chicken, chicken, chicken

I bought 40 lbs of chicken last year when it was on a really good sale. Ive never actually cooked chicken, and it kinda freaks me out. I decided when I saw the sale, I was going to bottle all 40 lbs. Ive always been told bottling's great because then it is all cooked. You just heat it up on the grill or pan and its done! I thought it was a great idea and I was going to do it. So I bought two boxes and brought them home. (each box is 20 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast) My only problem was when I got it home, I really didnt know what I was doing so I just threw it in the freezer in our garage. Needless to say, it sat frozen solid for a good year. I knew I needed to bottle it or just give it all away.

Then we were chattin with our great neighbors a week ago, and the frozen chicken came up. She said she has bottled chicken before and its super easy and yummy. She told me she would be over Wednesday to help me start the long ol' process. I couldn't of been happier to get that checked off the 'to do' list.

The night before we threw one box of it in this big tub to unthaw.

We cut whatever fat was on it, off and sealed the jars. Then it was time to just sit and watch the pressure cooker, cook. The cooking time is only 1 hour and 30 minutes, but it usually takes a good 40 minutes to heat up, and 40 minutes to cool after.

The next day I bottled the other 20 lbs of chicken. Finally today I finished pressure cooking the last batch of bottles. I finished with 43 pints, and 11 quarts. As long as it tastes good, Ive got my chicken supply for the next year. Hopefully our garden will start producing some veggies so I can bottle other things too. It really was kinda fun, and its going to be great to have them on hand.

Now whats the next thing on my 'to do' list...