Bone broth is a low-acid food, so the only tested way to make it shelf-stable is a pressure canner. Under the USDA meat-stock process published by the National Center for Home Food Preservation, hot-packed pints process for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes, at 10 pounds on a weighted-gauge canner or 11 pounds on a dial-gauge canner at low elevation. A boiling-water canner never gets hot enough to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores, no matter how long the jars sit in the pot.
That short process applies only to strained meat or poultry stock. Bones, meat chunks, noodles, rice, flour, cream, and thickeners change the product and the time, or take it outside any tested recipe.
Why pressure canning is the only safe method
Botulinum spores survive ordinary boiling. They need the 240°F (116°C) range that a pressure canner reaches. Broth, stock, and bone broth are all low-acid, whether the pot simmered for 45 minutes or most of a day. Acidity, not cooking time or collagen, decides the method.
USDA research for these processes was done in pressure canners large enough to hold at least four quart jars upright. Small pressure cookers and electric multi-cookers are not recommended for this job. Their come-up and cool-down times differ from the canners used to establish the process, and that difference can leave the food under-processed.
Dial-gauge canners should be tested for accuracy about once a year. A gauge that reads low can process food below the temperature the recipe assumes.
Process times and altitude pressure
Use a hot pack only. Leave 1 inch of headspace. Start the timer only after the canner reaches the pressure below, and hold that pressure for the full time. If pressure drops, bring it back up and start the clock over.
Dial-gauge canner
| Elevation | Pints (20 min) | Quarts (25 min) |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2,000 ft | 11 lb | 11 lb |
| 2,001–4,000 ft | 12 lb | 12 lb |
| 4,001–6,000 ft | 13 lb | 13 lb |
| 6,001–8,000 ft | 14 lb | 14 lb |
Weighted-gauge canner
| Elevation | Pints (20 min) | Quarts (25 min) |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1,000 ft | 10 lb | 10 lb |
| Above 1,000 ft | 15 lb | 15 lb |
Weighted gauges do not step up 1 pound at a time the way dial gauges do. Above 1,000 feet they go straight to 15 pounds. Published meat-stock tables stop at 8,000 feet; above that, check with a local extension office before canning.
These figures are the NCHFP meat-stock (broth) process, the schedule extension publications use for strained beef, chicken, turkey, and similar bone broths.
Prepare the broth so the jar matches the tested product
The tested stock is a strained liquid, not a jar of bones.
For beef, the NCHFP method is to saw or crack fresh trimmed bones, rinse them, cover with water, and simmer 3 to 4 hours. Remove the bones, cool the broth, and skim the fat. For chicken or turkey, cover the bones with water and simmer 30 to 45 minutes, until remaining meat bits slip off. Cool, discard excess fat, and return only tiny meat trimmings if you want them. Reheat the broth to boiling before it goes into jars.
Longer simmers are a kitchen choice for flavor and gelatin. They do not earn a shorter canning time, and they do not make a water bath safe. What matters for the process is what is inside the jar: hot, strained, defatted stock.
Chilling overnight is the most reliable way to remove fat. The fat cap lifts off in one piece. Skimming a hot pot works if you are thorough, but leftover fat is the usual reason lids fail. Salt is optional and does not preserve the broth. If you use it, keep it modest so the jar is still a liquid stock, not a paste.
Roasting bones before the simmer deepens color and flavor. It is not required for safety. Deglaze the pan and add that liquid to the pot if you want the browned bits, then strain as usual.
Fill and process the jars
- Wash jars and keep them hot. Use new flat lids. Bands can be reused if they are not rusty or bent.
- Put the rack in the canner and add the water level your canner manual specifies, often 2 to 3 inches. Heat that water while you fill jars.
- Return the skimmed broth to a boil.
- Ladle boiling broth into hot jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Slide a non-metal tool around the inside to release bubbles, then recheck the headspace.
- Wipe each rim with a clean, damp paper towel. A vinegar-dampened cloth cuts a fat film more reliably than water alone. Fat on the rim is the most common cause of a failed seal.
- Apply lids and screw bands on fingertip-tight. Over-tightening buckles lids and blocks venting.
- Lock the canner lid, heat on high with the vent open, and let steam escape steadily for 10 minutes. Then close the vent or set the weight.
- When the gauge reaches the pressure for your elevation, start timing. Adjust heat so pressure stays steady. Large swings siphon liquid out of the jars.
