Vegetable Stock
Servings 5 pint jars
Ingredients
- 5 regular mouth pint jars sanitized, with lids and rings
- 2 large yellow onions quartered
- 5 cloves garlic
- 4 stalks celery
- 3 carrots
- 3 sprigs thyme or 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 fennel bulb optional
- 1 parsnip or rutabaga, daikon, optional
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 1 tbsp salt to taste
- 10 cups water
Instructions
Roast the vegetables
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Add the vegetables and spices and roast for 20 minutes
Pressure cook the ingredients
- Transfer vegetables and spices to the instant pot
- Add 10 cups water (or more if desired, up to max fill line)
- Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
- Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 1 hour and 30 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting
- After the instant pot has finished cooking, use the quick release method to bring it down to ambient pressure
- Strain the contents of the instant pot in to another container and discard the spent solids
Canning the Vegetable Stock
- Set up the five pint jars near the cooking area with their lids and rings handy
- Rinse out the instant pot and place canning rack inside and fill with ~2 inches of water
- Distribute the stock among the pint jars
- Wipe the rims of the jars clean as necessary
- Apply lids and screw the bands to finger tightness on the jars
- Using the jar lifter, lower the jars in to the instant pot
- Secure the lid of the instant pot and make sure the pressure valve is set
- Program the instant pot to cook under high pressure for 20 minutes, and make sure to disable the Keep Warm setting
Wrapping up the process
- After the instant pot has finished cooking, be sure to let it come down to ambient pressure using the natural release cycle, do not try to do the quick release cycle as this can cause liquid to be forced out of the jars and potentially break the seals
- Once the instant pot is safe to open, open it and use the jar lifter to pull the jars out and place on a towel too dry and cool down
- If the rings on the jars are loose, they can be finger tightened again, carefully
- Leave the jars to cool, you should hear the lids popping as the pressure creates a seal on the jars
- After the jars have cooled, the rings can be removed and the jars are now shelf-stable and safe to store in a pantry to be eaten later
- If any jar failed to seal, it is safe to either eat immediately or reprocess in the instant pot, though you may need to replace the lid since it did not seal properly