• Live, freeze, learn

    From Drew Lawson@3:633/10 to All on Monday, December 15, 2025 02:27:53
    As usual, after Thanksgiving I simmered the bones until the attached
    meat fell off. I simmered down the result a bit and put in quart
    Mason jars to sit in the freezer until it is soup time.

    Being almost soup time, I just went to pull out a jar to thaw. It
    looks like I got a little too greedy on jar space. Two of the five
    jars have broken, even with the plastic lids. That's a first for
    me (though I don't freeze a lot in jars).

    I guess, after careful inspection, I'll be making 2 quarts of soup
    instead of one.

    I may need to buy more garlic.


    --
    Drew Lawson

    ". . . And I never give a reason"
    -- God, as channeled by Seven Nations

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Daniel@3:633/10 to All on Monday, December 15, 2025 08:01:36
    drew@furrfu.invalid (Drew Lawson) writes:

    As usual, after Thanksgiving I simmered the bones until the attached
    meat fell off. I simmered down the result a bit and put in quart
    Mason jars to sit in the freezer until it is soup time.

    Being almost soup time, I just went to pull out a jar to thaw. It
    looks like I got a little too greedy on jar space. Two of the five
    jars have broken, even with the plastic lids. That's a first for
    me (though I don't freeze a lot in jars).

    I guess, after careful inspection, I'll be making 2 quarts of soup
    instead of one.

    I may need to buy more garlic.

    In most cases I buy my chicken parts with bone and skin, usually in
    large family packs. The same day, if it's thighs as an example, I will
    clean them all and freeze dinner-sized portions. I'll dispose only the
    skin then bag the bones separately. Over the course of a year, i have
    bone bags on a bottom basket in my freezer that gather. With these
    bones, I make large volumes of white chicken/bone stock during late
    summer. Sometimes it lasts a year. It all depends on how often I need
    stock.

    If you don't mind a suggestion from someone else with space
    considerations, don't use jars. When it's time to freeze fresh stock,
    acquire a stack of tupperware-like containers in the size you want for
    cooking. Pour stock into each. Ahead of time, prepare a shelf in the
    freezer for the stock containers. Once they're froze (or frozen enough), transfer the frozen ingots (my wife calls them that) to a freezer bag or foodsaver (what I do). They will all be uniform in size/shape and
    stackable. You'll find that you can store way more stock this way. I
    typically have a shelf dedicated to the bagged stock with some
    overflow.

    Daniel
    sysop : air & wave bbs
    finger : calcmandan@bbs.erb.pw

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Joy Beeson@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 21:45:41
    I used to buy freezer bags that fit neatly into stackable
    boxes. But it's been thirty years since I had access to the
    store where I bought them, and they may no longer be
    available.


    --
    joy beeson at centurylink dot net
    http://wlweather.net/PAGESEW/


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Drew Lawson@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, December 17, 2025 20:31:16
    In article <r644kkttbh2he78p0541mf3o4nisbod484@4ax.com>
    Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> writes:
    I used to buy freezer bags that fit neatly into stackable
    boxes. But it's been thirty years since I had access to the
    store where I bought them, and they may no longer be
    available.

    Oh, I've previously had fine results freezing stock/broth in Mason
    jars. I just got sloppy this time, or maybe greedy. I had what
    probably should have been 5 quarts and a pint. But I was thinking
    of soup, and have no use for a pint. So I filled them too far.

    Three of the jars are fine (so far). Probably making soup with the
    casualties Thursday or Friday. The garage is cold, and things
    aren't melting in the fridge as quickly as I'd expected.


    --
    Drew Lawson | What is an "Oprah"?
    | -- Teal'c
    |

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)