I for one would LOVE to have all of our canning recipes in one place, along with recipes (times and temperatures) for dehydrated foods. Let’s try and limit this to just recipes that we all can home-can in jars, or foods that we can dehydrate or otherwise preserve for long term storage, NOT recipes for actually using the canned or dehydrated food mixed with other stuff. Chefs, step forward!
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…this is gonna be a challenge…
lol
0:)
p.s. I’ll be back with some recipes once I have some more coffee.
Shad.
OK, I’ll start this off with the first thing I ever learned to can, green beans.
String beans (if needed) and break into one inch pieces. Rinse beans and pack into steilized quart jars. Add 1 teaspoon salt and pour in boiling water until normal headspace is obtained. Wipe the rim of the jars, put on sterilized lids and rings and process quarts at recommended pressure for your altitude for 25 minutes.
Does anyone have a recipe for canning bbq pork, chicken or beef. I don’t know how long I can survive without bbq. :)
KMinFL – at 15:10
I’ll look and see what I have and try and get it here by tomorrow. Oh, by the way, we have the same initials, how funny. <grin>
Western BBQ Beans
Prepare home canning jars and lids according to manufactuer’s instructions.
Combine beans; cover beans with cold water and let stand 12 to 18 hours in a cool place. Drain and cover with boiling water; boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Drain. Combine onions, salt, spices, tomato juice and molasses; heat to a boil. Pack 1 cup of beans into hot jar. Top with a piece of pork and fill jar about 3/4 full of beans. Carefully ladle hot sauce over beans, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic spatula. Place lid on jar. Screw band down evenly and firmly.
Process pints 1 hour and 5 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 15 minutes, at 10 pounds pressure in a steam-pressure canner.
Yield: about 5 pints.
Bean and Bacon soup (canned)
Combine all ingredients except bacon and onion; cook until soft. Cut bacon into small pieces and fry. Remove bacon and cook up onion in bacon grease until soft. Put all ingredients together and heat until it simmers. Remove bay leaves before putting in jars. Pressure can 1 hour at 10 lbs.
Makes about 16 quarts.
Follow-up comment:
Jeanette’s Pickled Hot Dogs
mix last 4 items together stuff hotdog’s and peppers into the jar put the water/vinegar mix into the jar leaving about 1/2 inch space seal the jars and put into the hot water bath canner for 15 pints and 20 mins for quarts
(Note: these are “pickled” and are therefore considered a high-acid food and do not require pressure canning, but can be hot water bath canned)
Cut hot dogs to fit in whatever jar size you are using. Fill sterilized jars, leaving slightly more than one inch head space. Pour boiling hot water to fill the space between the hot dogs. Move a spoon about the jar, to make sure you got the air pockets out.
Process in your canner at 10 PSI pint jars 75 minutes; Quarts for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
They will really plumb up, even if they are cheapy sale hot dogs.
For an WONDERFUL variation, try slicing them (like rounds), put into the hot sterile jar with your favorite BBQ sauce (many books have recipes for BBQ sauce). Process as described above. Hope this helps.
Canned Meatballs
Mix all together. Make into small meatballs. Saute lightly. Pack hot into jars and cover with water or beef broth. Process in pressure cooker 75 minutes for pints, 90 for quarts at the
appropriate
pressure for your altitude.
Sloppy Joes CANNED
Prepare jars and lids—Brown ground beef, onion and garlic-Drain and set aside.Combine brown sugar and mustard and add remaining ingredients and add to beef mixture. Heat thoroughly. Ladle mixture in hot jars. Leave 1 in head space. Remove air bubbles and wipe jars and seal. Process 1 hour and 15 minutes @ 10 lbs. pressure in pressure canner. Yield 6 pints
Here’s my general note on canning meats, with some specific comments on chicken. I got these a while back so always double check your directions on the latest safety recommendations.
Allow 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds chicken for each quart canned with bone, and 5 1/2 to 6 1/4 pounds per quart without bone. Rinse chilled, dressed chicken in cold water. Pat dry with clean cloth. Cut up; remove visible fat. Boil, steam or bake chicken till medium-done — pink color should be almost gone. Pack chicken pieces loosely into hot clean jars. Place thigh and drumsticks with skin next to glass and fit breast pieces into center, leaving 1-inch headspace. If desired, add 1 teaspoon salt for quarts and 1/2 teaspoon for pints. Pour in boiling water or broth, leaving 1-inch headspace. Wipe rims, adjust lids. Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure — for poultry with bones, process 75 minutes for quarts or 65 minutes for pints; for deboned poultry process 90 minutes for quarts or 75 minutes for pionts. *Boil in a small amount of water for 15 to 20 minutes before tasting or using poultry.*
To raw pack fresh meats and poultry, prepare jars. Cut meat from bone. Use bones to prepare stock. For chicken, sparate pieces at the joints. Trim fat carefully, as it may cause meat to have a strong flavour as well as ruin the sealing rubber of the jar. If necessary, wipe meat clean with a damp cloth. Do not soak it. Cut meat against the grain into 1-inch strips or chunks. Pack into the sterile jars. Cover with boiling stock or tomato juice. Never use a thickened gravy. You may add 1 teaspoon salt to each quart for seasoning. Allow 1-inch headroom. Now exhaust the air from the open filled jars by setting them on a rack in a pan of boiling water. Keep water level 2 inches below jar tops. Put a thermometer in the center of a jar, cover the pan and heat the meat slowing to 170F. If not using thermometer, heat slowly for 75 minutes. Remove jars from the pan and wipe off tops and threads of jars before lidding. Process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts.
Precooking and packing meats and Poultry for canning (still JoC): Roasts, steaks, meatballs or patties and sausage cakes may be processed and canned. Use beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, goat or venison. To bake, heat oven to 350F. Cut the meat into pieces small enough to fit the jars. Pack closely while still hot into hot, sterile jars, at least two pieces to a pint jar. Skim fat from drippings. Add enough boiling water or broth to the drippings to cover the meat, leaving 1-inch headroom. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim carefully to remove any fat. Adjust the lids and pressure-process in 10 pounds pressure, pints 75 minutes, quarts 90 minutes.
To stew, cut meat into uniform pieces about 1 pound each, drop into boiling water and simmer 12 to 20 minutes or until the raw color has disappeared at center. Liver should be simmered about 5 minutes, tongue about 45 minutes, or until skin can be removed. Cut meat into smaller serving pieces. Remove fat and gristle, then salt, pack closely in hot jars and cover with the boiling broth. Remove air bubbles, wipe rim carefully.
Frying is the least desirable method of pre-cooking. It makes the surface of the meat hard and dry and often gives an undesirable flavour to the finished product.
Meat that is not covered with liquid will discolour and lose some flavour in storage. Depending on the shape of the pieces, 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of meat will fill a pint jar and still remain submerged.
Pint jars are preferable to larger containers, as the heat penetrates more readily to the center of the container. Process pints 75 minutes, quarts 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
To precook chicken, simmer meaty pieces in a broth until medium done. Cover with boiling broth, leaving 1-inch headroom. With bone, process pints 65 minutes, quarts 75 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. Without bone, process 75 and 90 minutes. Gizzards and hearts should be canned together, but separate from the meat, in boiling chicken broth. Process pints 75 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
Chicken-Boned Steam or boil chicken until about 2/3 done. Remove skin and bones. Pack meat into hot jars, leaving 1-inch head space. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt per pint or 1 teaspoon salt per quart. Skim fat from broth. Bring broth to a boil. Pour over chicken, leaving 1-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Process pints 1 hour and 15 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 30 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
Chicken-On-Bone Hot Pack — Boil, steam or bake chicken until about 2/3 done. If uncut chickens were cooked, searate at joints as for frying. Pack hot into hot jars, leaving 1-inch head space. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt per pint or 1 teaspoon salt per quart. Cover with boiling hot chicken broth, leaving 1-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Process pints 1 hour and 5 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
Raw Pack — Separate chicken at joints. Pack meat into hot jars, leaving 1-inch head space. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt per pint or 1 teaspoon salt per quart. Do not add liquid. Adjust caps. Process pints 1 hour and 5 minutes, quarts 1 hour and 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
On another thread someone mentioned canning meat with wine. Try directions for Beef Bourguignon
It looks like a really good option. Fix some of it for dinner and can the remainder … if you can save the leftovers. <grin>
Thanks Kathy,
I really appreciate everything you do. Having all of your recipies avaliable makes me feel a lot more confident.
BBQ Ribs
I’ve eaten the following, but never made them myself. <grin> My friend does A LOT of “meals in jars” type things and I’ll see if I can pick her brain for more recipes/ideas. Sure beats the heck out of the prices some of the freeze dried meals are going for. Definitely more bang for your buck.
Directions:
Take ribs and pack them into a wide mouth jar. Pour BBQ sauce on top and then pressure can them. When we want to have BBQ ribs I carefully pull them out and place them on my broiler tray I put them into the oven on 325 for 20–30 min. They taste excellant and are extra tender.
Here’s my recipe for my base Marinara that I also use to make Chicken Cacciatore:
Marinara
3T extra virgin olive oil 6oz chopped onion 2oz fresh garlic cloves, sliced in half 2 quarts home canned tomatoes 105oz (huge can) Hunts crushed tomatoes 1/4oz fresh parsley - chopped 1/4oz fresh basil - chopped 1t pepper 3T kosher salt 1t garlic powder 3lbs of fresh deboned chicken 5oz green pepper sliced into 1/2¨C3/4¡å pieces 5oz yellow peper sliced into 1/2¨C3/4¡å pieces 1 whole carrot
To make marinara: Place olive oil in bottom of pan and turn heat on low. Add chopped onion and sliced garlic and simmer slowly until onion is translucent (without browning garlic). Add home canned tomatoes, and large can of crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley and basil and stir well. Add peeled whole carrot and just place in marinara (the carrot helps to neutralize the acidic levels of tomatoes and adds a natural sweetness without the overpowering taste of regular sugar). Simmer on low for a few hours, stirring frequently so that bottom of pot doesn¡¯t scorch tomatoes.
