The slow cooker is a classic appliance in any household and is an easy 'set it and forget it' stock. You can even move your slow cooker to the porch, laundry room, or garage in the summertime so you don't heat up your house!
Clean Vegetable Scrapsparticularly onion peels to make stock a beautiful golden color (optional)
2-3clovesgarlicoptional
1-2inchesginger rootoptional
Instructions
Place soup bones in slow cooker. Add optional vegetable scraps, garlic, ginger, and then fill ceramic crock 3/4 full with filtered water. Do not add the salt yet.
Turn slow cooker to low and allow to cook 8-24 hours, as desired. Stock is done when it is a rich golden color, and all vegetable scraps are well cooked, and cartilage on the marrow bone is starting to soften. Cooking the stock longer will extract more beneficial amino acids from the cartilage surrounding the bones.
Turn slow cooker off and allow stock to cool a bit, so it is not so dangerous to pour. Remove meat, bones, and cartilage (save for another batch). Poke marrow out of the middle of the bone and add to your finished stock. Discard vegetable scraps.
Pour stock into jars using a funnel, or simmer down to reduce the stock as desired. (see more details of this reduction process here.
Add salt as desired, I use a scant 1 teaspoon per quart of unreduced stock, which helps preserve the stock but will not become overpowering if the stock is reduced, like in a sauce.
Store stock in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer for 1 year.