Seafood Stock

 

Stock. A staple in any kitchen pantry. Whether you buy chicken, beef, pork, vegetable, mushroom or whatever other host of stocks are out there, they are the lifeblood of any dish that calls for liquid. You use them to deglaze, you use them with a thickening agent, you use them as a starter for your dish.

I recently got a pressure canner/cooker. I'm all about making it from scratch, using fresh ingredients and low sodium. Even reduced sodium stocks found at the store contain too much sodium in my opinion. You want to live longer, start making everything yourself and regain control of what you put in your body.

For Mother's Day we had lobster. I told my Mom I would cook her whatever she wanted and she told me to pick something. I know lobster is her favorite, so lobster it was, coupled with mussels (Dad doesn't like lobster and I like to keep everyone happy). Usually after the first lobster cook of the season I like to make seafood stock. Normally I stick it in a container and we freeze it until the fall when we start making chowder. The stock always has that little bit of freezer burn on it. That always bugged me. Hence the pressure canner/cooker.

For the stock I took all the leftover lobster bits and the shells from the mussels and put them in a stock pot. I added the usual suspects, celery, carrots, onions, bay leaves, old bay seasoning and pepper. Throw in 30 cups of water to cover everything and let it boil for an hour or so. Once done I strained it twice to remove as much sediment etc. as possible.

I prepared the jars and lids according to the manufacturer's instructions. For my canner it called for 10 pounds of pressure for 25 minutes. Once cooled I took them out and let them sit on the counter over night. This was my first attempt at canning stock and I'm wicked excited at how it turned out.

You may not need seafood stock. We make a lot of fish chowder and there is not substitute for seafood stock. You can still can chicken, beef, vegetable, whatever stock you want. Frees up freezer space and when you need it either with a planned meal or in a pinch you have it.