After marinara is done, I cube the chicken, dust with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder and sautee (slightly browning) in a pan with extra virgin olive oil. Prepare 10 pint jars, steralizing them. Divide up equally in jars the sauteed chicken, green and yellow peppers and pour marinara over and into the pint jars, leaving 1¡å headspace. Remove air bubbles, place seal and ring on jar and process at 10lbs pressure for 90 minutes (keeping in mind to adjust the pressure according to your altitude requirements).
This can be served over cooked spaghetti or linguine¡
Shad.
Chicken Soup (and Cuban Chicken Soup) and basic ideas for canning chicken:
Chicken Soup
2 whole chickens (approx. 9lbs total) 4T kosher salt 1T peppercorns 1 large onion 3 large carrots 3 stalks celery
I put chickens in 20 quart stock pot, fill with water, add the salt and let simmer, skimming off the scum that rises to the top. Once the scum stops (this is cracking me up, trying to write out directions for something that I do by sight lol), I add the salt, peppercorns, onion, carrots and celery and simmer for a few hours (somewhere around 3¨C4). I also taste test the broth to make sure that the salt content is enough and sometimes end up adding a little more. I then strain the broth through a wire strainer placed over another pot, capturing the chickens and veggies in strainer. I then strain broth a 2nd time through cheese cloth (this is because I like a very clear and clean broth), with large spoon, skim off as much of the grease as you can or let sit overnight in the refrigerator and let it harden, peeling grease off top. I then debone and deskin all the chick and shred it into appropriate size pieces and set aside. I throw away the bones, fat, skin, veggies and peppercorns.
I then take fresh carrots, peel them and cut into about 1/4¡å slices and place in a bowl¡when I made this on Friday I think I probably used about 8¨C10 carrots, but the amount needed depends on the size of the carrots. Take fresh celery, and chop into small pieces (I do mine about 1/4¡å square) and place into a seperate bowl. I also chop up fresh onion, placing in a third bowl. To make Cuban Chicken soup, I add a couple of packets of Sazon to the broth, cube up potatoes and put in about 1/2c cubed potatoes.
I take my quart canning jars, wash and steralize them, and into each jar I place: 1/4c chopped onion, 1/3c chopped celery, 3/4c sliced carrots, and 3/4c shredded chicken. I heat the broth up in the pot, and then pour the broth over the raw veggies, put on seals and rings, and put into my pressure canner, and process 90 minutes at 10lbs pressure. I am only at 11¡ä above sea level so it is advisable to find out the amount of pressure needed at different altitudes. When they¡¯re finished being processed, I take them out, place them on a kitchen towel on the counter and let cool over night. I then wash the jars, label and they¡¯re ready to go. Last Friday, for some reason, I ended up having extra broth, so I processed the broth in pint jars for 90 minutes at 10lbs pressure. I figure if anyone gets really sick, they¡¯re not going to necessarily want to eat chicken and carrots and such, but the nutritional value in the broth alone is priceless. When I go to serve the soup, I take some dried noodles, put them in a little pot, pour the quart over the noodles and simmer them according to the pasta directions (mine take about 5 minutes)¡this cooks the noodles, absorbing a little of the soup into them and we have chicken noodle soup. I have found that the longer my chicken soup stays in the jar, the better it tastes for some reason. This recipe that I make myself gives me about 12 quart jars of chicken soup.
As far as canning regular chicken, I only can cubed chicken breast. I use that in things like shredded chicken tacos, burritos, pot pies, chicken divan, etc. I buy only bone-in with skin chicken breasts. I debone the chicken, remove the skin, and throw the bones and skin into a stock pot with some veggies, bay leaves and fresh garlic cloves and make a chicken broth for use in other meals. It really is much cheaper to buy bone-in with skin chicken breasts and debone them yourself. You will still come out paying less for the boneless chicken breasts, than if you had bought them already deboned¡plus you get 2 for 1¡canned chicken plus canned chicken broth.
Once I¡¯ve deboned the chicken breasts and cubed them into about 1¡å cubes, I place raw into hot steralized quart jars, leaving a 1¡å headspace. I ladle hot water over the chicken, put in about 3/4t of salt, remove air bubbles and place seal and ring on jars and process at 10lbs pressure for 90 minutes.
Hi Shad!
Is it safe to can the Chicken marsal in quarts? How far does a quart seem to go with your big family. I’m trying to figure out how many meals I will get.
Fot the canned chicken breasts, does the water have to be boiling or just very hot?
Thanks for the recipes!
Many years ago I had a great recipe for green tomato relish. It also had onions (but no peppers). The flavor was a little sweet and very tangy. Anybody have a recipe that tastes like that?
Just ran across this recipe and it might be just the thing to have as a convenience and/or comfort food. It will also be a good way to use up bread that has gotten hard.
Bruchetta In A Jar
Yields: 7 - 8 oz. Jars
1. Prepare Canner, jars and lids.
2. In a large, deep stainless stell pot. combine garlic, through Balsamic vinegar. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover and boil gently, for 5 minutes, until garlic is heated through. Remove from heat.
3. Pack tomatoes into the hot jars to within a generous 1/2″ if top of jar. Ladle hot vinegar mixture into jar to cover tomatoes, leaving 1/2″ headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headpace if needed with more liquid. Wipe rim and put lid on. Tighten to fingertip tight.
4. Place jars in canner, ensuring jars are covered with water. Bring to a full boil and process for 20 minutes. Remove canner lid and let sit 5 minutes. Take jars put and let cool the store.
Kathy in FL – at 10:59 --- How d’ya make “Dry White Wine”? Is there a Ronco Food Dehydrator attachment for that? ;-) <g>
Bronco Bill – at 13:11
OK smarty pants. I “make it” by walking into the liquor store and asking for it. LOL! I am one of those poor folks that have no taste or head for wine. I cook with it but don’t drink it. Its wasted on me. <grin>
ROTF!!! LOL!!! :-)
Because chicken has been such a “greasy” problem for me in my canning… I have been having my husband smoke it or grill it when the pit is “up and running.” (Also, brisket) Then, I have been canning it. Figure I’ve got that smoke taste, and can add BBQ sauce later. I have added BBQ sauce to some canning jars… but it is watery looking. We like the thick stuff.
I also made meatloaf and canned it. All I know is it looks a heck of a lot better (tastier) than SPAM!! We haven’t tried it yet. I used the wide mouthed jars, thank goodness! I’m not sure the meat loaves would be able to be gotten out of the jars otherwise. Well, I guess it could be spooned out. But, I keep thinking about meatloaf sandwiches!!
mom11 – at 17:16
Yes, it’s safe to process the Chicken Cacciatore in quart jars for 90 minutes, I do it all the time. As far as how much a quart jar would feed, if you serve it over spaghetti, with a side salad, garlic bread, etc, I would think that it would feed a normal size family of four. My 2 sons are huge (6′6/280, 6′5/200) so it’s hard to judge by how they eat.
As far as canning plain chicken alone, yes, I use boiling water. Water boils at a specific temperature, whereas *hot* can be interpreted to be alot of varying degrees.
Mari – at 21:30
I don’t think that any of these recipes are exactly the one you’re talking about for Green Tomato Relish, but perhaps some alterations might produce the recipe you’re looking for:
PICKLED GREEN TOMATO RELISH
l0 lb. small, hard green tomatoes
l-l/2 lb. red bell peppers
l-l/2 lb. green bell peppers
2 lb. onions
l/2 cup canning or pickling salt
l qt. water
4 cups sugar
l qt. vinegar (5% acidity)
l/3 cup prepared yellow mustard
2 tbsp. cornstarch
YIELD: 7 to 9 pints
PROCEDURE: Wash and coarsely grate or finely chop tomatoes, peppers and onions. Dissolve salt in water and pour over vegetables in large kettle. Heat to boiling and simmer 5 minutes. Drain in colander. Return vegetables to kettle. Add sugar, vinegar, mustard and cornstarch. Stir to mix. Heat to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Fill hot, sterile pint jars (see directions below for sterilizing jars) with hot relish, leaving l/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.
~~~~~
Mama Hall’s Green Tomato Relish
1 gallon quartered green tomatoes
4 large onions
6 tart apples
3 large bell peppers
6 serreno peppers (optional)
1/2 cup canning salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tbls pickling spice
Chop the veggies like you would for coleslaw. Core apples, but do not peel. Chop fine.
Combine veggies and apple with canning salt. Let stand overnight. Drain & rinse, pressing out as much moisture as possible.
Combine vinegar, sugar, and water. Bring to boil and cook until sugar dissovles. Add pickling spice, in a cloth bag, and veggie mix. Return to boil and simmer 30 mintures.
Fill canning jars to withing 1/4 inch of top. Remove air bubbles. Adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes bout 7 pints.
~~~~~
Green Tomato Relish with Honey
Yield: 5 pints
12 green tomatoes
4 large onions
1 sweet red pepper
1 sweet green pepper
4 cups white vinegar
1 cup dark honey
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon pickling salt
Chop the tomatoes, onions and peppers coarsely. Drain. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Cook slowly until tender, about 20 minutes. Put into clean, hot pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal. Process in a BWB for 15 minutes.
Note: Time is for altitude up to 1000 feet. For 1,001–6,000 process 20 minutes, 25 minutes above 6,000. ~~~~~
Chow-Chow
Yield: 6–8 pints
16 medium-sized green tomatoes
6 medium-sized onions
6 green peppers
6 sweet red peppers
1 medium-sized head cabbage
1/4 cup pickling salt
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
6 cups white vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices tied in a cheesecloth bag
With a knife, coarsely chop all vegetables. Combine and mix with the salt. Let stand overnight. The next morning drain, discarding the liquid. Put the prepared mustard in a large kettle and gradually blend in the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, turmeric, ginger and celery seeds.
