Canning, Dinner, Food Storage, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe

Home Canned Meat

Canning meat at home is one of the easiest canning you will ever do! The only special items you need are a pressure canner (not a pressure cooker), jars and pickling salt. If you want to keep canning after you try this, I would also suggest a tool set. I will be including links to these items on Amazon but, aside from the pressure canner, you can get most of these at a local store. This is the picture I took at Ace Hardware. LOOK AT ALL OF THESE GOODIES! I have never seen so many canning supplies in person! There were so many I ended up buying more than I intended (they had 1/2 gallon jars!!!!).

20200312_105638

This is my pressure canner.

Presto Canner
It’s a Presto 16-quart pressure canner and holds 7 quart jars (16 quarts is the total liquid the pot holds). There are times I wish I had a bigger one but it would make it too heavy to move around if I did have a bigger one (which means, maybe, I should get a second one). Now, even though mine isn’t the largest, it IS heavy. You cannot use canners on glass top stoves! If that’s what you have, you could use them on a stable/secured turkey fryer base (you don’t want it tipping over), a propane grill, or a tabletop electric burner (as long as it can handle the weight). You need your heat source to be easily adjustable, so wood or charcoal would be much more difficult.

Pickling Salt
Pickling salt: why do you need this? Well, table salt has iodine and anti-caking agents (which can change the color of the foods and leave liquids cloudy), whereas pickling salt is just that: salt. Officially, this is the only salt you can use for canning. Unofficially, I have used kosher salt and never had any issues.

Now, you will need jars. For meats, I like to use pint or 12-ounce jelly jars. They are perfect for a meal (or adding just a little meat to a dish). Every grocery store I have been to in my area has canning jars but if your stores don’t, here’s a link to the best deal I found on Amazon. You don’t need anything fancy. How many jars will you need? It depends on how much meat you want to can. Roughly 1 pound of raw meat will fit in a pint jar.

Home Canned Meats

Notes

Home Canned Meats
Ingredients
Meat: beef, game, chicken, pork, fish
Pickling salt: 1/2 – 1 teaspoon per quart jar
White Vinegar
For wiping jar rims
Instructions
Wash jars and lids.
Cut meat into cubes. Place in a clean jar, packing the meat down to ensure there are no air pockets. Continue to fill, leaving 1 inch of space between the meat and the rim of the jar.
Pour 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of pickling salt on top of meat (amount of salt depends on your tastes).
Pour some vinegar on a paper towel and wipe the rim of the jar (this is to ensure there is no residual fat or liquids from the meat). Place lid on top of the jar, then screw on the ring. Do not over tighten the ring or it will be virtually impossible to remove later.
Process in your pressure canner for the amount of time required (I am at sea level, so I process at roughly 12-15 pounds pressure for 90 minutes). Turn off heat and allow the natural release of pressure (let sit until the pressure gauge is at 0).
Remove jars from canner, placing them on a towel. Let them cool (and seal).
Remove the rings, wash the jars with soapy water, write the contents and date on the lid, then store in a cool, dark place.
As long as the seals hold, these should last for at least a year.
Canning, Dinner, Food Storage, Low Carb, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe, Supplies

Homemade Corned Beef

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this!  I made homemade corned beef last year, leaving out the sugar and the pink salt, and it was fantastic!  I thought, well, I could make this, then can it so I know exactly where it came from and what was in it.  I haven’t gotten around to canning this because it usually doesn’t last that long!

Anyway, if you are interested (I wanted to see if I could and I did), here is how I did it:

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/home_made_corned_beef.html

And here is how to can it (ever since I canned that chicken, I prefer raw canning meats):

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/2011/05/canning-corned-beef-brisket.html

There you go!  Give it a shot (even if you only do one).  It really wasn’t as difficult as my brain said it would be!

Canning, Drying, Food Storage, Level 1, Preserving

Low Carb Food Storage

Well, since my switch in eating, I’ve been thinking about all of my food storage.  Boy, I have some adjustments to make!  Flour, sugar, jams and jellies (sugar-made), beans, white rice, oats, etc.  So, I went searching for suggestions online.  In addition to this playlist in which I show you how to can various items like chicken, beef, and pork, I found some links I think you will enjoy.

