This was a recent rainy day project. I got the idea from one of the SKIP badges on Permies.com. It interested me because I've never thought to do something like this before. Usually, my kitchen scraps are fed to the goats or are put in the chickens' compost bin. To make soup stock, I took a 2-gallon freezer bag and tossed in stalks, ends, and peelings of various vegetables. I kept it in the freezer until the bag was full, then I made a nice vegetable soup stock.
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| Various vegetable scraps including onion skins. All went into the freezer for this batch of stock. |
No recipe is actually required. Just cover the scraps with water, simmer them down, then strain and season as desired.
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| After simmering for awhile. it smelled wonderful. |
I pressure canned it according to the directions for vegetable stock in the Ball Blue Book: 30 minutes for pints and 35 minutes for quarts at the appropriate pounds of pressure for your altitude. Salt is optional. I know many folks prefer to add the salt when they open the jar. I add it when I can it. Why? Because the past year and a half have caused me to rethink much of what I do and ask if there is a more logical way to do it. It just seems prudent to add the salt now, while I have an abundance of salt. Hopefully, salt will remain cheap and plentiful as things change, but nowadays, who knows?
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| Canned scrap veggie stock. The rich color is from the onion skins. |
My yield was six quarts and nine pints. The pints are the perfect amount for making rice or gravy, or adding to my defrosted soup fixins'. The quarts are handy for larger quantities of soup.
I don't know if I'll continue to make veggie stock, mostly because there isn't much room in my freezer to store the scraps. But it's a nice addition to the pantry and handy to know how to do.
From the pictures I could almost smell it, looks delcicous. Good thing about the salt. I read that groceries would get more expensive. Things containing grains, palmoil (hmm) and sugar. Did not fully understand why the news, I just see everything getting more expensive all the time ;-)
ReplyDeleteWendy, items with those ingredients are getting more expensive? Such staple ingredients, which means almost everything will be getting more expensive. Like you, all I now is that prices are going up.
DeleteAnd the solids you strained off can still go in the compost bins.
ReplyDeleteExactly! So no waste!
DeleteThank you for this. God bless.
ReplyDeleteLinda, you're welcome!
DeleteThis is a great reminder. I've been putting my vegetable waste out for the garden, it decomposes quickly to feed the earth. But maybe I'll also make a stock with it. Thank you. Forgot that option.
ReplyDeleteBoud, as Judy pointed out, the strained out veggie waste can still go to the garden or compost after the broth is made! Win-win!
DeleteThat is brilliant! I make chicken and Turkey broth, but never considered the veggies! I am like you, however, in that I have very little room in the freezer! Great post, Leigh!
ReplyDeleteWyomingheart, good ideas is what makes the internet so great! I definitely need to clean out my freezer soon. I have a lot of frozen tomatoes needing to be made into sauce. That will be one of this week's projects.
DeleteLooks so good Leigh! Wish I had a pressure canner. It's so good to have shelf stable food. This was brought home to us this AM, as our smaller freezer quit. Thankfully, we'd just turned it on to transfer stuff out of the big freezer into it so we could defrost and clean the big one ready to receive the harvest.
ReplyDeleteOh Rosalea, a pressure canner is such a good investment! They're expensive, but pay for themselves many times over.
DeleteOh, this looks so good.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there will be a time when we won't have salt? The world does seem strange these days.
Sandi, I have no idea, but who would have dreamed we'd have a shortage of toilet paper last year? The media has been hyping shortages for a long while now, I assume for ratings. But who knows? Inflation sure seems to be real and some folks want to go back to lockdowns. The world is too crazy to be predictable!
DeleteIt looks so good. And to think of all the scraps I threw into the compost bin today...from snapping beans, stewing squash, peeling potatoes. Several string beans I tossed out because of bug bites. Would you use them for the broth? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHenny,if the veggies are well washed, I don't have any problem with bug bites. :) They aren't appealing when served for dinner, but they could still add plenty of flavor and vitamins to soup stock. Either way, compost or stock, they are being put to good use!
DeleteI make veggie broth to brine my Tday Turkey. Some years the broth is from scraps, some from fresh veg...depends on freezer space. I haven't canned it yet though. I usually just make it as needed.
ReplyDeleteRenee, that's a good idea. And you're right about freezer space, and that's why I don't know if I'll make this again. I suppose it depends on how well we like it. :)
Deleteveggie broth is good for almost any soup I think. any place you would add chicken broth. It is fun when you add beets and turn your broth, turkey, etc purple. lol but it tasted really good.
DeleteRenee, beets is a great idea!
DeleteWhat a great staple to have in your pantry!
ReplyDeleteDaisy, I think it will come in very handy!
DeleteI have never done vegetable stock but have occasionally done chicken stock. I never add salt because I feel that gives me a way to get out of something that is over salty and requires stock. But at the end of the day, I've never been in that scenario and always add salt after adding the stock. When I make canned spaghetti sauce for my daughters though, I preseason it so it is just heat and serve for them. Very handy that way.
ReplyDeleteEd, I guess one of the nice things about making your own stocks and sauces is being able to control the seasonings to cooking habits and family preferences. I like the heat and serve kinds of foods too!
DeleteHow logical is that? Something never thought of - but we do use vegetable stock from time to time.
ReplyDeleteBut yes storing those scraps to make critical mass would be a thing.
TB, I never thought of it either, until I saw it on Permies! Now that I have quite a bit of it, I know I'll use it. Using broth or whey instead of water for cooking seems to add flavor and nutrition. Whether or not I make veggie stock again will depend on finding room in the freezer!
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