Making stock in the Instant Pot?

[Michael_in_TX]

So my chest freezer is getting rather full, so I need to do something with this plethora of chicken wing tips I have been collecting.

I've looked at several recipes online and have sorta settled into this scheme:

~3 lb of chicken wings/tips/bones; I plan to smoke-roast them for about 30 mins on the pellet grill
1 carrot, broken into thirds
1 onion, quartered
1 head of garlic, halved
Some thyme
2 bay leaves
1-2 tbl whole black peppercorns
A generous pinch of salt

Dump all of that into the Instant Pot and pour in enough water to get to the max fill line. Then let pressure cook on high for 40 or so minutes.

Strain. This should get me around 3 quarts.

Chud's BBQ / Bradley Robinson does an additional step that I may do....he'll reduce that stock down to about a pint so it is super concentrated and gelatinous.

Thoughts? (Especially on the cooking time.)

[GolfGeezer]

I think the p[lan is solid, but I think you should go longer. I'm attaching a Paprika recipe I use for stock from a chicken carcass. If you can't read/use, I'll post a text version.

[Histrix]

I'd pretty much go with the Serious Eats recipe - https://www.seriouseats.com/pressure...n-stock-recipe

[Michael_in_TX]

Oh wow, how did I miss that one! That looks like what I will do.

[PGH_RAM]

I've used this exact recipe in my Instant Pot. It works great.

[Smoker_Boy]

Just like in racing engines - "More is better."

[Mosca]

I’d add a celery stalk, and a handful of parsley.

[JCBBQ]

Hahahaha first time seeing your new avatar!!!

[Attjack]

I do it frequently. You can just press the "broth" button. I'll often do it overnight after cooking chicken with the carcass and a bag of veggie scraps from the freezer. Letting it kick into warming mode for all those extra hours just yields more gelatin. It's pretty much fool proof.

[SheilaAnn]

Whoa whoa whoa….. Attjack yields more gelatin during the warming sequence? 🤯

[Attjack]

SheilaAnn that is my belief although I suppose I could be incorrect. But if a bones have been kept under pressure at temp for so many hours it seems to me you're going to get the maximum gelatin extraction that way and the results are great.

[Alan Brice]

I like to add 1/4 cup of acv to pull the calcium out of the bones for a nutrient rich broth.

[SheilaAnn]

+1 ^

[surfdog]

Shhhh, that’s a secret. ;-)

[fzxdoc]

I use dry white wine instead of acv to accomplish the same goal. They are both mildly acidic.

K.

[IowaGirl]

I do pretty much what the SE recipe calls for, although I don't measure the ingredients all that carefully. I'm pretty sure SE did a study where they concluded dicing the veggies into bite sized pieces gives the best flavor compared with leaving the veg in larger chunks, so I now dice my veggies.

I also pay attention to minimizing the water water in proportion to the meat/bones. What seems to work best is no more than about 1 pint water (1 pound, 1/2 liter) per 1 pound meat scraps (16 oz, 500 grams). The SE article (see link in Histrix's post) uses about that ratio.

At 45 minutes cook time, the bones crumble in my fingers, so I'm comfortable that all the "goodness" in the bones is largely dissolved into the broth at that point. I don't see a lot of point to a longer cook time, especially with poultry.

Similar to Attjack, I'll start the broth in the evening, and then let the cooker cool overnight to room temp before opening the pressure cooker and separating the broth from the solids. This is the one time I ignore the general rule about keeping food above 140F or below 40F for safety. If I don't open the cooker, the contents will remain sterile during an overnight cool-down.

[Bob K]

I forget who gave me the idea (may in fact have been SE a while back), but I add unflavored gelatin to give it more body. Makes soups and sauces with that viscosity and sheen the good ones have. 3-4 Tbsp (30-40 grams) per quart of water added works well.

[SheilaAnn]

Bob K if I’m making chicken broth, I toss in some chicken paws!

[Bob K]

SheilaAnn - even better! I just don't have a shelf-stable tub of those on hand. Come to think of it the gelatin is probably just powdered paws!

[SheilaAnn]

Bob K I get fresh chicken feet from Whole Foods. The label calls them chicken paws! 😝

I buy 3-4 packs at a time and portion them to fit a batch of broth in the IP.

[josepmille]

I make bone broth a couple times a year. Here is how I do it:
Pork Bone Broth Pressure Cooker ~ 8 hrs.

Everything you need to make rich, incredibly flavorful pork bone broth at home, either using raw pork bones from the butcher in an instant pot, or repurposing leftover pork bones for a simpler pork bone broth.

Note that the amount of broth you can make will be limited in the Instant Pot.

Recipe Type: Dinner Cuisine: American Author: Elizabeth Stark, By Melissa Clark and jrm

Ingredients
3 pounds raw pork bones may use neck bones I usually use 6 lbs
1 large yellow onion, trimmed, peeled, and quartered
2 celery ribs
1 medium leek, roots trimmed, halved, and thoroughly cleaned
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 2 inch section of ginger, sliced
20 peppercorns
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon MSG. Jrm
1/4 cup Simon & Garfunkel Spice jrm

By Melissa Clark
1whole clove
1bay leaf

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400º.

Boiling Set bones in a large stock pot. Fill with cold water so bones are covered at least an inch. Bring to boil, then turn heat down to a rapid simmer and cook 20 minutes. While bones cook, skim any brown foam that rises to the top with a fine mesh sieve or slotted spoon.
Remove bones from the boiling water, shaking off excess water, and place in a rimmed baking sheet or two.

