One hour beef stock. Say what?

I must say, in the context of all that has happened this past week with the school shooting, pressure canner beef broth seems pretty irrelevant, no?

It's often hard to put into words what we feel after tragedies such as this. And frankly, I know if I tried, I would fail miserably. I was therefore extremely thankful when I ran across THIS FANTASTIC POST by Doug Wilson. I very much appreciate Pastor Wilson's insight into the gravity and underlying cause of such turmoil in our world - give it a read, I think you'll enjoy it.

As a Christian, I often need to remind myself that God is in control. Of all things. And even though we may not understand such situations, we can trust that ultimately they are accomplishing His purpose on Earth.

We believe in a good and loving God my friends. A God that loved you and I so much that he sacrificed his Son, a perfect sacrifice, that we may be made right with Him despite our sin. He knows exactly how it feels to loose a child to a cruel world. He has felt such pain.

I can only pray that those affected by this tragedy might be comforted by this truth.

That being said. 

Though it's irrelevant to world happenings, this is still a pretty cool pressure canner beef broth recipe.

And since my family still needs to eat, and eat nourishing food at that, I spent a few hours on Sunday putting up four gallons of this delicious liquid gold.

I've already posted a standard BEEF STOCK recipe, using a normal large soup pot. But when I ran across this recipe last week, I had to dust off the ol' pressure canner and give it a try...and let me tell you why.

Because while I normally simmer a batch of beef stock for 24 hours, in a pressure canner, the same affect can be accomplished in one hour.

Can you believe that?

That means that what would have normally taken me two days to complete (I always use my bones twice, so one full day for each batch) I was able to accomplish in just a few hours.

That is sweet, sweet victory for this Mama.

The recipe is still the same, as is most of the process.

High-quality soup bones must be obtained, preferably from your local farmer who raises grass-fed beef. Ask around. I bet you can find one.

The bones are then browned in a few tablespoons of reserved fat or such. Both sides, now.

An onion or two is added... as is a few chopped carrots... perhaps a few pinches of peppercorns...

... really, whatever goodness you'd like to add. I know some who use a bit of red wine or even a bit of tomato paste to add flavor to their broth. I keep mine simple so that I can layer the flavors in later to fit whatever dish I'm creating with it.

Because, I'm like, so creative and all.

At this point, the water is added. I'd like to say I'm precise and I measure my water...but I don't. I just fill up the pot until it looks right. 

Because, I'm like, so technically precise and all.

Using the pressure canner, at this point you place on the lid and crank up the heat. In a few minutes, steam will begin to come out of the steam vent. After steam has been flowing out for about ten minutes, the weight is placed on the steam vent and the pressure allowed to build up to 15. 

See the pressure gauge? Not quite ready. Just let it slowly bring itself up to the proper pressure.

Once the gauge reaches 15, reduce the heat to maintain this pressure (my range maintained it at a medium-low setting) for one hour. After an hour, simply shut off the heat, and leave the pot alone for a little while so the pressure can reduce itself slowly. Once it's safely at zero, pop off the lid (be careful of steam!) and strain the broth into containers of your choice. I used recycled coconut oil and honey containers (they freeze great!). Ooh - and make sure to skim the solidified fat off the top of your cooled stock and save it for cooking later! It can easily be subbed in for butter or oil in cooking. I'm saving ours to fry some fish & chips in.

If you've never used a pressure canner, check out my friend Kendra's video she made HERE (the video is in the right hand column). It'll be helpful for you, even if your pressure canner is a bit different style than hers.

I'd really like to start utilizing my pressure canner more. It cooks food very quickly and with minimal loss of nutrients. I must admit, I'm very much a pressure canner amateur. But after this beef stock turned out so gelatinously wonderful, I'm feeling a bit more confident heading into my next recipe with it.

And no, gelatinously is not a word. I checked.

Regardless, I am happy to be able to accomplish such a nourishing broth in a shorter period of time. How cool!

That leaves me more time to wash these:

And bottle my 'bucha:

And kiss these babies:

Which is exactly what I'm fixin' to do.

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.