Pressure canning chicken broth is the tested way to make plain chicken stock shelf-stable. Broth is a low-acid food, so a boiling-water canner cannot heat it enough to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores. The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) process, adapted from USDA guidance, uses a hot pack, 1 inch of headspace, and a pressure canner: 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts. Altitude changes the pressure, not the time.
A sealed jar is not proof the broth is safe. Safety comes from the right canner, the right pressure for your elevation, and an uninterrupted process time.
Why chicken broth cannot be water-bath canned
Chicken broth has a pH above 4.6. In a sealed jar, that low-acid, moist, low-oxygen environment can let botulism spores grow and produce toxin if they were not destroyed during processing. A boiling-water canner reaches about 212°F at sea level. Pressure canning raises the temperature to about 240–250°F, which is what research-based processes use to destroy those spores.
University of Minnesota Extension notes that home-canned foods account for most foodborne botulism cases, and that boiling-water times published for low-acid foods should not be used. If a jar of broth looks, smells, and tastes normal, that still does not rule out toxin. Do not taste broth from an unsealed, bulging, or improperly processed jar.
Freezing is the alternative if you do not have a pressure canner or do not want to use one. Freezing does not require the same process limits, so herbs, vegetables, and a longer simmer are fine in frozen broth.
What the tested process actually covers
The NCHFP recipe is for chicken or turkey stock made from carcass bones, strained, defatted, and packed hot as a liquid. It is not a recipe for creamy soup, bone-in pieces, or jars of broth loaded with vegetables, rice, or noodles.
Stay inside that boundary:
- Remove bones before filling the jars.
- Cool the broth and discard excess fat, then reheat it to boiling.
- Leave 1 inch of headspace.
- Use pint or quart jars only. Larger jars are not in the tested process.
- Do not add flour, cornstarch, rice, pasta, barley, cream, milk, or thickeners.
- Do not pack the jar half full of vegetable or meat pieces and call it stock. Mixed soups have a separate USDA process, with their own ingredient and fill rules.
Salt is optional in meat canning. It is for flavor, not safety. The NCHFP stock directions do not require it.
A long simmer for a richer broth is a kitchen choice, not part of the published 30-to-45-minute NCHFP simmer. If you simmer longer, still strain out bones and solids, skim the fat, reheat to boiling, and use the same jar size, headspace, time, and pressure. Do not change the canning step to “make up for” a different broth.
Equipment that has to be right
You need a pressure canner, not a pressure cooker and not a pot with a locking lid used as a water bath. Dial-gauge and weighted-gauge canners both work. Follow the canner manual for water level, usually 2 to 3 inches, and for how the gauge or weight is used.
Have these ready before the broth is hot:
- Pint or quart mason-type jars, checked for chips
- New flat lids and clean bands
- Jar lifter, lid wand or tongs, clean towels, and a bubble-free tool or similar utensil
- A rack in the canner so jars do not sit on the base
Dial gauges should be tested for accuracy about once a year. A weighted gauge does not need that check, but the vent and weight must be clean and seated correctly. If you do not know your elevation, look it up before you start. Guessing near a pressure cutoff, especially 1,000 feet on a weighted-gauge canner, is a common cause of underprocessing.
How to prepare the broth
The NCHFP method is short and specific.
- Place large carcass bones, with most meat already removed, in a stockpot.
- Add enough water to cover the bones.
- Cover and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, until any remaining meat tidbits fall off easily.
- Remove the bones. Cool the broth and discard excess fat. Tiny meat trimmings still on the bones can go back into the broth if you want them.
- Reheat the broth to boiling.
- Fill hot jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Wipe rims with a clean damp paper towel. Apply lids and screw bands on fingertip-tight.
Cooling before you skim is practical: fat firms up and lifts off more cleanly. Fat left in the jar can creep onto the rim and interfere with the seal. Reheating to a boil after skimming matters, because this is a hot pack. Ladle boiling broth into hot jars so the temperature does not drop before processing.
Debubble the jars, then recheck headspace. One inch is the tested gap. Too little headspace can force liquid out and leave food on the rim. Too much can leave extra air and a weaker vacuum.