Simmer for 2 minutes. Strain, then add the chopped vegetables and spice bag. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove the cheesecloth spice big. Pack the vegetables immediately into clean, hot pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Be sure the liquid covers the vegetables in the jars. Seal. Process 10 minutes in a BWB.
Note: 15 minutes 1,001–6,000, 20 minutes above 6000. ~~~~~
Shad.
shadddup – at 19:18 - Thanks! I’d better experiment a bit with a small batch intended for fresh eating to see what tastes best to me. Maybe I can find the recipe somewhere.
The last “anonymous” was me - cleaned those cookies right out of there! (I’ve always wondered, are they chocolate chip? with pecans?)
Came across this recipe for pickled jalapenos — looks good, I don’t have equipment to can yet, but I plan to make this when I do:
Using fresh mild Jalapeno peppers, blanch peppers for 3 minutes in boiling water. To prevent collapsing, puncture each pepper. Add the following ingredients to a pint jar packed with the blanched peppers before cooling occurs.
1/4 medium-sized garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon of onion flakes
1 small or medium bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon of ground oregano
1/8 teaspoon of thyme leaf (not seed)
1/8 teaspoon of marjoram
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (olive, refined sesame, corn) Cover with boiling brine solution prepared as follows: Mix together: 3 tablespoons sugar
9 tablespoons salt
2 pints water
2 pints vinegar (5 percent)
Close the containers and process 10 minutes in boiling water, then cool.
Note: Jalapenos must be hot when brine solution is added. The addition of carrot slices adds color to the product.
Here’s the nutrition info from the site where I found it, from Texas Cooperative Extension:
Peppers are the right food for people seeking a healthy, nutritious diet. Low in calories, high in Vitamins A and C, peppers are also high in a very important mineral—potassium. One cup of raw sweet green peppers contains 22 calories. For comparison a cup of cucumber is 16, cottage cheese is 223 and whole orange is about 41 calories.
A red sweet or hot pepper contains about ten times more vitamin A and double the amount of Vitamin C than an immature green pepper. A 100 gram serving of red hot peppers eaten raw contains 369 milligrams of Vitamin C. The same serving size of sweet raw green pepper contains 128 milligrams, about one third less.
Whether green or red a pepper contains more Vitamin C than a whole orange which contains only about 50 milligrams. For potassium rich foods, an average banana contains 370 milligrams and a cup of green sweet pepper has 213 mg raw and 149 mg if boiled before being eaten.
I have run across wb sites that talk about canning butter, the university of mich says this is not a safe practice. Then I found to store butter you put it in a crock that contains one cup of salt to one gallon of water and sink the butter in this mix, place in a cool place and it will keep for a long time. What do you think?
For those of you (like me) who have put off canning for the past few months because it has been just too darned hot, make sure you get your supplies now so you will be ready. I see jars and jar lids everywhere, but that may not be the case in a month or two.
I plan to “put up” lots of ground beef in a couple of different ways as well as lots more chili. Not only does it make for great preps, but it is also really handy for quick meals.
Hawaiian Pork
In a very large pot combine:
1 large can (46 oz) tomato or V8 type juice
1 large bottle (46 oz) pineapple juice
4 cans chunk pineapple and juice
About a dozen large multi-colored bell peppers, red/yellow/orange/green, sliced
About a half dozen big summer tomatoes, scalded, skinned and coarsely chopped
3 to 4 large sweet onions, sliced
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
3 heaping tablespoons fresh grated ginger root (roots freeze well and are then easily grated.)
One whole pork loin, about 5 lbs meat, grill roasted and then cubed. (If you can use a little wood while roasting for a smoky taste, all the better.)
Combine all ingredients and heat until just boiling. Fill hot jars, packing with a plastic spoon, as vegetables will soften and take up less space as it processes. Process for 1 1/2 hours in a pressure canner at 10 lbs or pressure recommended for your elevation. Makes 10–12 quarts.
Serve over a platter of rice.
Home recipe: not USDA tested.
Thanks Northstar! I’ve been considering buying a large pork ham like I do at Christmas (for Spanish Pork) but was wondering if it was worth the expense. This will be a great way for me to use the leftovers.
You’re welcome! Can you give me an idea of what you do for a Spanish Ham? That sounds good, and I’ve only ever done the brown sugar-clove-ginger thing.
Northstar – at 14:40
What I do is buy a “raw” ham shoulder or butt. I mean raw, no curing at all as in it is fresh from the butcher.
Then I marinate the ham in naranja agria … sour oranges. You can buy a ready made marinade at the grocery around here. Or, you can use sour oranges fresh from the tree. Sour oranges aren’t the same as sweet oranges … they are the “old” oranges that have thorns on the branches and which are usually used as “stock” for grafting.
Or you can use a combination or lemon juice and olive oil.
You also need plenty of garlic.
Marinade for 24 to 48 hours depending on the size of the ham. Then put the whole mess in the oven and cook the ham in the marinade.
Makes for very tender and tasty pork. Some people don’t want to take the time to cook a full ham so they will buy loins and do the same thing … but I usually wind up using the ham bone for other things as well as needing the size of the ham to feed the crew at Christmas.
Serve with yellow rice, black beans, cuban bread and have flan or something similar for dessert.
Oh! That sounds great! I grew up in Florida but left when I was a kid… a lot of my recipes still have that tropical bent, though. (s) Thanks!
I haven’t seen anybody mention this, and if so I appologize. Cantaloupes are just such a good buy right now. I sliced pieces as thin as possible and dehydrated until like a crisp chip. I was pleased with the results! It is an unusual taste, and a nutritious and sweet treat. My 8 yo grandson even liked them! I wouldn’t sit around eating this like I do cantaloupe, but it sure might come in handy. Two very large cantaloupes dried up to about 2 cups worth. Also, I think this might be one of those “cure hunger pangs” solutions. It takes some chewing (a hunger pang deal) and promotes salivation which cuases rehydration… in your mouth. I got a little piece hung in my tooth… which grew with time (how I discovered it). I thought, “Hey, this could be a nice treat if SHTF.” This takes about 24 hours.
I have noticed lemons and limes are on sale everywhere I shop. Some places are almost giving them away. I have been slicing them into thin rings, peeling and all, and dehydrating them. The white pulp actually has some medicianl value. The rind can be used as zest. The fruit itself can be used to clean… even refresh mouth. Mostly, I plan to put these in jars out in the sun (like solar tea… but not just in tea) for various drinks. I am finding citrus takes a long time to dehydrate.
A friend gave me a #10 can of salsa verde green salsa….Can I just repack into pints and recan this stuff?Also ,How long beyond the use by date can the uht milk go?She gave me 10 quarts of it with yesterdays date on it.
I have a bottle of balsamic vinegar that seems to have mold inside it, floating on the surface of the vinegar. I assume it’s no good — I’m certainly not going to risk it for a few dollars worth of balsamic vinegar, but has anyone ever heard of anything like this. I would have thought that vinegar wasn’t able to mold. And if it’s not mold, what is it?
Oh, I was going to add something like “this probably isn’t the right thread for a question like this, but . . .”
But I forgot. This seemed the most appropriate thread.
Milo, what you probably have there is “Mother of Vinegar.” Like you, I thought vinegar was an end state, but it’s not… vinegar is produced by a microorganisim, and sometimes enough persists to start up growth again. The only reason I know all this is I had Mother develop in some infrequently used apple cider vinegar, and had an immediate, violent, life-threatening allergic reaction to cake baked with it, akin to a penicillin reaction. The rest of my family ate the cake with absolutely no ill effects. (But I’d toss it if I were you.)
Northstar — Thanks! Mystery solved.
Mother of vinegar (google it) can be a very useful thing to have. I remember Jeff Smith (frugal gourmet anyone?) going on and on about it. You can use it to make wine and to start off your own vinegars.
Malachi – at 09:07 A friend gave me a #10 can of salsa verde green salsa….Can I just repack into pints and recan this stuff?Also ,How long beyond the use by date can the uht milk go?She gave me 10 quarts of it with yesterdays date on it.
Great directions for canning plain meat
I’ve been looking for more recipes that are like casseroles in a jar … or some such anyway. I’ve found a few, but not many. Mostly the recipes online that I’ve found are for fruits and veggies.
I’m looking for more meat-based recipes … anyone want to add some more to this thread?
I’ve got a great bratwurst and sweet pepper stew I’m dying to try out; if it works I’ll post it up. Until then, here’s a recipe for instant cream of potato soup:
Instant Potato Soup
2 C mashed potato flakes
1 C dry milk
4 tsp granulated chicken boullion
1/8 C dried minced onion
1/2 tsp pepper
Makes 1 dry quart
Mix 1/2 c dry mix to 1 scant C water for a single serving.
Northstar! I’ve been wondering about you — did you ever decide to buy that house? )Sorry if I missed it).
ACM! I’ll post up over on the dream thread…
kathy-I have a good recipe for beef vegetable soup if you are interested. I am at work now so don’t have recipe with me.
You may have posted the copy cat hamburger helper, however, I have canned alot of HB in pints to use for the HB helper. Should be easy quick meals if needed.
If you like beef tips in rice, I take a quart of canned beef chucks, drain, mix with can of mushroom soup and serve over noodles or rice, wonderful.
Arklatex: I read your post as “cat hamburger helper” and it gave me pause for a second… but hey, I’m open to anything! Prepper here!
Northstar – at 10:58
I think they meant “copy cat hamburger helper.” ROFL!!!!
OK … that made me feel tons better. <snicker>
I start a marathon round of canning tomorrow. I’m also going to try and figure out how to can Garbanzo bean soup (I’m worried about the potato texture more than anything else) and Ropa Viejo. Canned Picadillo would be nice too. <grin>
I`ve been on a dehydrating marathon. Fun. Is it possible to dehydrate potatoes, like for hash browns? Can I grate, briefly parboil, then dehydrate?
