits that make it through are just fiiiiiiiine and don’t bother me much. I don’t worry about chilling the broth and scraping off the fat before canning because once you jar it and it sits for a few minutes, the fat floats, and if there’s too much fat on top of the jar, I use a turkey baster to take off most of the fat from the top of the broth. SAVE IT and use that fat for cooking!

Step 5: Fill Jars

Ladle the hot broth to 1-inch headspace into clean quart jars or pint jars or whatever size works for you. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to quarts if you prefer.

Wipe rim of the jar with a vinegar soaked cloth very thoroughly.

Add a clean lid and secure with a screw band.

Step 6: Pressure Can

Place jars into your pressure canner filled with the proper amount of hot water.

Process jars at your elevations recommended pressure for LOW ACID foods for 20 minutes pint jars or 25 minutes quarts. The weight of pressure you use depends if you’re at a higher elevation and the type of pressure canner you’re using (weighted gauge vs dial gauge)

Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and allow pressure canner to depressurize.

When the canner is depressurized, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a clean towel and allow to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.

Step 7: Storage

Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine as long as the jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures.

Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed.

Shelf life is ’til you eat it. Aim to rotate canned foods out every 2 years for maximum nutritional benefit and flavor, but they’ll last longer if needed.

And there ya have it. Shelf stable homemade beef stock. And if you’re here to say bUt CaNnInG rUiNs ThE gEl Of ThE bRoTh, I’ll tell you you’re wrong because my broth still gels up after canning it. Every time. Don’t tell me something you keep at just under a boil for a whole day is completely denatured by simply pressure canning bone broth. That’s wild. Your broth will not be in a gelatinous state at room temperature. You have to put it in the fridge. And if it gelled before you canned it, it will gel after. The gelatin doesn’t just poof away. Shelf-stable broths are > freezing everything.

Making and Pressure Canning Homemade Beef Broth

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 35

Cook Time: 1

Canning Time: 25

Total Time: 1 1

Servings: quarts

Author: Ruby – Red Feather Farm

Equipment

Electric roaster
16- to 20-quart stockpot
slow cooker
Electric Pressure Cooker
Canning jars
New Lids and Screw Bands
Fine mesh strainer
jar funnel
jar lifter
Pressure Canner

Ingredients

Beef bones meat scraps, beef shanks, knuckle bones, neck bones, cartilage, etc.
Veggie scraps
Bay leaves
Herbs
Water
Salt

Instructions

Place bones on a sheet pan and roast in a 400 degree F oven until they are browned and smell good. This can take about 30 minutes.
Once roasted, add the bones directly to the pan of an electric roaster oven, stock pot, slow cooker, or electric pressure cooker. Each method will be explained.
Add in any vegetable scraps, fresh herbs, and spices you prefer. I like to add carrot, garlic, celery, onion, and bay leaves to my beef stock.
Add enough filtered water to cover bones and scraps.

Slow Cooker Method

Using a slow cooker or electric roaster pan, set your slow cooker to low and cover with a lid or your electric roaster to 200F. Allow to cook for 12-24 hours for best flavor. I normally start mine first thing in the morning and let it go until the next day.

Pressure Cooker Method

You can use an electric pressure cooker or canner or even your manual pressure canner (like a weighted gauge pressure canner) to pack full of bones and scraps and make stock. Be sure and not overfill these, most have a line you can fill to. Using an electric pressure cooker, flip the weight to seal or with a manual pressure canner, add the weight and bring to pressure, and set the time for 2 hours. For manual pressure canners, do not worry about venting steam for 10 minutes, that's just for canning. Slap that weight on and go. Allow to naturally depressurize.

Stove Top Method

Bring a large stock pot, covered with a lid, to a very low simmer over medium-high heat and then reduce to low heat to keep it just below a simmer. Allow to cook on the stove top for 12 hours or more.
Once the broth is finished cooking, strain the bones and scraps out using the method you like. A colander lined with cheese cloth or a fine mesh sieve works well, or I have a small mesh strainer I use placed over my jar funnel and ladle broth directly into jars, running it through that strainer.
Ladle the hot broth to 1-inch headspace into clean quart jars or pint jars or whatever size works for you. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to quarts if you prefer.
Wipe rim of the jar with a vinegar soaked cloth very thoroughly.
Add a clean lid and secure with a screw band.
Place jars into your pressure canner filled with the proper amount of hot water.
Process jars at your elevations recommended pressure for LOW ACID foods for 20 minutes pint jars or 25 minutes quarts.
Once processing time is complete, shut off heat and allow pressure canner to depressurize.
When the canner is depressurized, remove jars to a heat proof surface lined with a clean towel and allow to cool undisturbed for 18-24 hours.
Once cooled, remove bands, test seals, wash jars, label, and store in a cool dark place away from direct sunlight. Room temperature is fine as long as the jars are not exposed to extreme temperatures.
Any jars that did not seal can be reprocessed.
Shelf life is 'til you eat it. Aim to rotate canned foods out every 2 years for maximum nutritional benefit and flavor, but they'll last longer if needed.