Processing times and pressure
Vent the canner first. Lock the lid with the vent open, heat on high, and let steam escape steadily for 10 minutes. Then close the vent or set the weight and bring the canner to pressure. Start the timer only when the gauge or weight shows the pressure below. If pressure drops below the target, bring it back up and start the full time again.
| Jar size | Pack | Time | Dial gauge, 0–2,000 ft | Weighted gauge, 0–1,000 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pints | Hot | 20 minutes | 11 lb | 10 lb |
| Quarts | Hot | 25 minutes | 11 lb | 10 lb |
Altitude changes pressure only.
Dial-gauge canner:
- 0–2,000 ft: 11 lb
- 2,001–4,000 ft: 12 lb
- 4,001–6,000 ft: 13 lb
- 6,001–8,000 ft: 14 lb
Weighted-gauge canner:
- 0–1,000 ft: 10 lb
- Above 1,000 ft: 15 lb
When the time ends, turn off the heat and let the canner depressurize on its own. Do not rush it with cold water or by opening the vent early. Open the lid away from your face, wait a few minutes, then lift jars straight out onto a towel. Leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.
After the jars cool
Press the center of each lid. A sealed lid stays down and does not flex. Remove the bands, wipe the jars, and label them with the date. Store in a cool, dark place. For best quality, extension guidance commonly recommends using home-canned food within a year. Refrigerate any unsealed jar and use it soon, or reprocess it with a new lid within 24 hours using the full time and pressure.
Before opening a stored jar, check the seal, look for spurting liquid, unusual cloudiness, mold, or an off odor. If anything is wrong, discard the food where people and animals cannot eat it. Do not taste it to “check.”
Mistakes that make broth unsafe or unsound
Using a water bath, an Instant Pot, or a pressure cooker without confirmed canner instructions is the error that matters most. Those appliances are not a substitute for a tested pressure-canner process.
Other failures show up often:
- Starting the timer before the canner reaches pressure
- Letting pressure fall and not restarting the full time
- Raising the time at altitude instead of the pressure
- Leaving a thick fat cap in the jar
- Adding noodles, rice, flour, or a heavy load of vegetables
- Forcing the canner to cool
- Tightening bands with a tool instead of fingertips, which can buckle lids or block venting
Liquid loss during processing is common and does not by itself mean the jar is unsafe, as long as the seal is good and the process was correct. Loss onto the rim is a sealing problem. A jar that lost so much liquid that food is uncovered should not be stored on the shelf as if nothing happened.
Quality choices that do not change the process
Plain broth from a roasted carcass, a raw carcass, or turkey frames can all go through this process once bones are removed and fat is skimmed. Onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaf are often simmered for flavor and then strained out. That is different from canning those vegetables in the jar. If they stay in the jar in any real amount, you are no longer following the stock process.
Very concentrated reductions and broths thickened before canning are outside the tested liquid. Can the broth at a normal stock strength. Reduce it later in the pan if a recipe needs that.
Cloudy broth is usually a quality issue from a hard boil or from bone sediment, not a safety failure by itself. Strain through a fine mesh if you want a clearer jar.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pressure can store-bought chicken broth? Yes, if it is plain broth with no cream, starch, or noodles, packed hot with 1 inch of headspace and processed for the pint or quart time at the right pressure. Homemade and commercial broth follow the same canning limits once they are in the jar.
Can I can broth with meat pieces in it? The stock process allows only tiny trimmings returned to the liquid. Jars of chicken pieces use the poultry process, which is much longer: on the order of 65 to 90 minutes depending on bones and jar size. Do not use the 20- and 25-minute stock times for meat.
Why did my jars siphon? Headspace under 1 inch, a rapid pressure drop, or rings that were too tight are usual causes. Let the canner cool naturally and keep broth at a boil when you fill.
Do I have to skim the fat? Yes. Excess fat is removed in the tested directions because it can prevent a seal. A thin trace is different from a solid cap.
How long does canned chicken broth keep? A correct seal and a correct process make it shelf-stable. Quality is best within about a year in a cool, dark cupboard. Discard any jar whose seal fails in storage.