Kathy: Darn, and I was thinking I was finally going to have some recipes if it came down to Princess, Emma and a box of noodles… ;-)
Speaking of garbanzo beans, I’ve just discovered Indian cooking… I’m trying to come up with my own recipes for the expensive ‘Kitchens of India” ready to eat stuff that’s been blowing my mind recently. There’s Rajma Masala made with kidney beans and Pindi Chana made with garbanzos. No more boring beans! This stuff is fantastic! I should have recipes in a couple days.
For the garbanzo bean soup… you are using redskin potatoes, aren’t you? (I assume in chunks not mashed as a thickener.)
cactus, maybe it’s cheating but dehydrated hash browns are available at meijer’s for a buck fifty a box. Prolly less on sale. Aldi’s has great varieties of dehydrated scalloped potatoes (try the Jalapeno) for 79 cents. I’m hooked — add some sausage and broccoli and it’s dinner. I’ll never go back to not having prep foods.
Northstar-I’m with you on the dehydrated potatoes. Our Super One Grocery has Betty Crocker Dehydrated potatoes for $1/box this week limit 10, I’m going back for the third time. Love the hash browns.
I know, but fresh potatoes aren`t expensive, and one 10 pound sack wpuld make a lot of hash browns, and I would know what was in them. ie no preservatives.
cactus – at 20:25
I dehydrate shredded potatoes all the time. Its not that hard, just be careful not to “burn” them by over drying like you can with some really small items.
Northstar – at 19:35
Actually the recipe calls for a Yukon gold type potato … not a red skin. That’s part of the problem I think. I may just make a batch, try it, and if the potatoes get too mushy try something else.
When I can recipes that call for potatoes, I put the potatoes in raw…that way they cook during the processing and I’ve never had a problem.
Shad.
I dehydrated 32 oz of plain yogurt today. Anybody else dehydrated yogurt? I wanted a yogurt starter. I’ve been looking around on the internet and found some powdered yogurt… for a pretty penney. Figured if they could do it… I could try to do it. So far, it looks like parchment paper. I don’t see why I need to go to the trouble of making powder out of this… is there a reason?
Big Lots had 6# 6.5oz cans of diced tomatoes today for $1.99 I’m not sure what to do with this. It’s too big to open in an emergency situation. But, it’s such a good buy. I’ve thought about just dehydrating the tomatoes. I thought about making salsa, tomato soup or even canning them in pints. Do you think they’d be to “processed” if I canned them into smaller containers? Freezing in smaller portions isn’t an option because of possible power outages. Thanks.
Roast Pork For Cuban Sandwiches http://icuban.com/food/cuban_sandwich.html
Mash the garlic and salt together with a mortar and pestle. (A rolling pin on a cutting board works pretty good too.)
Add dried oregano, onion and the sour orange to the mash and mix thoroughly. Heat oil in small sauce pan, add the mash to the oil and whisk.
Pierce pork roast as many times as you can with a sharp knife or fork. Pour garlic mixture (save a little for roasting) over pork, cover and let sit in refrigerator for two to three hours.
Using a suitable roasting pan or rack, sprinkle remaining marinade over pork and cook uncovered at 325°F. Roast until completely cooked (160°F), about 20 minutes per pound. Baste occasionally. Bring pan juices to a boil and simmer until the juice is reduced by half. Sprinkle some juice onto the pork when you put it in the sandwich.
Roast a Pig like a Pro- WARNING, graphic pig gutting images
EnoughAlready - at 01:33
The recipe for roast pork for Cuban sandwiches looks great. Do you think this could be canned, as well? If so, how would you do it?
Canning it ?
I’d just “pull “ it, and pack it ( not too tight) into pint (?) jars, and process as for any other meat… Yummm….now it makes me want to make a batch of tamales…these would be the perfect meat to put in them, too.
[Note: the following recipe can also be converted to any type of seasoned meatloaf, just don’t put any eggs in there. For instance, I used the “meatloaf seasoning” packets that I got from the grocery rather than doing the seasoning from scratch. Worked just fine.]
Canned Meatloaf
(also know that you can season this any way you want to)
Mix all this up; stuff it in a jar raw, wipe, cap, band and Process quarts for 90 minutes at 10 lbs. When you get ready to prepare, open, drain, slide loaf out of jar; cover with ketsup; place under boiler until warm and ketsup is baked on (about 5 - 10 min), slice and serve.
If I’m in a real big hurry I just slice and heat in the microwave and use barbecue sauce on it.
(Starts with the crockpot and then you can it)
Sausage and Kraut
Place sauerkraut in colander, rinse with cold water, drain and squeeze dry. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, diced apple, and onion. Sprinkle with minced garlic. Add sliced sausage. Mix together. Spray crockpot with Pam and add the mixture. I cooked it on high for 2 hours, then low for 3–4 more. (Or you can cook on Low for 6–8 hours (depending on temp of YOUR pot).
NOTES: I stirred again halfway through, but it probably isn’t necessary. As always, I have to caution you to watch it the first time you make it because of the difference in temperatures of all our crockpots. This does NOT have a LOT of liquid in it (because it was squeezed out), so watch it the first time and adjust your squeezing accordingly.
Can it using the method and times for the ingredient requiring the longest processing time, which would be the meats. Pints 75 minutes and quarts 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure (as per BBB for spareribs, sausage, etc.)
Turkey a la king to can
Cut the turkey into pieces. Place in large pot with 3 quarts water and cook until tender. Cool, remove meat from bones and cut into small pieces. Dissolve flour and salt in a little of the cold broth to make a paste and add to the remainder of the quart of broth which has been heated. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring to keep free of lumps. Add mushrooms, peppers, and black pepper. Heat to boiling and fill clean canning jars to within one inch of the top of the jar. Wipe jar rim clean with damp cloth. Place hot, previously boiled lid on and screw down ring firmly tight. Process in pressure canner for 90 minutes at 10 pounds unless your altitude requires more pressure. (See your canning manual for directions.) When you heat this up, it will be thick, and you may now add milk to your taste.
Kathy and all,
I have a meat pie I make and was wondering if you all thought I’d be able to make up a big batch of the filling and pressure can it without it getting moocky-mucky? It has browned gound meat, saute’d cabbage, canned diced tomatoes, allspice and Thyme. I’ve read where some spices don’t react well to pressure canning. Do you all think I could can that mixture and not have it taste funny or breakdown too much?
I have only ever canned just meat with some broth - and recently tried canning chile. much of the liquid from the chile somehow got out of the jars. I had the canner running just right and the proper amount of headspace. Does anyone know what might have happened? It sealed and tastes fine- just a bit dry so I added some tomatoe sauce when I heated it up. I would like to know what you all think before I attempt to can my meat pie fillling.
Oh and of you want to try it:
1lb-ish ground meat- whatever you have or a combo or I guess finely chopped would do fine too. 1 small or 1/2 larger head green cabbage chopped 1/2″ to 1″ pieces 1 can diced tomatoes (I use the roasted garlic flavored ones but what ever you have will be fine I’m sure) drained but hold onto the juice in case your mixture is too dry. 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp dried thyme
Brown the meat drain most of the dripping if there are any and set aside. Saute the chopped cabbage in the bit of dripping left- add oil or butter if needed, till just starting to get tender. Mix back in the meat, the tomatoes and the spices, simmer about 10 minutes to blend and remove from heat to cool a bit. If it looks too dry add back some of the tomato juice- but not too much or it’ll seep through the crust.
You can use your own piecrust- I use the PB ready to bake ones for this cause they’re fast and easy. you can make 2 sizes. If you have a large family and want to make a large pie put the 2 crusts together one on top the other and roll out to about 15–18inches, or if you are just 2 or 3 you can use them alone and make 2 pies (one to freeze!)
lightly grease a cookie sheet and place the crust on the pan. Spoon the cooled filling onto the center of the crust and draw up/fold up edges leaving a hole in the center. The lg pie would probably have a 3–4 inch wide hole and the smaller on 2–3 inches. The small one usually winds up looking like a pentagon. Bake at 375 about 20–25 minutes or till browned to your liking. This is great with garlic mashed potatoes and spaghetti squash!
I’ll appreciate everyones advice on this as I really wnat to do it- I usually freeze it but I’m not so much into freezers anymore ya know!!!
Cinda, your filling sounds fine. The only seasoning I know of to be careful with canning is sage … it goes bitter.
Sounds great.
Kathy- thanks so much- it is now on my list of to-dos for today. I browned the beef last night and froze it awaiting a reply from the gang here. You are all wonderfull and I am learning a lot about more than basic canning. So- do you or does anyone- have a recipe for swedish meatballs in gravy that can be canned? Or does cream gravy not can well? I thought that would be a great easy thing to have on my shelf for those late work -there was an accident on rt 24 and my commute time doubled days- just boil up some egg noodles, heat up the swedish meatballs and you have dinner in about 10 minutes.
another preservation question- has anyone made up any home-made “stove top stuffing”
Thanks to all
anonymous – at 08:47
You can can meatballs, but not the cream gravy. I know I’ve seen something though that you can put around the meatballs and then just add the “cream” part. Let me piddle around in my recipe cards and see what I can come up with.
I’ll also see if I can find a copy cat recipe for stove top stuffing … but have a busy day ahead of me so might not get back with you until tomorrow.
That’s great Kathy, Tomorrow would be fine- no ruch- I’ll make the meatballs and freeze them raw till I hear from you all. Thanks so much- I have quite a day ahead too, Actually I called in to my “real” job so I could get a ton of coking and canning done today. When it piles up it’s all I can think about and I get all stressed out. I can’t see having any “leisure” time on my hands if this thing happens and supply chains break down!
Hmmm, Kathy, would you happen to know if one could can Cream of Mushroom Soup (out of the can) over swedish meatballs ans get good results? All this talk of Swedish Meatballs sounds so good!
Grape Juice…..
2 cups grapes per 1/2 gallon jars,washed ,sorted and stemmed Pour boiled light syrup over grapes and fill to 1/2 inch….