I don’t usually like “about.com” articles, this is a good basic one:

Must-Have Items for Your Low-Carb Grocery List

A One-Month Long-Term Food Supply from a Low-Carb Perspective from Claiming Liberty:

A One-Month Long-Term Food Supply from a Low-Carb Perspective

Here is a video about dehydrating spaghetti squash:

Paleo Prepper: I have barely looked through this website but it’s intriguing!

http://paleoprepper.com/

Here’s a post by The Low Carb Prepper (good stuff):

The Low Carb Prepper

Here’s a thread at The Survival Podcast Forums:

http://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=20965.0

Canning, Food Storage, Preserving, Recipe

Roasted Peppers In Oil

Well, I have finally concluded that my peppers are not going to produce anything this year.  It is now September 11th and they STILL only have their second set of leaves.  So, I had to purchase some.  What I usually do is dice them, lay them on a cookie sheet, and freeze them.  Once frozen, I place them in a Ziploc bag so I can just grab a handful anytime I need some.  This works especially well for breakfast, when I’m usually starving and just trying to throw some quality food together.

This time, I’ve decided to do something different.  I’m making roasted peppers in oil:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-peppers-in-oil-peperoni-arrostiti-sotto-olio/detail.aspx

I’ve read of people doing this with vinegar but since my husband doesn’t like vinegar (and that might clash with whatever I am cooking) I will leave that out.  I’m also going to leave out the salt.  That way, anyone who needs salt can just sprinkle some on themselves.  I read somewhere that if I want to store these, I can put them in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes to seal the jars.

So, once hubby is fully awake and can fiddle with the electric ignitor, I’m going to broil 4 pounds of mini bell peppers!  I can’t wait!  🙂

Serving Size    1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe    6

Amount Per Serving
Calories    270

Total Fat 28.2g, Sodium 196mg,** Potassium 132mg, Total Carbohydrates 4g, Protein 0.7g

Canning, Food Storage, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe

Home Canning Milk

Update: May 2020: What a difference 10 years makes! That’s how long it has been since I found the website below and never tried it out! I’m glad! I just recently canned my first batch of milk and used a completely different method.

After researching, I discovered a much easier (and more appealing) method (which I found here).

Home Pressure Canned Milk

Canned Milk

Home canned evaporated milk

Notes

Fill your pressure canner with about 2 inches of room temperature water. Do not turn on your burner yet. Then fill your clean and sterilized room temperature jars with just about room temperature milk. Wipe the rim of the jars with vinegar (to eliminate any possible fats or liquids). Place your lid, then ring on the jar, hand tighten, then place in your pressure canner. Once the canner is filled, put your lid on and turn the burner on medium-high to high. Once a steady stream of steam is shooting through the vent, set your timer for 10 minutes (if you want to always can properly. I almost always forget this step and just put the weight on the vent). Place your weight on the vent, then when it gets up to pressure (sea level is 10 pounds), turn off the burner (if you have an electric cook top,  move the canner to a cold burner) and let the pressure canner sit until the pressure gauge reads zero. Remove the weight, the lid, and place the jars on a towel covered rack to cool. After 24 hours, remove the rings, wash the jars, label and store in a cool, dark place.  These should be good for 1 year.

Now is the time to learn techniques that have been safely used for decades before the USDA eliminates this knowledge altogether.

Here’s the original link for canning milk (which produces a much more “cooked” milk).

Canning, Drying, Food Storage, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe

Wendy Dewitt’s Food Storage Seminars

Disclaimer: I originally posted this 11 years ago but felt the need to update it and include more information.

Whether or not you have your food storage in place or are just beginning, there is so much to learn from Wendy Dewitt (Everything Under The Sun). I always thought Wendy Dewitt had a great food storage plan on her website but it’s even better because she has video taped a few seminars based on her plan. She does love her Sun Oven (I do not have one yet) and if you choose to purchase one or any other type of alternate cooking device, I suggest you use it NOW! There is a learning curve to alternate anything (whether that’s cooking or baking with sourdough) and you do not want to be learning (and failing) when you are operating from a place of scarcity.

Despite the fact that she is Mormon )and speaking to Mormons), she is not overly religious in her presentation. I am only mentioning her religion for those who may be offended by anything religious (or not of your religion).

I have found three (2 older ones and 1 updated version of her seminar) on YouTube and the quality of them shows (the oldest one was recorded in 2008). I downloaded them, did my best to adjust the quality (there is only so much I could do with the audio), and uploaded them to my channel.

