I know that everyone and their siblings have posted recipes for Instant Pot stock or broth or bone broth or whatever the name for it is these days. I’m going to be one more, so bear with me today.
Last year when all my friends were getting Instant Pots, I resisted. I really did think that the IP was one more trendy, expensive bit of kitchen clutter that would soon disappear. I enjoyed reading about what they were making but I wasn’t about to spend $100+ on one of these. Then right after Christmas this year there was a fateful Facebook conversation and a friend of mine said the magic words “Kara…honest to goodness gelled bone broth – 2 hours.”
That was it. I had a Christmas gift card burning a hole in my pocket, so I hopped onto Amazon and bought the Instant Pot Duo Plus 60 (Amazon affiliate link).
Over the course of the last month, I’ve made chicken stock 4 times and right now that’s the thing I’m loving the most about the IP. I cook with stock a lot and I prefer to use homemade. Prior to having the IP, making chicken stock (the good, long cooked kind that would gel up) was a bit of a production. And since it was a production, taking all day to make, I would make a huge batch of it. Which means that at any given time 50% or more of my freezer space was being used to store containers of stock.
With the IP, the chicken stock that used to take all day to simmer and then a ton of time to strain, chill, portion, and freeze now takes 3ish hours of hands-off time. That means I can make a batch of stock when I need it. I can make 3 quarts at a time, rather than have to fill my freezer. And the stock it makes is wonderful – rich, dark, clear, and yes, it gels up nicely when it’s chilled.
So here’s my IP chicken stock post. It’s more a method than a recipe. I hope it’s useful to someone.
I start with whatever chicken bones or parts I have around. My Publix grocery store will sell chicken backs for stock making for less than $1 a pound, so I usually have a pack of those and any roasted leftover bones from the freezer. I think this particular batch took some leftover thigh bones and 2-3 chicken backs.
To that I added 1 yellow onion, cut in half (skin and all), a handful of baby carrots, the last little bit of a bunch of celery, a handful of peppercorns, a couple of bay leaves, a splash of apple cider vinegar (about 1 T) and filled the Instant Pot with water to the 2/3 line.
I set the pot to cook on high pressure for 3 hours and walked away.
When it was done I let the pressure release naturally (NPR) for about 30-40 mins and then I quick released (QR) the remaining pressure.
After straining out the cooked bones and vegetables, I was left with a little over 3 quarts of the most beautiful chicken stock. I put a quart of it in a jar in the fridge for use later this week and used the rest to make 15 bean soup for dinner (recipe to come).
It’s early days yet and I’ve had my Instant Pot less than a full month but I’m willing to eat my words and admit I was wrong. Even if I never make anything but stock in it, it would be worth the money. But I see it getting a lot more use on a regular basis and I plan to blog those as well.