Hot bath 20 min quarts and pints….30 min 1/2 gallons
Adjust to taste upon serving with added water.This is a concentrate…
I used concord grapes but you could use whatever is availabe..
Kathy, I noticed that your turkey a la king has flour in it. It was my understanding that you are not suppose to use flour in canning? I would love to try this recipie but the flour makes me nervous. by the way, THANKS for all your wonderful recipies and hard work!
Tomo – at 12:03
A small amount of flour is find to cook with. In fact a previous edition of the Ball’s Blue Book had recipes in it that included flour.
Ok … I may get fried for this but to me food regulations are good, but they shouldn’t be a religious experience. <grin> I know people that refuse to can with any kind of thickeners … clearjel included … just because of “what if.” Yet people have been doing some of this for generations.
A small amount of thickener is fine … but don’t get something so thick that your heat can’t evenly distribute through the jar, nor so thick that the heat will “coagulate” it in the jar.
There are legitimate reasons for not getting the contents of a jar too thick … but in my experience, a minor amount of a thickener is not going to be a problem.
But as always, your choice. There are probably other recipes for chicken a la king out there that would address this concern.
Northstar – at 11:34
I’ve heard of people using the canned cream of mushroom soup around ground beef … but not around the meatballs. But I know I’ve seen something someplace. I’m on a couple of canning groups that I’ll email as well.
Kathy, thanks. You would think that being a food scientist in a family of food scientists canning at home would be easy. Sometimes too much knowlege makes it harder. I’ve only just started pressure canning and have to tell you I’m still a bit nervous. I know just how many things can go wrong and how bad the consequences would be. Now, If I could put it in a 2 piece can and through a retort with a temp/pressure recorder…
Cinda – at 10:12
Here is a copycat recipe for you for stove top stuffing. I’ll post the Swedish meatball canning directions in just a minute.
Stove Top Like Stuffing
Ingredients:
Mix:
To Prepare:
Directions:
Combine mix ingredients; store in airtight container.
To prepare, combine broth and butter in saucepan. Heat until melted and hot. Stir in stuffing mix; remove from heat and cover tightly. Let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
This recipe for Stove Top-Like Stuffing Mix serves/makes 8 cups
Not all of these are the traditional Swedish meatballs, but I’ve included them because of graphics or great directions.
Lazyboy’s Meatballs - this one uses BBQ sauce
The following is a copy of a post from one of the big canning groups … gives some good ideas:
“For loose ground beef I go ahead and season and sauce it as for sloppy joes, chili, or taco meat, but I find we use more of the meatballs than anything else — except for chicken. When I started to can the ground meat as meatballs, they got a real positive reaction. You’d have thought I had just invented food!
I don’t think the meatballs in the jar are all that unattractive, but I do think that my chicken in the jars (off the bone) is very nice looking. I do meatballs in quarts, but I make large meatballs. If I made melon-baller sized ones, pints might just work fine for them. I use boiling water with a bit of the pan drippings for the liquid, and haven’t done the tomato sauce. Sometimes I serve the meatballs in a sour cream sauce (my ignorant version of Swedish meatballs), and sometimes (rarely) in a sweet and sour Hawaiian-kinda thing.”
Below is a generic recipe for canning meatballs:
BASIC MEATBALLS
In large bowl combine first 6 ingredients. Add beef, mix well. Shape into 12 dozen 1-inch meatballs. Place in shallow baking pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Pack loosely into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Add boiling water or meat juice, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust lids. Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure, 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts. Makes 8 pints. REMEMBER THE ALTITUDE ADJUSTMENT IF NECESSARY!
Any of y’all ever canned citrus juice? In the Ball Blue Book there are instructions for grapefruit juice but was wondering if orange juice is the same thing.
I do know that I’m probably going to try and can some frozen juice concentrate if I can find it on sale. I’ll thaw it and then can it just like regular fruit juice. Seems a reasonable experiment.
If things hold off until after the first of the year I should be able to get all the ruby red grapefruits that I could want from the tree in our front yard. Tree doesn’t have as much fruit as in year’s passed, but still more than we would eat raw. I figure I’ll juice the remainder as I can and then preserve it in quart jars.
Kathy, Thanks for the “stove top” recipe. I’m psyched because I like to put all different breads in my stuffing (I always freeze bread leftovers that are going tough and use them for my stuffing) and we have one of those day old discount bread stores right onmy way home from work. I can rip up bread tonight while watching CSI!!!! and tuck it into the dehydrator before bed!
I know you can buy grapefruit sections canned in the store- so I would think you should be able to do it at home too. I wouldn’t think the juice would be too far off of the recipe for the sections.Glad you mentioned it because now when I see a bunch of them on the markdown rack I’m going to try it. Also- then maybe it wouldn’t be as sweet as the storebought canned ones. I have to rinse them off before I can eat them. I’ll be glad if your experiment works!
OK, I’m canning today, first time in probably 5 years .. my canner checked out so I prepared my jars I reread my manual 3 times. I filled it with 3 quarts of water then put my jars in. Now I feel uneasy because for some reason, I thought I was supposed to submerge the jars — cover them in water — is only 3 quarts enough as is stated in my manual??
I’m doing pinto beans in quart jars — 11 lbs pressure for 90 minutes is all the instructions I could find.
Someone reassure me that 3 quarts of water is enough???
I’m workin on it, for pressure canning that’s all the water you need. If you are doing hot water bath canning then you need to cover the jars with water.
Well, then that’s where that odd feeling came from because the last time I canned I did both pressure canning and water bath so I DID cover SOME jars at one time — I was just getting the process mixed up in my memory. Thanks for reassuring me! I’m not expecting these to come out tasting good — rather old bag of beans & I used regular salt, ‘cause I forgot to get any canning salt & apparently I’m supposed to use that.
When I started canning years ago, my dad got sick & eventually died, and by then I had to keep a closer watch on my mom and I just never got back to it till now and my memory is a lot shorter now!! :-)
I’m-workin’-on-it – at 15:48
I just make sure that the water comes up between 2/3 and 3/4 of the way to the top of the jars. That’s how my Mom taught me and it works just fine.
Hmmm….with only 5 jars in, it didn’t displace that much water so they were only about 1/2 to 1/3 covered….wonder if I should shorten the canning time because of that?
My All american pressure canner manual says to put 1.5 inches of water in the bottom. There’s no way that comes up to half way or 3/4 of the way up the jars. I always thought it didn’t sound right. Does anyone else here can with an all american?
2nd question kathy, in the “stove top” stuffing recipe- do you think I could put some chicken boullion granuals, or a cube crushed up, and some butter powder in place of the broth and butter when preparing so that when I prepare it to serve I could just add water?
Kathy… I’ve been trying to figure out how to “can juice”, too. I don’t remember anybody (g’ma, great aunts, etc) who canned juice. I’ve almost decided to try to dehydrate a can of juice concentrate to see how it comes out! (I’m test-dehydrating minature marshmallows right now.)
Apple juice… http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/apple_juice.html
Grape juice… http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/grape_juice.html
Tons of recipes here, not juice… http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm
OK guys, I’m ready to start trying out some new recipes. Thanks for all the inspiration.
A couple of quick questions:
I want to can pork, country style ribs that I’ll dice 1″ cubes. I’d like to try it two ways. one with bbq sauce, one with saurkraut. Can I raw pack or do I need to cook first? Can I use store bought bbq sauce? should I drain the kraut first then add back boiling water to top off? Thanks for your help on this.
Northstar, did you ever try any of those indian dishes? I’d love to add a little spice to the meals!
Kathy in FL ~
As you said, some people are going to disagree, and I’m one of them lol…
I’ve researched ad infinitum home canning using thickeners. I’ve even talked with the USDA about it. Not that any of that means anything other than I wanted to find a reliable and viable source to support using thickeners during canning so that I could rest assured it was safe for me to do too.
What flours and other thickeners (other than Clear Jel) does during the pressure process is interfere with the pressure and heat filtering through the jars while in the canner.
Yes many people have done this/that or the other over the years, but it doesn’t mean that it’s safe or advisable. I’ve home canned thousands of jars of foods, and right now am canning 540lbs of apples I just brought back from Northern Georgia into pie filling, sauce, spiced, etc. I’ve done thousands of jars of tomatoes, etc etc etc…the point is, that is how *I* can…big time volume. With all the canning I’ve done over the years, flours, corn starches, etc (things that are thickeners) is not something I’d personally do, nor advocate. It’s simple to add thickeners during the heating up process when you take it out to eat, and insure that your home canned product is reliable and safe vs. taking a chance with something that slows down a pressure/heat process that is vital to its safety.
As a side note, I read where you liked leaner cuts of hamburger because it will leave less grease in the jar after processing. That is true. Beyond that though is it is natural that some juices may escape through the seal during processing, which is normal, and which is why you’ll see bits and pieces or discoloration in your water. Grease will prohibit a seal so the it is advisable to use lean ground beef or to rinse it under hot water after cooking (before making any meal or placing in the jars). Not only will grease interfere with a seal, but it an above normal amount of grease will also cause the product to go rancid much quicker.
As with all things, these are personal choices, but many times there’s 2 sides to a coin. For me personally, with the volumes of home canning I do on a weekly basis, I don’t want to bother taking certain risks when I’m working so hard to create a long term storage product. For me, it feels like a waste of my time and energy to push the envelope in this area.
I tend to push the envelopes in other areas though, I will confess.
0:)
Shad.
Shaddup, Our local store has pork country ribs, boneless on great sale along with pork shoulder roast. I’d love to can up a bunch and take advantage of the good prices. any good recipe ideas?
Tomo, I tossed the Rajma Masala recipe up on the usual recipes thread… it turned out great, but got kind of lost with a burst of other posts. I just did the Pindi Chana and it is wonderful, too. Here it is: (and goodbye boring beans!)
