HOME CANNING

            I wanted to start this thread, because I just started to do Home Canning for the first time and had some questions.  Home canning is a great way to boost your inventory of meats, veggies & fruits.  Much better than store bought and greater variety when you watch sales and take advantage of seasonal fruits!  There is the initial cost of the Pressure/canner/cooker and then the jars and some other ingredients for pickling/jellies, if you do those.  All the jars, etc. are just getting into the stores now, so they should be readily available. 

ready mom,
 
I've been canning for 30 years,  both hot water bath and pressure. I started when my mother in law brought over a truckload (so it seemed) of canning jars for me to get started since she was convinced our large family would starve without them . She would come over now and then to check on my progress and left relieved that we would be okay.

I  haved canned 102 pints and quarts of pork cubes, beef cubes and chicken chunks using the raw pack method since it is less time-consuming  to prep the meat.  I agree that the taste is far superior to anything  else  from the store, although I will admit that the chicken  more resembles tuna for some reason. .....Good luck with your pressure canning  and enjoy

Readymom,

I know how you feel. When I first started using the pressure canner, I was sure I would mess something up. I would go back and re-read the instructions over and over again. Like everything else, after a while it is second  nature.....

Raw packed meats come out very good and tender.  The exception to this is the chicken which ends up  very much like canned tuna, both in texture and taste...Chicken does much better hot packed  with broth as a soup etc...   The other meats (beef and pork) are very good alone  as raw pack. The one thing that  I don't like too much is the the way the raw packed meats look after they have been processed, since there was no added liquid,  the meat sits above the liquid and it has a darker, dry look to it, but this in no way affects the product.

When it comes to safety, Pints at 10lbs. pressure for  75min.  Quarts  for 90 min.. you can't go wrong........BTW I have the All American canner which has both the weight and pressure dial  guage,  although my last canner had only the dial guage. ..   It is probably a good thing to be a bit nervous.  Keeps us on our toes....

Keep canning and have fun with it. I told my husband that I am not going to stop till I have used up all my mason jars....Last count several years ago there were 300 something. So I am about half way there..

God Bless                                          (don't know how to use the icons yet)

ReadyMomand Mary, I just picked up a pressure canner and did my first two batches of meat, beef one weekend and chicken this past weekend. I think it made a believer out of my Mom, whom I kidnapped for instruction. I have never had the slightest interest in canning or the like before and I told her why I was learning (for the umpteenth time, she lives with my sister in the next town over and they were not prepping before) to can and preserve. My granmother lived through the 1918 flu and she took care of her sick and dying relations (age 17) until it was over. She always canned, had a garden and had animals for meat while Mom was growing up (they lived through the Great Depression) and was still canning when I got to know her. So I knew I could get Mom to show me how and the great thing that has come out of it is that Mom is now paying attention to BF news and tring to "put up " a little here and there. I attained knowledge I am going to need, and my goal is to now get my grown daughters trained. Maybe they will survive to train theirs. What a nice thought, instead of losing our culture, we are regaining it. Jo

Mary, I call it the enlightened age, people are going back to their ancestors ways. Ways that were self sufficient and ecologically sound too. Maybe if enough people go back to basic living the rest will see how well it works and try it too. Sure hope so. I for one intend to make Grandma proud even if it took 45 years to learn this stuff. She was a survivor and that is my ultimate goal. thanks for the post. Jo

ReadyMom,

Which pressurecooker/canner did you get, and where did you order it from? I saw the Presto on Amazon.com, is that the one you got?

I have never canned before, but am thinking about learning (when I hear arklatex putting up 60# of meat WOW!). This would be a great way to store meat without the freezer.

Mirage,

I am really impressed.  Printed out your post to refer back to. So how about sharing some of those recip's you mentioned,. They really sound good..I am assuming that you do not raw pack anything, since as you mentioned, they don't taste all that good...I  am such a chicken (no pun intended) when it comes to getting away from the book.  I have looked on the net for some help, but haven't had much luck with anything other than stew.

I tried beans once and the jars cracked in the canner. I figure that the product was to dense and caused the breakage..I also never use anything other than real canning jars because I have heard of them breaking on occasion...

So if possible, could you share just a few of your favorites.......Just out of curiousity, about  how much have you bottled up????

Mary wrote: Mirage, So how about sharing some of those recip's you mentioned,. They really sound good..I am assuming that you do not raw pack anything, since as you mentioned, they don't taste all that good...I  am such a chicken (no pun intended) when it comes to getting away from the book.

grace wrote: ReadyMom, Which pressurecooker/canner did you get, and where did you order it from? I saw the Presto on Amazon.com, is that the one you got? I have never canned before, but am thinking about learning (when I hear arklatex putting up 60# of meat WOW!). This would be a great way to store meat without the freezer.

Mary, when doing raw pack hamburger it will still have a pinkish to it when done, so  don't worry. Anything under 10 lbs of pressure for 60-75 minutes  is done. I just did 12 1/2 pints of butter, thanks all for the recipes and encouagement. Finishing up with 5 quarts of chicken that was 20 lbs before processing. Sure is a comfort to look at those jars and know that they will be there when we need them. I am grateful to have started prepping when I did, otherwise I'd really be pulling my hair out now!