Home canning

[jerrymrc]

Some of you know over on the Falfiles that I do home canning.
There are many reasons why but here is some thought on the subject.

Tonight I am canning Turkey. Why? Well as we all know Turkeys get cheap once a year. I picked up a 20 lb Turkey the other day for $6 It was cooked and we had dinner.

Now after I pulled the rest of the meat off the bird I had 11 lbs of meat. This was packed into 6 Qt jars and it is processing now.

A 5oz can of turkey runs $1.25 or so and even at the normal price of $1 a lb a frozen one yields $2.00 per lb of meat.

By tomorrow we will have 6 1-3/4 lb turkey dinners for the rest of the year for less than $1 each and that includes the cost of the lids. Just some food for thought.

Yes I do know that if you buy all new the cost to get started is high but at least for me the garage sale is your best friend. I just gave away a water bath canner to a member because I had a bunch I had picked up for $2 or so.

Stay tuned, More to come. I may be coming into another pressure canner so keep watching Dave.;)

[Goldenspurholderx2]

I didn't get as many vegetables as I would have liked this season to start canning. I bought tons of jars and lids, what else do I need at this higher elevation to start? Do I need a pressure cooker or what? I have always watched mom do it when I was younger but the memory is failing. Canning some turkey sounds like a good idea, maybe I'll do some canned soup while I'm at it.

Just let me know what I need to get going! I still have a boonie hat sitting around here for ya!

[Goldenspurholderx2]

My mom used to use wax instead of lids for jams and jellies, next year if the strawberries cooperate I might give that a try. She also used to can pumpkin for use in pumpkin pie around this time of year. Roasted and salted pumpkin seeds used to get harvested now also. Trying to remember my days before the Army, growing up in the country instead of suburbia. I really want to can up some cranberry relish, take out the grinder and grind some oranges and apples into cranberries, add a little sugar and you won't go back to store bought cranberry relish again!

[TheOtherChris]

I didn't get as many vegetables as I would have liked this season to start canning. I bought tons of jars and lids, what else do I need at this higher elevation to start? Do I need a pressure cooker or what?

For vegetables, I would recommend a pressure canner.
The chance of botulin toxin is higher than I am willing to accept with veggies.

Find the County Extension office and see what pamphlets they have. Often, they will tell you when/where you can have the gage on your canner tested.

[jerrymrc]

For vegetables, I would recommend a pressure canner.
The chance of botulin toxin is higher than I am willing to accept with veggies.

Find the County Extension office and see what pamphlets they have. Often, they will tell you when/where you can have the gage on your canner tested.

I have a bunch of the Fedgov books on canning. Dave, You need to hunt the Garage sales for a pressure canner. The last two I got were the Mirro "wobble weight" kind and I like these the best.
If you do come across one with a gauge I can check the cal on it for you.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

Cool, Thanks man!

[Bidah]

Never thought about canning Turkey.. I will have to give that a try. I can fish, deer and elk though. It lasts longer and you don't have to worry about your freezer giving up because of lost power.

We also do Cranberry and Apples too, but both of those I have to buy since you can't get an orchard around here for them.

We water bath tomatoes as well since they have a high acid content.

There are tons of booklets and information on canning out there.

-Bidah

[SwampFox320]

Hey, ok, I'm a youngen, how does one can in the first place? Don't you put some sort of liquid in the can with the item being canned or am I wrong? My mom used to can stuff but I never paid much attention to what she was doing.

Jason

[TheOtherChris]

We water bath tomatoes as well since they have a high acid content.

-Bidah

Water bath still seems to be safe with homegrown tomatoes, but many now recommend pressure canning commercial tomatoes as they have an acid level that is significantly reduced from that of earlier varieties.

[jerrymrc]

Never thought about canning Turkey.. I will have to give that a try. I can fish, deer and elk though. It lasts longer and you don't have to worry about your freezer giving up because of lost power.

We also do Cranberry and Apples too, but both of those I have to buy since you can't get an orchard around here for them.

We water bath tomatoes as well since they have a high acid content.

There are tons of booklets and information on canning out there.

-Bidah

I have been known to can just about anything. Ground beef was on sale for $1.29 a pound. I canned about 12lbs of it. I have canned cheese,butter because of the point you mentioned, lack of power. Freezers take allot of power to run and if that power goes out you have a few days and then it is all toast.

[MdlMkr 7.62]

To can you can either use a pressure cooker or cook the food you want to can and pour it into the can while it's still very hot. Make sure you put the glass "can" in a few inches of water before you pour or it may explode (ask me how I learned that). I'm sure there are alot of websites about canning. Here's one

http://farmgal.tripod.com/index-2.html

[C-ya]

Lots of good ideas here. I'll have to look more into this, as well.

Garage sales will be browsed come summer time.