Here are the download links for the handouts for the first two videos:

EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN 2010 word

Todo-de-una-manera-sencilla-dewitt-in-Spanish

Filmed in 2005 in Gilbert, Arizona:

Filmed in November of 2008:

And this is her updated seminar (and handout), “Sensible Food Storage” from 2011

Everything Made Simple

Canning, Food Storage, Potatoes

Canning Potatoes

Yesterday, I canned my first batch of potatoes. I will be canning both red potatoes and sweet potatoes. I purchased two 10 pound bags of red potatoes (I figured this was the best choice, since the only other option was russet potatoes) and two 10 pound boxes of sweet potatoes.

This was one of the easiest things to do! I left the skins on, cut them in half or quarters (depending on their size), and followed the directions here: http://jordansfarm.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/canning-potatoes/. They all sealed beautifully and only two sucked up some of the water (the jars are about half full of water) so those will be used first (miss paranoid here).

The 20 pounds of red potatoes filled 19 quart jars (with a few left over so I could enjoy them with dinner) and 20 pounds of sweet potatoes filled 14 jars (actually 16 but I did not want to pressure can 2 jars so mashed sweet potatoes were for lunch and dinner the next day).

Further down on the web page above page is instructions for canning sweet potatoes. That is how I will be doing the sweet potatoes tonight:

Sweet Potatoes canned:

Boil first for about 5 min. so as the skins will rub off.

Leave small ones whole/ or cut,

Pack into jars

Fill with water or med. syrup (med. syrup: 3 1/4 cup sugar and 5 cups water= 7 cups syrup)

Leave 1 inch head space, remove air bubbles

Pressure can 10 pounds for:

Pints: 1 hour 5 minutes
Quarts: 1 hour and 30 minutes

I packed in syrup but a light syrup instead. I went looking around for light syrup recipes that would allow me to incorporate honey. I found this page (http://www.pickyourown.org/sugarsolution.htm), and it turns out you can replace half the sugar with honey! That’s what I did!

I love fresh sweet potatoes but after seeing how the red potatoes bleached out (no longer red) I am afraid of blah, bland sweet potatoes. I have not tried the sweet potatoes yet but last night we had corned beef hash with the canned red potatoes. I cubed them, put plenty of oil in the pan, let it brown without moving it around much, then removed them from the pan. We added them back right before the eggs were set. They tasted wonderful! They did not have that canned potato smell when we opened up the jar, and tasted just like boiled potatoes right out of the jar!

Canning, Chicken, Food Storage, Pressure, Soup

I Got My Pressure Canner!

Presto Canner


After 20 years of waiting, I have finally gotten a pressure canner! I am so excited I can hardly think straight. This was my Christmas present from my husband (in addition to loving me, I think it was mostly to get me to stop bugging him about it). It’s a Presto 16 quart.

The third day, I was re-canning some of my #10 cans of food. I never wanted to open the cans because I did not want to freeze the leftovers. I processed all foods for the recommended times/pressure settings and they all turned out really nice! All except my beets. They look bleached out but one thing I noticed as I was opening up the can of pickled beets. They use high fructose corn syrup! I’ll be making my own from now on.

My first big canning project is going to be chicken. Yeah, I know. Meat first? Yup. See, we buy a lot of whole chickens and load up the freezer. Canning most of the chicken will free up that freezer space for something else.

The majority of the time, we only use whole chickens for my husband’s tacos and enchiladas. Those recipes require us to boil, then de-bone the chicken so why not cut those steps out?

So I went searching around and found this great blog:

http://lovehugsandgiggles.blogspot.com/2008/11/canning-chicken.html

Then I’ll use the bones for chicken soup. Can you tell I’m excited?

Canning, Pumpkin, Recipe

Pumpkin Butter!

I was gifted with approximately 10 pumpkins. A friend wasn’t expecting the vines to come up this year so we had plenty to give to co-workers, neighbors, and hold onto.

So, I was looking around online. I usually freeze my pumpkin puree but here’s a woman who cans it! I figure, using her recipe, I’ll end up with pumpkin pie filling with one quart being enough to make two pies. I am so excited!

http://www.theneitherworld.com/pumpkin/canning.htm

UPDATE: This was fantastic and lasted a LONG time! Next time, I will make it without spices.

