Best thing since sliced bread!

Bottled Chicken!

Since I first learned about bottled chicken and how to do it I have been telling everyone about it! It really makes my life easier and everyone deserves to know about it:) Well first I must say if you are a vegetarian or don't really like chicken, you might not like this post. But if you like chicken and like quick and easy meals, then this is something you must know about!

Anyways...bottled chicken! I had never heard of it until we moved here to Arizona. A few weeks after we moved here in January, Mary (my mother in law) and Jen (my sister in law) showed me what this was and I have been using the chicken that we bottled in January every since then. My supply was running low and it was time to restock! So last week thats what we did:)

Here's how you do it:

1. Buy chicken in bulk. We order it from Zayconfoods.com. They deliver in many states and sell many products in bulk. We heard that they had chicken for $1.49 lb and sell them in 40 lb boxes. So I ordered 1 box and I'm sure this will last me for a good year or so. 

2. Prepare your jars. Wide-mouthed, pint glass jars work best. Wash all of your jars and then add 1/2 tsp. of salt to each jar. This adds a little bit of flavor to the chicken. Then fill up each jar with as much chicken as you can. 

3. Then put the lids on the jars and put them in a pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is a little tricky so if you've never used one before ask someone who has to help. Once you have filled the pressure cooker and added water to it, then you screw on the lid and turn the stove on high. First you have to wait until steam is steadily coming out of the spout. Then once the steam is steady, you set your timer for 7 minutes and let it just steam away. Then after 7 minutes you put the weight on over the spout on the 15 dial and let the pressure build. Once the pressure is at 15, then you set your timer again for 1 hr and 15 minutes. Then after that, just turn off the stove and let the pressure reduce back down to 0. Once it is at 0, you can unscrew the lid and voila, you have perfectly cooked chicken! 

So, it's not the most attractive thing once its done, but it is so convenient. Then all you do is date the top and put them in your pantry. 

Here's all of the chicken I bottled that day! 

Seriously, any meal you need chicken, you can use this. I use it in soups, pasta, salads, home made chicken pot pies and sooo much more! It cuts your cooking and preparation time for dinner in half! You get everything else ready, then at the end shred up the chicken and add it. Because it sits in its own broth, the chicken itself is super moist and yummy! 

Thanks so much Mary for teaching me this wonderful skill. I will use this to feed my family for ever and probably tonight:)