Roasting: Roast 30 minutes, or until bones are a deep brown hue and very fragrant. Discard blanching water.

Smoked Bones via jrm
Set Recteq to low, should be about 180º After boiling the bones Place the bones on a baking sheet and place on the grill. Smoke for 2 hours. The 1st time I ended up smoking them 3 hrs. Then follow the roasting instructions. I usually smoke 6 lbs at a time. But I can only use 3 lbs in my pressure cooker. I save the remaining 3 lbs of smoked bones in the freezer for the batch. This saves a lot of time tor the next batch.

Pressure Cooker
To make broth in a pressure cooker, combine roasted bones and all remaining broth ingredients in the inner pot. Add 3 quarts cold water (no more than two-thirds of the way up the pot). Cook at high pressure for 5 hours. Allow broth to manually release for 30 minutes.

By Melissa Clark

For bone broth, cook on high pressure for 3 hours for poultry bones, and 4½ hours for beef, pork, or mixed bones. When making bone broth, you’ll know you’ve cooked it long enough if all the connective tissue, tendons, and cartilage have dissolved and the bones crumble a bit when you poke at them. If this hasn’t happened, cook it on high pressure for another 30 minutes and check it again.

[barelfly]

It will work! I’ve made pho in the Instapot a number of times. You will love it! And let us know how it turns out!

[acorgihouse]

I roast a chicken at least every other Sunday, sometimes every, for work salad lunches and etc. I always put the carcass straight into the IP. Sometimes I add the veg, sometimes just the chicken remains, and I put it on my IP meat/stew setting, which runs 60 minutes. At the end, I move it to the slow cooker 12 hour setting and let her go. Sometimes, after that, I jar up and into fridge/freezer. If I'm lazy, I turn off, then on, and reset the 12 hour slow cook again. I do that until I feel like finishing, and it turns into a thick golden elixir I stockpile in freezer. I have an Asian market nearby, that i visit periodically, and when I do I stock up on frozen chicken feet. Toss a few into the vat, and the increase in collagen makes it a golden jelly. Sometimes, I just heat and drink in the morning, instead of coffee!
I'm working on a similar plan for beef broth, not so organized there. I recently ran into a source for marrow bones, have some in fridge now, so that 's on my list the next few days.

[acorgihouse]

fzxdoc, nope, I don't even open the lid. I find it needs to pressure down a bit before the slow cook will engage and not shut back off right away. I let it go down to when the button drops, then turn off and back on slow cook. Leave it at least overnight.
I just did same with oxtails and marrow bones. Had a package of marrow bones, and then my co-op had some packages of oxtails. I browned in oven, on a sheet pan, then dumped whole thing into the IP.

[acorgihouse]

contd: I just strained this morning, and is sitting on kitchen counter cooling. Two quarts for the freezer, and two for the fridge. Haven't tasted yet, still pretty hot, but smells great. Per the posts here, I never add salt. I also generally don't add veg to my broth/stock, as I like to put what I want in, when I make the dish. To each his own.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, acorgihouse for the additional information. You make stock, I make broth, I think. I agree with you that stock is more of a tabula rasa for future recipes than broth is, from a flavor viewpoint. What I like about your approach is that it tends to uncomplicate the process. Sadly, I tend more towards being a complicator but maybe it's time for a change.

K.

[SheilaAnn]

Michael_in_TX IP broth is the best! I haven’t made traditional broth/stock on the stove in forever. And this thread just taught me a few new tricks to add to the arsenal.

[fzxdoc]

Me too!

[Texas Larry]

I pretty much roll with your approach but for longer—I’ve done up to two hours. I do not put salt in my stock so I can control it in later cooks. FWIW.

[SheilaAnn]

+1 on salt

[fzxdoc]

Agreed. No salt!

[Alan Brice]

I get the feeling Costco loss leaders have a tonne of sodium in them. IMHO
Whole roasted yardbird that is.

[surfdog]

Wow, this is awesome! Just this morning the GF asked if I could make some soup with the two turkey carcasses in the freezer. So I’m thinking, sure…I’ll make a broth this weekend. ‘Cause I have nothing else planned. LOL

It honestly NEVER occurred to me to try the IP. Doh! Gonna pick up some veg & cheesecloth in just a bit. Looking forward to trying this later today.

Michael_in_TX The only thing I would change… No salt.
I NEVER add salt to stocks/broths. That limits its usefulness IMO. I can ALWAYS add salt, but if I decided to reduce the stock, there’s a very good chance that it could be WAY salty & unusable for my intended purpose.

[acorgihouse]

surfdog, I don't even fool with cheesecloth. I use a ladle to dip out of IP, into a fine meshed strainer positioned over a quart Pyrex measuring cup. I usually freeze in 1qt batches, so when cup is nearly full, pour into final container. Ladle, strainer, measuring cup go straight into dishwasher, and reusable as soon as done. No throwaway or buying cheesecloth involved (can you tell I'm lazy?)

[SheilaAnn]

acorgihouse you are not lazy, just efficient 😛

[fzxdoc]

I use cheesecloth and like it. I usually make stock in my 10 qt IP with at least 2 carcasses (plus skin, cartilage, etc.). Every once in a while I use the 6 qt IP for 1 carcass. I like getting every bit of the bits and bones out with one scoop of the spider to fish out the cheesecloth bundle.

I always add aromatics too, because why not.

That said, I like the idea of acorgihouse 's streamlined approach: carcass, water, pressure cook, slow cook, done. I want to try that.

K.