The Proper Way To Store Homemade Stock To Preserve Its Taste

Making stock at home is a great way to regain control over what food you're putting into your body. It's also a great way to make use of your leftover cooking scraps since they can be made into a flavorful base instead of simply being tossed in the trash. The process of making stock at home isn't all that complex, but it does take a little effort on your part so it would be a shame to have it all go to waste through improper storage.

There are really only three ways to store homemade stock: Refrigerate it for short term use, freeze it for mid-term storage, or pressure can it for long term storage. Stock will stay fresh in your fridge for no more than four or five days but can be frozen for up to three months. It's certainly possible that your homemade stock will remain edible past the three-month mark in the freezer but you will start to see a drop-off in terms of flavor. At most, use your frozen stock before six to nine months have passed. You can defrost it by placing it in the fridge overnight. Pressure canners are a great way to maintain freshness if you want to make a large batch all at once since they keep stock at its best for one year.

Refrigerating stock is fairly straightforward but you want to pick an airtight container. This can be a mason jar, a plastic container with a lid, anything that seals the container shut. Let the stock cool before placing it in the fridge.

Freezing the stock gets a little more complicated but you still want to start with an airtight container. Keep in mind that your stock will expand as it freezes so you don't fill the container all the way up unless you enjoy spending your afternoon deep cleaning the pungent odor of shrimp stock out of your freezer. This is especially the case with glass containers which will shatter. Fill the container roughly ¾ of the way with stock and that should be enough room to allow for it to expand. If you're worried you didn't leave enough room, place the container in the freezer without the lid first and then come back and place the lid on.

One thing to keep in mind about pressure canning is that stock can be quite sensitive to heat. Martha Stewart says you should never boil stock and yet that's exactly what you'll need to do to get the seal to form for pressure canning. At this point, the chicken or vegetables or whatever you used will no longer be floating in the liquid but the risk of clouding could persist. It's still a good option, regardless.