Storing Homemade Stock

I don't know about you but I use stock all the time.  Not only is purchased stock expensive but it comes in those nasty tetrapaks.  Making stock yourself is extremely cheap and easy so why wouldn't you?

The other really cool thing about making your own stock is that you know exactly what's in it.  You know there are no nasties, no chemicals or toxins because you didn't put them there.

See my recipe here for homemade stock.  My recipe makes about four litres of stock and you're not going to be using it all at once so that begs the question - how do I store it?  Some people use the canning method where they overfill sterilised jars but my method is much easier - I freeze it in muffin tins.

I have some silicone/metal muffin tins which I bought in Canada (sorry they are looking a bit worse for ware after years of dedicated use - probably just need a good scrub!).  I don't think you can buy them in New Zealand but straight silicone ones will be fine for this.  So here's what to do.

I measure out the same measurement into each muffin cup - mine are approximately one third of a cup.  This makes it easy, when I need a cup of stock I take three blocks out of the freezer, when I need two cups I take out six, etc.

Once they are frozen solid, take them out and pop them in a bag or Tupperware container.  They generally don't stick together but if they do they are pretty easy to pull apart.

One last thing, when you need to use the stock in a recipe it's a good idea to thaw them before you need them.  They don't take long too thaw but if, like me, you regularly forgot to take them out, just pop them into a pot and thaw them.  You can put them directly into your recipe unthawed, it just takes a bit longer, that's all.

Enjoy!