DIY - Homemade Chicken Broth

I'm slowly building a non-shopping list of sorts - food items that I can make at home and don't need to purchase again.  I'll post about them all as time permits.  Today, however, I'd like to share my experience on how to make chicken broth.  This broth turned out so yummy and flavorful.  It was a great way to use up a few roosters Hubz butchered last fall.

I borrowed Mom's big roaster so I could fit them all in at once.  You could certainly use a large stockpot, if you don't have a roaster available.  I put the 3 chickens in the roaster, covered them with water and then added a few things for flavoring.  I didn't measure anything, just used what I had on hand.  I didn't have celery, but did have crushed celery seed so I added that.

The roaster was set to 300° and it cooked overnight.  Here's the result the following morning.

I pulled the chicken out and while it cooled, I strained the broth into a big pot and placed it in the fridge so the fat would solidify and could easily be removed.  Once the chicken was cool enough to handle, I pulled the meat off the bone and shredded it.  I ended up with about 12 cups of meat.  I divided that into 6 baggies and froze it for future casseroles and enchiladas.

I wish I had a picture of the broth while it was still cold - it really gelled up.  I skimmed the fat off the top and brought it to a boil, then strained it through one of my favorite linen towels and jarred it up for the freezer.  You can also pressure can broth, but I didn't feel like pulling out the pressure canner.

I ended up with about 2 gallons of broth.  I froze the jars above and used about 3 quarts and some of that shredded chicken meat for yummy chicken 'n noodles for dinner.

The broth was really flavorful and I love the rich color.  The best part about it is that I can control the sodium.  I buy low sodium or no sodium chicken broth in the store for about $3 a quart.  Compared to that, making it myself is a steal.  I will definitely be making my own chicken broth from now on.

If you haven't ever made your own broth, I encourage you to give it a go.  It was fairly easy to do and doesn't require much special equipment.

I'm linking up with Rural Thursday and Farmgirl Friday and Homestead Barn Hop and Homemaking Hints and MorrisTribe's Homesteader Blog Carnival and Made from Scratch Tuesday.