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Alas, the crock is 450 miles away, with a condominium built on top of it. And can you IMAGINE trying to clean and sanitize it after all these years? I'd have to chisel Mama out of there
I got lazy for awhile after I went back to work, and was buying boxed broth for ridiculous prices. I felt kind of stupid paying for broth, when bone stock is so cheap and easy to make, and tastes much better.
I make stock often. Rick's mother's cousin has a beef farm and when they butcher they used to give his mother a huge trash bag full of beef bones. Now that his mom doesn't use the bones, I do. I'm grateful for that big trash bag of bones and I make beef stock for the freezer. At Thanksgiving, the turkey carcass goes into the oven with lots of celery, onions, and carrots and out comes turkey stock. And whenever I roast a chicken, I make chicken stock. If I'm really in a pinch and don't have any in the freezer, I'll make some in the pressure cooker....you can get great stock/broth in your PC. Throw the liquid in the fridge to congeal, take the layer of fat off and then put it into containers for the freezer.
That's a great story! You have raised a mighty fine son there.Some of you probably read this story before. The first Thanksgiving my son and DIL had, they served turkey. When my DIL's mom asked what they were doing with the turkey carcass (she liked to pick the meat off the bones), DS said, "Oh, we just threw it out." He said my eyes bugged out of my head, they were so wide. I said, "Oh, you did not! You know better! I raised you better than that!" And he smiled. When we got ready to leave that night, he went out to the fridge in their garage, came back in the house and presented me with the carcass all wrapped up in a bag. With a red bow. And that's the son I know and love. (I split the stock with them.)
If I buy shrimp, I boil the shells and let them simmer while I'm preparing the rest of the meal. Makes a super shrimp-flavored rice. Yummy!
Anybody ever make shrimp stock? I've never done it. You know, I never tried ham stock either. Just beef, chicken, and turkey.
I don't own a canner or pressure cooker. I looked at them a few years back. I have a "stupid" glass-ceramic stove top and there is only one canner/PC brand that is labelled safe to use on that type of stove. I melted a couple of holes into one of the burners using my trusty cast iron skillet the first week I owned the "pretty" oven. Cast iron "not recommended"...gets too hot. Fussy darned stove top. Decided that glass-ceramic stoves are "for looks, not for cooks".For years, I never canned. I've always been scared to death that somebody would die from something I canned and I never wanted to go there. Several years ago, I decided to try pickles. But I had no canner, no supplies. Called my MIL and asked her if she still had her stuff. She started to laugh and said that everything was in their basement waiting for me; she knew that someday, I'd want to can. We went up, picked everything up, brought it all down, washed it all, and I started making pickles. From there, I went to a pressure canner (not the same thing as a pressure cooker!) and I started making chutneys. Every year I make Red Onions with Honey and can it in the pressure canner on our gas grill. Decadent stuff. I swear. Old Farmhouse Chutney is delicious, too. Perfect for pork or ham or even chicken. My BIL spoons it over French vanilla ice cream. And we also spoon it over pound cake or sponge cake. Honest.
Crisco was introduced in 1911...my grandmother used quite a lot of it. I grew up in the 60'-70's. I think everyone used Crisco. lol Makes some gosh-darned good dinner rolls. I love pie crusts made with lard...I've even made savory crusts with chicken fat for pot pies.You know, there's a lot of to be said for using Crisco from time to time. Yes, I know it's not the healthiest ingredient in the world. Neither is leaf lard. But they make the best pie crusts ever. And I'm a firm believer in "Everything in moderation.....including moderation." So if a recipe calls for shortening, use it. If you make a pie crust with shortening or leaf lard, it's not the end of the world. Just don't do it every day. I have a couple frosting recipes that call for Crisco and yeah, I do get a twinge of guilt whenever I measure out the shortening. It's a brief twinge, but it's still there. But it is what it is and it's not an everyday thing. Heck it's not even an every month thing.
LOL...our local Food Lion sells chicken feet with the amusing label "chicken paws." I explained to the butcher, "Cats gots paws. Dogs gots paws. Heck, even BEARS gots paws. CHICKENS GOTS FEETS!" He laughed, but the label remains "paws."
I know! This thread of yours is making me want to get back into old hobbies I dropped: gardening, bread making, and bone broth. I don't know whether to thank you or slap you!
The freezer conversation got me to clean out and defrost the little old freezer, which made me pull out the turkey from the medium freezer, and the crock pot discussion made me dust off the big crock and make stock.
I picked up some canning jars yesterday...I'm freezing the stock them, not really "canning". The first round is rich and yummy. I made some delicious rice with turkey broth, sautéed onions, carrots, red bell peppers, and a few spices. I'm simmering just the bones on the second-round now, but I cheated and threw in a chicken foot this morning to make sure I at least get a gelatin.
True, dat! We say feet 'round here. lol
LOL...our local Food Lion sells chicken feet with the amusing label "chicken paws." I explained to the butcher, "Cats gots paws. Dogs gots paws. Heck, even BEARS gots paws. CHICKENS GOTS FEETS!" He laughed, but the label remains "paws."
Leaf lard is a very, very pure lard, the highest grade you can find. It comes from the pig's loins and is very spreadable. My grandmother used lard in a lot of her baking; she even had a sugar cookie recipe that used lard and it made outstanding cookies. I rarely use lard, but when I can find it, if I need lard, I will buy leaf lard. Our supermarket carries it sometimes, but not all the time. It makes absolutely wonderful pie crusts. When Rick's mom and I made pies and we used lard, you could definitely tell the difference between pie crusts made with lard and those made with shortening.Pam, what this heck is leaf lard?
LOL It's a southern thang. : )Pam, what this heck is leaf lard?
Not long. Rendering is just a fancy word for melting fat. I just cut the fat off and melted it in a covered enamel cast iron pan at 350 degrees until any solid bits turned brown and strained out (and eaten). That is dry rendering and produces a lard with a brownish tint. For a white lard, you can melt the fat in simmering water, chill it and take the lard off the top.
How long did it take to render them? I've rendered suet before for bird seed cakes. The birds ate the cracklin's, too.