Canning Broth Question: Can You Use Bouillon in Home Canned Stock?

Can you use bouillon while canning broth or stock? That’s the question in today’s Canning Chat! 

If you are looking for directions on how to can broth or stock,

• Learn how to make and can beef stock here…
• Learn how to make and can chicken broth here….

But what about adding bouillon… Can you use it?

Can You Use Bouillon in Home Canned Stock?

Today’s question for our Canning Chat comes from Gwendolyn, and she asks this.

“Sharon, please, can you answer a question for me? I’ve just canned beef stock. The Ball Canning Book suggested to add some beef cubes for better flavor, and it worked good. I’m ready to make chicken stock. Can I add chicken bouillon cubes to my chicken stock? Ball doesn’t state it, or I couldn’t find it. I checked your recipes, and I couldn’t find it either. I can’t see why not. However, you never know.” 

So I think it’s a great idea to always check when you’re not sure. And yes, in this case, you can use chicken cubes or bouillon in your stock or broth if you’d like to.  

When I’m Canning Broth… 

Now, I never (or rarely) use bouillon or cubes in my broth when I’m canning it, either beef or chicken. I will use bouillon cubes if I’m canning meat, especially my elk and venison. The beef bouillon really does add a nice flavor to it. But for the chicken and the beef broth, when I am making it, I want it just to be the broth.  

If I feel like I want to add cubes or bouillon later, I can do it then. But you can put bouillon in the jar with your stock if you want to. 

Keep This in Mind for Canning Broth or Stock… 

One thing to keep in mind: Be aware of what you are purchasing.  

So this is just the Wyler’s Beef Cubes. (in the video I’m holding up the package) It is just strictly a bouillon that also comes in chicken flavor. I don’t use chicken very often, so I don’t have any. But just make sure if you are buying, that it is just bouillon. Sometimes packages will come in the little envelopes, and it’s more of a soup mix. Those “bouillons” are going to have other stuff in there. What you want to add to your jar is strictly the bouillon. Just be aware of that. 

And then yes, you can add bouillon to your jars. It changes up the flavor of your broth. Bouillon does add a little bit of salt. So be aware of that. If you add your own salt, just make sure you’re aware of the salt levels in there, and you’ll be good to go.  

I checked a few canning sources…

I found it interesting to note that my Ball Blue Book, Bernardin, Fresh Preserving (a Ball website), and the NCFHFP all offer the option to use beef bouillon when canning beef stock but none mention using chicken bouillon when canning chicken stock. I don’t know of any reason why beef flavor bouillon would be any different than chicken bouillon. Seems to me it is likely because of flavor.

• https://www.freshpreserving.com/blog
• https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/beef-stock.htm

Edit to add – A Quick Update on Using Bouillon in Home Canning

For years, I simply measured how much liquid I planned to use in a jar and added the amount of bouillon needed to make that volume of broth. Usually that meant one cube per jar, or enough granules to equal about one cup of broth. Check your package instructions and go with what matches your tastes.

Recently, though, the National Center for Home Food Preservation has updated their guidance about adding bouillon to jars. The newer recommendation is that the bouillon be fully dissolved into the liquid before it’s poured into the jars. So instead of tossing a cube, powder, or granules into the jar and letting it dissolve during processing, warm your water, dissolve the bouillon completely, and then ladle that prepared broth into your jars.

Their reasoning is that undissolved bouillon could change how heat moves through the jar during processing. Since testing is done with the broth already mixed and dissolved, that is the safest approach to follow.

Personally, I’ve never had a bouillon cube fail to melt as the jar processes. So I understand the thinking that this feels like a very small difference. But it is a difference, and the recommendation is based on how the jars were tested.

So where does that leave us? Personally, I’m not tossing out any jars I’ve previously canned using the old method. If you’ve canned broth or soups that way, I wouldn’t worry about those jars either. Just consider which method you want to use going forward.

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