- When time is up, turn off the heat. Let pressure return to zero on its own. Do not rush it with cold water or by lifting the weight early. Forcing the cool-down pulls liquid under the lid and weakens seals.
- Wait a few minutes after the pressure hits zero, then open the lid away from your face. Set jars on a towel, spaced apart, and leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours.
A sealed lid is firm and curved down in the center. Unsealed jars go in the refrigerator and should be used within a few days, or they can be reprocessed with a new lid within 24 hours using the full time again.
What no longer counts as stock
The 20- and 25-minute times are for strained liquid. Several common additions move the jar into a different recipe, or into no tested recipe at all.
- Meat pieces or bones left in the jar. Bone-in chicken has its own schedule: 65 minutes for pints and 75 for quarts. Boneless meat is longer still. Do not use the stock clock for jars of meat.
- Vegetables left in the jar. That is soup. Tested mixed soups generally process 60 minutes for pints and 75 for quarts, and only when every ingredient has its own tested canning method. Noodles, rice, barley, flour, cream, milk, and other thickeners are not allowed in those soups. They slow heat penetration.
- Vegetable-only or seafood broth. Extension guidance notes that there is no USDA process for vegetable, fish, or other seafood stock. Freeze those. Fish itself, if canned, uses a much longer process than meat stock.
- Commercial bone-broth concentrates used as the liquid in another canning recipe. Powders, pastes, and reconstituted products often contain starches or added gelatin that have not been tested for heat penetration. That warning is about using them inside other canned foods, not about canning plain homemade stock.
- An electric multi-cooker standing in for a canner. USDA does not support canning low-acid food in these appliances, even if a manufacturer offers a button for it.
If the goal is soup, can the plain broth and add noodles, rice, cream, or fresh vegetables when you open the jar.
Seal failures, cloudiness, and gel
Most seal failures on broth trace to fat on the rim, bands that were too tight, headspace under 1 inch, or a canner that was cooled too fast. Siphoning — broth pushed out during processing — often follows pressure spikes or a rushed cool-down. A jar that lost liquid but still sealed is usually fine for quality if at least half the contents remain and the seal is strong. Do not open it to top it off.
Cloudiness can come from marrow, a hard boil, or minerals in the water. It is a quality issue when the seal is good and the broth was processed correctly. Spurting liquid, a broken seal, an off smell, or mold is not. When in doubt, discard the food without tasting it.
A firm gel in the jar means collagen set as the broth cooled. It melts again when heated. Pressure processing can soften that gel, so a canned jar is sometimes less jiggly than the same broth was before it went into the canner. That is a texture change, not evidence the jar is unsafe. A broth that never gels was usually short on connective tissue or diluted, not under-processed.
Storage and how long to keep it
Label each jar with the contents and date. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark, dry place. For best quality, use home-canned food within a year. Safety depends on an intact seal, a correct process, and clean storage, not on the calendar alone. Once opened, refrigerate the broth and use it within a few days.
Freezing remains the alternative if you do not have a real pressure canner. Leave headspace in freezer containers, cool the broth first, and plan on using it within a few months for best flavor.
Questions people ask after the first batch
Can I water-bath bone broth if I boil it for several hours? No. Boiling tops out around 212°F at sea level. Botulinum spores need pressure-canner temperatures. Altitude makes a water bath even cooler.
Do chicken, beef, pork, and venison broths use different times? Not if the jar is strained stock. Poultry and red-meat stocks share the 20- and 25-minute process. The simmer before canning differs — shorter for poultry bones in the tested method, longer for beef — but the canner time does not.
Can I add onion, carrot, and celery? Simmer them for flavor if you want, then strain them out so the jar is liquid stock. Leaving the vegetables in the jar makes it soup and requires a tested soup process, not the stock clock.
Why did the broth not seal even though the time was right? Check the rim first. A thin fat film is enough. Also check headspace, band tightness, venting, and whether the canner was forced cool.
Does canning destroy the collagen? High heat can break some of the long protein strands that make broth gel, so the set may be weaker after processing. The jar is still cooked stock. Gelling is a texture sign, not a safety test.
Is a pressure cooker the same as a pressure canner? No. Use a canner that holds at least four quarts upright and follow its manual for venting and water level. Electric multi-cookers are not a substitute for this process.