Pindi Chana
1 30oz can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained
1 onion, fine dice
1 large potato, 1/2″ dice
1 15 oz can stewed tomatoes (I use the “with onions, peppers” kind)
1 Tbs sesame tahini (similar enough to peanut butter if no allergies to worry about)
2/3 of a 15 oz can refried beans
saute oil
shake of garlic powder
2 quarter-sized ginger root slices, cut into matchsticks
1/2 the contents of a teabag
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Saute onion and ginger root; then add tomatoes, potatoes and about 1/3 c water for simmering. Cook until potatoes are almost done, about 15–20 minutes. Add chickpeas, refried beans and spices, simmer until flavors are well blended. Serve over toast or rice.
This is very hearty fare; I’ve found a cupful will last me all afternoon with no hunger. I think a can of peas in there would be a great variation, but then it wouldn’t be offical pindi chana, probably. (s) I’m just a beginner at Indian cooking but it is just awesome. How did I miss it before?
A dried hummus mix would be a great substitute for both the refried beans and the sesame tahini — there’s some available in the international section at my Meijers.
Tomo ~
There are several things you can do with the pork. With the country ribs, you can can them with bbq sauce. The Blue Ball canning book has a recipe:
Spareribs
Crack ribs evenly, cooking until about 1/2 done. Remove bones (you said your ribs were already boneless). Cut meat into squares. Add 1/2t salt to each pint jar, 1t salt to quart jars if desired (not mandatory). Pack hot ribs into hot jars, leaving 1″ headspace. Ladle hot bbq sauce or broth over meat, leaving 1″ headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process pints 1 hour 15 minutes and quarts 1 hour 30 minutes at 10lbs pressure (or whatever pressure is recommended for your altitude).
With the pork shoulder roast, you could make homemade sausuage with that (that’s what I do alot) and mix that with a marinara to can. Or you can cube up the roast, trying to get as much of the fat out as possible and then add a hot broth or water and process that for the same amount of time…pints 1 hour 15 minutes, quarts 1 hour 30 minutes. Later, you can take your pork and make a meal out of it. I guess cause I’m in a major apple mode what comes to mind for me with home canned pork chunks is to drain them from the jar, sautee in a little olive oil with shallots or onions and minced garlic, then take some spiced apples and simmer. There’s a ton of things you can do with things like that, or you can make a meal from the roast in bbq sandwich meat with sauce, etc.
Let me know if you need some more ideas, and I’ll do some more thinking…I have a 16qt pot full of mushy apples I hafta process into apple sauce so I’ll think while I do that…lol
Shad.
Shad, your commitment to cooking and canning is admirable!
I have the ball book and saw that recipe. I’d rather not take the time to make bbq sauce, can I use store bought? I can cook them half way and hot pack them in the hot sauce.
I have a great pulled pork recipe, is there any reason that I can’t can that? It is about the consistency of sloppy joe filling. There’s cumin, garlic powder, salt, oregano, diced tomatoes, ketchup, onion, vinegar, molasses, and hot sauce.
Yes, I’d love any other ideas you may have.
side note, is there any reason to not use curry powder or paste as a flavoring in canned meat dishes?
Thanks for all the help and inspiration! Happy apple canning! You’d love it around here, apples EVERYWHERE in the pacific NW!
Tomo,
I’ll leave it to those more experienced/knowledgeable about canning to answer your last question. However, I couldn’t resist posting to ask whether you would share your pulled pork recipe? It sounds great.
We have canned many jars of grape juice from muscadine and scuppernong grapes. They are a large-sized grape that grows easily in the southeastern U.S., and they yield a lot of excellent juice. The product cans up well and retains good flavor for a long time. Once the jar is opened and then refrigerated, it will develop small crystals of tartaric acid in the bottom of the jar, that is the only drawback. We just drain the liquid off carefully and dump the crystals.
When canning, we smash and briefly pre-cook the grapes in a large pot to release the juice…then strain and squeeze out the juice through clean nylon paint-strainer bags, and reheat to boiling point and can it up. Sugar is optional, we leave it out.
Tomo- I would love to have your recipe for pulled pork. I was wondering the same things myself about canning it. Though my meat pie filling came out great. I’m really getting addicted to the whole canning idea, beyond just plain meats. It’s SO easy to come home- heat the oven- pull out a piecrust and open a jar and fill it and pop it in the oven. It’s still completely homemade- but wow- what a break after a long day.
Cinda, I can’t believe that your instructions say 1.5 inches of water in your canner! WOW! But at least yours says SOMEthing, my manual doesn’t say anything at all.
Well, I did make certain the water went up 1/2 way up my jars of pintos and they all turned out just fine.
I hadn’t seasoned them other than a little bit of salt, so I used the one jar I’d opened the first day of canning and mixed it with some Savory Sides mixed veggies in spicy sauce, and they were great! Really stretched that one can into a 4 meal side dish.
I noticed the second day of canning that my canner was dripping condensation onto the stovetop & a little bit of steam was coming out another place so I went on to see if I could get it pressurized and it stayed solidly pressurized at 12–13 lbs for 90 minutes so I was able to finish those beans, but I’m going to have to replace the sealing ring & pressure valve and gasket around the other pressure release place according to the manual.
I was headed for ACE Hardware for new parts (hoping they had them) and my car’s air fan motor broke again so it’s now back in the shop as of an hour ago and I’m car-less once again. I may just order parts online & go ahead and try to can something else today with the old seal as long as the pressure will continue to stay up.
sigh. It’s always something.
I really appreciate all the recipes & sharing that you ‘pros’ do — it really helps!
OK, here goes nothing. I appologize in advance if the formatting is not correct, I only have a small amt. of time while the little one is down and the other is at preschool. No time for the sandbox….
Pulled Pork
1 tbs cumin 1 tbs garlic powder 1 tsp salt 1tsp oregano 3 lbs. pork shoulder roast, in 1 inch cubes 16 oz can diced tomatoes 1 cup ketchup 1 med. onion chopped 2 tbs. cider vinegar 2 tbs. molasses 1 tbs. hot sauce.
combine the first 3 and toss with the pork. Add everything else and put in slow cooker for 4–5 hrs on high or 8 on low depending on your cooker. Stir occasionally. Pull meat, mix and eat! Great in a sandwich or over noodles, or even in a quesadilla.
I usually use more spices and eye ball everything. We like flavor in our food so we kick it up a bit. I’d really love to can this, even if it ment making it a bit saucier. Any suggestions would be welcome.
OK, here goes nothing. I appologize in advance if the formatting is not correct, I only have a small amt. of time while the little one is down and the other is at preschool. No time for the sandbox….
Pulled Pork
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1tsp oregano
3 lbs. pork shoulder roast, in 1 inch cubes
16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup ketchup
1 med. onion chopped
2 tbs. cider vinegar
2 tbs. molasses
1 tbs. hot sauce.
combine the first 3 and toss with the pork. Add everything else and put in slow cooker for 4–5 hrs on high or 8 on low depending on your cooker. Stir occasionally. Pull meat, mix and eat! Great in a sandwich or over noodles, or even in a quesadilla.
I usually use more spices and eye ball everything. We like flavor in our food so we kick it up a bit. I’d really love to can this, even if it ment making it a bit saucier. Any suggestions would be welcome.
try it again
Tomo ~
If it were me, I would feel comfortable using a store brand bbq sauce…with the tomato base and vinegar high in bbq sauce ingredients, it would have enough acidity, especially when processed for the length of time and pressure required for meats.
If I were you, I’d do a test run…can up a couple of pints of the ribs in the sauce, let them sit in your cupboard for a month and then open them up, heat and try them. Some things, after being processed and sitting for a while can get intense flavors. I’ve noticed in things like just my chicken soup that the flavor intensifies a little after being stored for a while, which is a good thing…it’s actually better after sitting than it is freshly made…go figure lol. I’ve done marinara with eggplant which tasted AWFUL after sitting a while, so it’s trial and error with my home canned recipes.
I know you said that those meats were on sale, so I’d still go ahead and get them, do up a couple of test batches and freeze the rest. If your test batches taste awesome after sitting a while, you can take the meat you bought on sale outta the freezer and process the rest of them. Now is the time to make sure about some things…if things got bad, you don’t want to be opening up home canned jars that have changed taste a little over time and be stuck with that.
Same with your pulled pork recipe…the ingredients are all normal and acceptable items commonly used in home canning. When I process for the item requiring the longest time (meat in this case), I’ve felt comfortable using recipes that were my own. That suggestion is nothing that the experts would support, and falls along the lines of what Kathy in FL had said earlier about some agreeing/disagreeing. I guess because I’m so careful about some things (no dairy, thickeners, etc) I personally feel comfortable canning my home recipes…most times they really are close to the recipes that are USDA approved anyway.
Curry is an acceptable spice used in home canning. The curry paste however might be iffy, depending on what ingredients were used to make the paste vs the powder…yanno what I mean?
Shad.
I’m-workin’-on-it – at 12:25
1.5 inches water
Do you think that’s why I’m losing liquid out of my jars? When I open the canner it was obvious that the liquid that was in the chile and then the meat pie filling, had boiled out as it was in the water in the canner. in both cases 1 jar did not seal- (so I tucked them in the fridge and we ate them that week.) I thik I’ll write to the canner people and get the real scoop. In the mean time- since you all seem to put much more water than 1.5 inches in your pressure canners, I will increase the water in mine and see what happens.
Tomo- thanks for your recipe- looks fantastic and as pork is on sale this week I’ll be trying it out on Sunday!
Shad,
For Tomo’s pulled pork- would you recommend 10lbs pressuer x 90 minutes? I live at about 100 ft above sea level
Cinda ~
Yes…10lb pressure is recommended for under 1000ft elevation so you’d be fine.
Shad.
Shad, thanks. I’ll try canning up a batch of it and see how it holds. I was thinking the same thing about the curry. I love curry and thought I’d do a batch of “chicken vegetable soup” with curry to use as a base to cook later with rice for a meal maybe even throw in a can of coconut milk. If I cook the chicken in the broth with the curry for 10–15 min (I don’t want to cook it all the way through) then can I put the veggies in raw or should I cook all of it together. Can I pack the qt. jars pretty full of chick and veggies just using the broth to top off as long as I process for the 90 min at 10psi?