Canning, Lemon, Pie, Preserving, Recipe, Wine

Lemons, Lemons, Everywhere!

I was gifted with a lot of lemons from my neighbor’s tree last week. I didn’t realize just how many I had until I washed them all! What the heck was I going to do with all those lemons?

So far, I have started Lemon Wine. I used this recipe:

http://www.abc.net.au/wa/stories/s394386.htm

Lemon Wine

Chef: Lyn Cook
from Minival near Wylkatchem

You need:

  • 6 medium sized lemons
  • 1/2 lb raisins (225g)
  • 4 lbs sugar (1.8kg)
  • 1 oz dried yeast (30g)
  • 1 gallon of water (4 litres)
  • (eight or even ten lemons may be used if a stronger taste required)

Method:

Grate all lemons and put them aside. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice into one gallon of boiling water.

When the water boils again, cut off the heat at once. Pour the hot liquid over the sugar and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.

Cut up the raisins and add these to the liquid. Then add the lemon rind and allow the brew to cool. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir in. Cover and ferment for 14 days after which you strain and bottle. Leave it for one to three months and enjoy (in moderation… this has quite a kick).

This recipe featured by Ted Bull

So far, it smells wonderful! I am on day 10, so we’ll see in a few months.
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The second thing I did was make Canned Lemon Curd. I used the instructions from this website:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html

but used the actual recipe from this one but I added some citric acid due to the over-ripe lemons (actually, I added too much so this stuff is VERY sour):

http://busycooks.about.com/od/condimentsjamsjellies/r/lemoncurd.htm

Lemon Curd

By Linda Larsen, About.com

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 3 eggs

To this, I added the zest from all the lemons I used, which was 6 times this recipe (I have the battle scars to prove it)! I ended up with 9 half-pints. Since I made this so sour, I’ll have to adulterate when I use it (add sugar). While writing this, I found this web page that describes how to use Lemon Curd:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/lemoncurd.html

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Right now, I have some Bitter Orange Marmalade (Orange-Lemon Marmalade) going in my crock pot (because my stock pot has the wine in it). Not sure if it will get hot enough to thicken, so I may have to separate and cook in batches. This recipe I got out of Stocking Up III by Carol Hupping and the staff of the Rodale Food Center. I used Mandarin Oranges, since I had a lot of those that needed to be used.

Bitter Orange Marmalade
An aromatic and delicious variation of the classic.

You need:

  • 5 oranges
  • 2 lemons
  • 12 cups water
  • 3 cups mild-flavor honey

Method:

Place oranges, lemons, and water in an 8-quart stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 2 hours. Remove fruit; seed and quarter. Chop fruit in food processor or by hand. Return to water. Bring fruit mixture to a boil. Stir in honey. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, until mixture resembles a thick syrup, 15 to 30 minutes. (Keep at a full rolling boil or it will take longer to reach the gel stage.)

Pour into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace, and seal. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Allow the marmalade to “age” for 2 weeks before tasting or it may be too bitter.

Like I mentioned, I have this in my crock pot. I had it going on high for a few hours before bed last night, then on low all night. Right now, after turning it back up 2 hours ago, it still looks like soup. It is a little thicker, so I may continue it in the crock pot.

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The next (and I hopefull final) recipe I will be making is a Lemon Meringue Pie. I’ll be making this one tonight, using a recipe out of The Joy of Cooking (which is basically this recipe by Alton Brown):

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_26271,00.html

Lemon Meringue Pie

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2003

Lemon Filling:

  • 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
  • 1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 pinch cream of tartar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

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I was wrong! One more recipe, since there were just a few lemons left over. I made Lemon Extract! I remembered a wonderful Lemon Poppyseed Bread recipe an online friend of mine gave me (I don’t have permission to post it here) and my lack of the necessary ingredient Lemon Extract. So, I made some!

Lemon Extract

  • Zest of 2 large lemons (no pith)
  • 1 cup Vodka

Either use a vegetable peeler, sharp knife, or cheese grater to remove the zest off the lemons (ensure there is no pith, or it will make this bitter). Chop the zest, place in a sterilized pint mason jar, and pour vodka into jar. Place the cap and ring on the jar and leave for two weeks (shaking occasionally). Strain into a dark colored bottle.

This should keep for about a year or more if you store in a cool, dark place.