On second thought, I could just can the chicken with veggies and toss in the curry when cooking. That’ll leave the canned stuff open to being more versatile. There are a lot of things I could do with a can of chicken with veggies…or beef with veggies… or pork with veggies. I am really looking for things that can be building blocks…any suggestions for things like that that you would be at a loss without in your pantry?
Thanks again!
Cinda – at 12:55
When I can recipes that have grease in them like chili with ground hamburger or beef stew, I also get some of the liquid from the jars in the canner water. As long as the jars are sealed I have had no problems. I’m just guessing, but I bet your canner will work better with more water in it.
Thanks HB- I’m definately going to put more water in. This weekend is going to be a “try the new recipes to see if we like them enough to make a big batch” weekend, plus I’m making corn relish, but that’s a waterbath canning item. Then If we like the new recipes ( Hawaiian pork and Tomo’s pulled pork) and I’m sure we will- when we come home from hunting I’ll make them up and can them. This is exciting- finding things to can that are for “just open a jar and serve over rice, or whatever”. As long as I’m making them- I won’t feel so bad about opening a jar and serving it for dinner.
I have an AA and the manual says to use 1.5″ of water… remember, with a pressure canner you are canning with _steam_ not water, which only boils at what, 216? The pressure is to make the steam hotter than it can get under normal pressures and much hotter than you’d get in hot water bath canning. I would think if you used too much water, a lot of the energy would be diverted to heating all those extra molecules of water up over 216 instead of directing that energy at the liquid in the jars. Just my $.02.
Northstar – at 16:12
Your right about the water. Please guys do be careful and only use the amt. of water suggested by your canner co..
This is NOT a water bath canner. If there is too much water in your canner it will change both the temp. and pressure you food sees and can produce an unsafe batch of canned meat. Unfortunately, you may not know it until you are sick from eating it. Steam and water transfer heat and pressure differently. If too much water is found inside a commercial canner (retort) often times the product is unsalvagable. Have fun but please, Be smart, stay safe
Tomo - @ 15:41
The fun thing about home canning is it’s easy to be versatile. Can some meat/poultry with veggies alone, or all fixed up with spices or what have you. If I was canning meat with veggies, I would cook the meat first and put the veggies in with the meat raw, then add the broth or water. This is because canning raw meats leaves sediment in the broth. Kinda like the scum you skim off when making a pot of chicken/beef soup. When I can my meats by themselves, I can them raw because I’m not concerned about that sediment…I can just strain the broth through a collander when I go to make a recipe later.
In my soups, I always put the veggies in raw with the hot broth and cooked meats. In things like my conch chowder, the only thing I put in raw in the potatoes. When I make split pea soup with ham, I cook the ham and split peas, then put raw veggies in the jar after I’ve de-boned and de-fatted the ham and cut it up and pour the soup over it. When I make my chicken cacciatore, same thing, I make my marinara, cook my chicken, and add raw peppers. Chili is all done together and ladled in the jars, same with sloppy joes. My stews are put together in the jars also with raw veggies. (trying to think of other things off hand)…when I make up my chicken corn chowder, I use fresh corn, with cooked chicken and raw veggies…
etc, etc, etc…I hope that gives you a little idea.
I have a ton of different things that I home can, but the ones I find myself using the most are:
Marinara Chicken Soup Corn Green Beans Strawberry Jam Apple Butter Beef chunks Chicken Chunks Mushrooms Applesauce
The marinara is used alot because that is a base to many italian dishes. The corn and greenbeans are staples in my house. The jams are obviously great breakfast additions and I just don’t buy alot of commercially canned products anymore…the home canned products taste better and are healthier. The chicken soup is the first thing the children want when they don’t feel good, so that’s always at the top of my list to keep stocked. The beef and chicken chunks are just so awesome to use in a speedy home cooked meal. Tonight I took 2 quarts of beef chunks and shredded them, added some cumin and mild salsa to it and simmered it to make shredded beef soft tacos. It took me less than 5 minutes to put that all together. I use alot of mushrooms in my cooking so I tend to go through those alot too, and the applesauce is a great and healthy side dish to just about any meal (I still have 5 1/2 bushels to finish canning *pout* lol).
I home can alot more things like baked beans, navy bean soup with ham, potatoes, etc etc etc., but the above listed items are the ones I seem to go through the fastest.
Don’t get me started talking about this…I always get excited about it cause I really do believe passionately in it…that makes it easy to love all the work that goes into it.
Shad.
Shad,
feel free to go on and on… I am finally getting over my phobia of home canned meat and “meal” products. I am really getting excited about the potential. I hope that all things pandemic allow me a little more time to hone a few more skills. I’d love another gardening season to tweek my new garden space ( moved from the last few years) and some more months to work on this canning compulsion I seem to have developed. Unfortunately, I am among those that counts the time we have as a gift and am feeling the need to polish some of these skills and lay in supplys sooner rather that later.
With that in mind, I am looking at my pantry and trying to find those things that I can put up now that will serve me best if this starts sooner rather than later. Once that is accomplished I am looking forward to putting up more “fun”, but not as essential stuff. Does that make any sense? So, I have lots of canned veggies, my husband works for a veggie etc.. processor and I get them cheeper than it makes sense to can. But, the meat, potatoes, tomato, and misc other things I really do want to put up.
My first attempt was a meat sauce. It did well and I learned a few things. Mostly reguarding efficient flow of time, I am a multi-tasker and the first run layed the basis to move more efficiently. Now it’s just a matter of prioritizing what I want to can first with the sales in the area and my time…
So, here is the question of the day- Given a looming pandemic scenerio and all that we know will go with it and an average persons pantry (yours sounds well beyond normal :) what would your priorities be with canning and what would the accompanying recipies be? big question I know, sorry, but it’s really what I’m trying to figure out. ;)
Tomo,
“what would your priorities be with canning and what would the accompanying recipies be?”
This is a very good question actually.
I have 4 children (2b 20/18, 2g 16/10). My preps and things that I can have been geared towards what I know they like, along with trying to ensure a variety. If/when TSHTF, it will be tramautic enough, so some creature comforts are important for me to can. I would imagine for a vast majority of the population, if/when something like the bf hits, the last thing they would have thought to stock up on would be apple pie filling, yet that is something I have done and I would envision could mean alot in troubled times.
With that said, for me personally, my priorities, in no certain order would be:
Meats/Poultry (and TONS of it). Things like canned hamburger, canned chunks of beef, canned chunks of pork, canned strips of ham. All of these single item meats could then be made into a variety of meals. Home canned meat is the next best thing to fresh in my NSHO.
Chicken soup (and TONS of it too). This is a staple that I can for obvious reasons, more medicinal purposes, especially when facing something like the bf. It’s a complete meal in and of itself, and what I do here at home is take some dry noodles, put them in a pot, open up a jar of my chicken soup, pour it over the noodles and simmer for 10 minutes. The broth cooks the noodles and I have instant homemade chicken soup.
Tomatoes (and lots of them also). These can be used with so many recipes and are valuable in their simple state (not made into meals) and are so easy to can. I can open up a jar, chop up the tomatoes, add onions, peppers, herbs and spices, lemon/lime and make a quick salsa. This is not how I would normally make my salsa, but if TSHTF, creativeness with things like this will give me an edge and the variety that I would want. Plus they are a good source of Vitamin C and some amino acids that are important nutrients.
Potatoes. They aren’t as good as fresh, but they work just fine and can be used in recipes or mashed or sliced/cubed and fried. Some things are what I call “hereditary eating” and potatoes were always a staple in our home growing up.
Applesauce. It’s an awesome source of Vitamin C and fiber, and something just about everyone loves. For me, it would fall into a luxury category in hard times, but is something that I personally would have on hand for its nutritional value alone.
Strawberry Jam. I don’t store flours, I store whole grains. I grind my own grains into flours and make breads and desserts from that. The jam could be used on toast and in desserts and is also one of those things that is personally important that along with it’s nutritional value, is also an emotional/psychological pick me up during hard times.
You already said you have access to veggies already so I won’t bother listing them other than the tomatoes and potatoes. If all I could pick were 6 things, those would be the ones (along with 2 or 3 other veggies that I also can myself) that I could feed my family and keep them fairly content (along with all the other things I store). Now that would be the bare bones list of course, and from there I have my specialty items like baked beans, sloppy joes, cherry pie filling, apple pie filling, peach jam, apple butter, chili, beef stew, conch chowder, navy bean soup with ham, split pea soup with ham, mushrooms, pickles, peaches, beef and chicken broths, chicken/corn chowder, salsa, black beans, marinara, chicken cacciatore…that’s all I can remember off hand…I’m tired from this ongoing apple canning lol.
As far as recipes, here’s a link where I’ve started to take pictures of the process of canning different items. It seems to have helped alot of people understand a little better how to make a recipe and home can it. This is the one for chicken soup I recently did, along with the recipe:
I hope I’m answering your question right. As to specific recipes, I’m more than happy to share them…I tried to list most of the items that I home can, so if there are any recipes from that, that you’d like in particular, lemme know and I’ll post them.
Shad.
Oh my goodness!!! I went to that link and wow! the recipes and photos too!!
Shad - I got my chicken and am planning to can it tomorrow with my new American pressure canner - My first pressure canning project. I’ve got a couple of questions:
1. How long does it take you from start to finish?
2. When I make stock, I usually sweat the veggies and then deglaze with 1/2 cup wine before adding bones and water. Any reason I couldn’t do that here before adding water, chicken, and seasonings?
3. For the Cuban chicken soup, I couldn’t find the spice packets you talked about, but did buy some Maggi Chicken Flavor Boullon. Is it the same thing, or something completely different?
4. How much headspace do you leave in the jars - 1″?
I can’t wait to try this out tomorrow. I also want to make some beef, vegetable, and mushroom stock to “kick up” the flavor of rice, and barley risotto.
Your pictures are very helpful. Thanks!
tjclaw1 ~
How long it takes me depends on how much I’m doing. Like I was saying in an earlier post, I tend to do volume canning, so when I’m doing a single batch of anything, it seems like a breeze.
1. I’m not sure what you’re planning on doing with your chicken, i.e. chicken soup, stock, etc. so it’s hard to say how long it would take. Are you making soup or stock?
2. There’s no reason you can’t do it like that.
3. Sazon seasoning isn’t a boullion per se, whether it be chicken, beef or whatever. It’s a cuban spice packet.
4. Yes, I have 1″ headspace when canning meats.
I’m excited for you! Good luck and let us know how it all goes!
Shad.
Kathy, Shad, Northstar, Tomo & Everyone: Thank you for posting recipes & links to recipes for pressure canning.
I have just ordered a pressure canner in order to can “convenience” foods (stew, soups, etc). The list of USDA-recipes for soups & stews that I’ve seen on websites & in cookbooks (Sunset Freezing & Canning, Putting Food By, Preserving the Harvest) is just too short for my needs. Our family includes 1 vegan & one person on a low-sodium diet, so many of the approved recipes that I’ve seen are not appropriate for us.
Can anyone suggest an information resource where I can learn more about ingredients to avoid if I am canning some of our family’s favorite foods? I know that I need to use the time/pressure appropriate for the longest-cooking (in pressure canning terms) ingredient, and I know to avoid dairy (not a problem here), flour and thickeners. I’m heading out to today to the get the current Ball Blue Book. Any other suggestions?
shadddup – at 23:10
Thanks. I’ve gotten the chicken cooked, the stock strained veggies cut up, and just need to get chicken ready. It is a cold day here, 37 degrees, so I put the stock pots on the 3-season porch to cool so I can skim fat off.
I had to use 2 12-quart stock pots to do this as I had 2 chickens. Now I want a 20-quart stock pot for Christmas! I love my Anolon stock pot but don’t think they make a 20-quart.
I need to can some apple pie filling today and I usually do it in a boiling water bath. Any reason I can’t pressure can it? It would be so much more convenient. I’ve got a rotator cuff tear (see surgeon on Tues.) and I just can’t lift a lot.
Tomo,
OMG!!!! Has anyone else made Tomo’s Pulled pork?? Can it? There’ won’t be any left to can. I have to make another batch when we get home from hunting. I think I can make a meal for myself out of just dipping my bread in the broth when the meat’s gone!!! Maybe even just a big bowl of rice with the broth over it. This stuff is amazing!!!!
And North star’s Hawaiian Pork- Yumm!!!!! I made 1/2 the recipe. That’ll never make it to the canner either. I’ll put it up in tupperware for hunting week next week and give some to Husbands father and have yet Withanother recipe that I have to make a big batch of when we get home.
Also made 12 1/2 pints (and 1 qt jar for the fridge right away)of corn relish this afternoon. What was I ever thinking buying it in the store??? At $3.00 for a 1/2 pint jar. It’s no where near as good as this. Got the recipe off that neat food preservation site that someone posted on another thread.
Who ever discovered and perfected canning should be sainted!With all these new meal options- I am now completely addicted to canning all over again
I found the answers to my canning questions (re: soups) at: http://tinyurl.com/9fy34
AlohaOR ~
That is the ultimate authority in my book…I’m glad you found your answers.
Low sodium is easy to accomplish…adding salt is not mandatory to safe canning.
Shad.
Kathy in FL – at 10:28 Any of y’all ever canned citrus juice? I’m probably going to try and can some frozen juice concentrate . I’ll thaw it and then can it just like regular fruit juice.
Ah, the answer to this is a big NO ! I tried this using thawed concentrate…..3 weeks ago….just opened a pint of it….ewwwww….. smells nasty…NOT spoiled, just nasty…kinda “cooked” or something. Well, I guess it DOES cook it… :-( It also turned darker when I did it, too. Even if the smell was ok; it looks very unappitizing. (sp)
Now I didn’t try it reconstituted; but if we have to keep it THAT way; we might as well buy it in the cans to start with.
So I get to empty & wash about 14 pint jars today. Bummer…..
What are your guy’s favorite cuts of meat to can?
cinda, glad you liked the pulled pork, it’s one of our standby’s. We’ll see how it holds up over time to canning, if the flavors change…
You can buy the shelf-stable cans of juice concentrate at the grocery store, everything from OJ to cranberry, grape or mixed fruit juices. They have a use-by date that’s about a year out. Look in the section where they keep non-refrigerated bottled juices.
Tomo— On favorite cut of meat to can--- If it’s going to be a dish BIG on meat, it’s beef, rump or chuck roast, as de-fatted as I can get it….On chicken or turkey…it’s the dark meat, no skin or bone. But I am canning the white meat separate, ( blush ) for the cat---( he’ll share if I need it )…he only has 3 teeth left at 10 yrs old. Poor baby. Ham —as big a chunk as I can get in the jars, Rabbit, Bone-in.
KIM— I have added those cans to my list…think it’s a MUCH better & safer way to go. The Dollar Store also has OJ, grape & apple in cans ( not conc.) that I want to try.
SCORE 1 for getting a deal ! I stopped in at Save-a-Lot tonight and they had 1 lb sacks of carrots for a DIME EACH !! :−0 I bought 15 pounds, + 8 pounds of celery, 12 of onions and an 8 pd bag of taters to mix and can in pints. WOO HOO !
Madamspinner – at 06:31
Darn girl, you scored a good deal! Congrats!
BTW, when you said “Ham —as big a chunk as I can get in the jars”, I just wanted to mention that it is suggested to can meats in 1/2″ - 1″ thick pieces, or stew meat 1 1/2″ - 2″ thick cubed pieces. It sounds like you can alot, but just wanted to mention that for those that are newer to canning…I think the size recommendations are stated so that during processing, the meat is of an appropriate size for the pressure and high heat to penetrate the pieces of meat effectively. I’ve noticed that the strips of ham that I’ve canned tends to darken during the processing…probably from the sugars contained in the cured pork.
Tomo – at 11:43
The nice thing about home canning meats is that the process does to meats, what cooking in a pressure cooker will do…taking tougher meats and making them fork tender. Keeping that in mind, personally I don’t look for one particular cut of meat to can…I do however look for the less expensive, leaner cuts of meat, which might not always be the most tender, but that come out beautiful after being processed in your home canner.
Shad.
shadddup – at 06:58
My ham pieces are about an inch square and as long as the jar. Stew meats are about the same. I always wondered WHY the ham turned darker…Thanks ! ;-)
Y’all are great to us new to canning folks!! Thanks!!
Madamspinner – at 06:27
What sort of ham do you cook to get those big chunks. I cook a lot of things but I’ve never done a ham and I have no idea what to get. I have a recipe from a co-worker that sounds wonderful- she bakes hers in a pan with a ketchup based sauce- like a BBQ almost- that she “glazes” the ham with. I was thinking it would be neat to do that and then can it in the left over sauce. But I’d like to have some just plain too.
I just get a whole “Cooks’” ham; strip the skin off, and debone it…cut it into chunky strips and can it in the ham broth I make with the bones & tendons. Small pieces go into beans….green and dry.
I tend to keep my canned meats plain, as I also have a not-so-old, but almost toothless kitty that would need to share any and all meats when a jar is opened. ;-)
Ok, forgot to ask….up above it said to put eggs in meatballs, but someone else indicated that eggs were a no-no in meatloaf — or did I read that wrong? Can you can egg as an ingredient in something or is it better to leave it out
I saw that too- I think we need the long time canners to answer that question for us. I made meatloaf last week and was going to can it but I chickened out after reading about eggs and how density of the packed meat could affect the heating process. Then I wondered, what if I were to put it in the jars and bake it first? Then while they were still hot, cap them and can them?
My dad used to can meatloaf. He used wide mouth quarts, packed the meatloaf mix in there raw; then took a piece of 1″ wooden dowel ( bleached & washed) and made a hole in the meatloaf, all the way to the bottom. Canned as per the book for any beef. Then when he opened it; sliced some off, put it in a sandwich and filled the hole with catsup ! The sklices fit a hamburger bun perfectly. And I know he did use eggs in it. He wasn’t sick a day in his life until he smoked himself to death.
Madamspinner – at 08:15 that just might work — I have kabab skewers I could put together to make a clean wooden “dowel”…….This may be the perfect way to do it—sure sounds like it! I’d still like to hear some other comments!
Thanks Madamspinner - I hadn’t thought of that. What a great thought about fitting the buns just right- I just love meatloaf & ketchup sandwiches! I know about parents commiting slow suicide by cigarettes. Lost my mother when I was 25 and my daughter was 18 months. Just when I needed her the most. It’s a pain that never goes away. And the Why did he/she do that never goes away. But that’s not what we’re here about- We’re here to make sure we stay alive and well for our children- no matter how old they are- you always need your Mum. So lets get canning so we’ll have nutritious good tasting food for all our loved ones.
Question about the amount of water to put inside the canner up above brought this response:
You’re right about the water. Please guys do be careful and only use the amt. of water suggested by your canner co..
This is NOT a water bath canner. If there is too much water in your canner it will change both the temp. and pressure you food sees and can produce an unsafe batch of canned meat. Unfortunately, you may not know it until you are sick from eating it. Steam and water transfer heat and pressure differently. If too much water is found inside a commercial canner (retort) often times the product is unsalvagable.
(thanks for that explanation!)
NEW QUESTION: wouldn’t the pressure still be OK if you used too much water as long as the pressure dial is reading 10 lbs of pressure?
NEW QUESTION: wouldn’t the pressure still be OK if you used too much water as long as the pressure dial is reading 10 lbs of pressure?
No. The pressure guage is on the top of the canner. It only reads the pressure at that spot. It can’t tell if there is 2″ or 12″ of water under it.
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