Canning

[wamplercathy]

Well try my hand at canning the other day. Just did pickles, that's a start. :lol: :lol: End up with 12 quart jars of kosher dill and 6 pints of pepper kosher dill. Will be trying my hand at canning boiled peanuts later this month. Just need to find a pressure cooker. :lol: :lol: And not blow up our home. :lol: :lol:





So, what are yall's tails of canning? Let me have them the good, the bad, and the messy. :mrgreen:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I'm canning pickles right now!

I just did 16 pints of sweet butter pickles, and am about to do some dill pickles. I have one batch of dill already, made a couple of weeks ago- 7 quarts minus the one we already ate! I am going to slice some for burgers this time, so will make some pint jars of those.

We have zillions of jars of apricot jam, peach jam, and a few of pluot. Plus I recently canned 7 quarts of rabbit meat. Minus the one we ate already, lol.

I am also planning on canning carrots, potatoes, and green beans, as well as tomato sauce. *Edit! I also have a few cans of zucchini for stew or whatever.


The idea is to have all the makings for soup or stew ready to just toss into a pot for a quick winter meal.

I am going to reorganize my pantry to showoff all of my home canned goodies. I can hardly wait to see shelf upon shelf filled with my home canned bounty!

 

[Marinea]

Lots of salsa, jalapeño peppers, corn, beans and blueberry jam. Didn't do pickles this year...I kept eating them fresh.

I have made loads of ice cream...does that count? Strawberry for hubby and banana for me.

 

[Zass]

We make fridge pickles and pickled beets and eggs, and the strawberry jam goes in the freezer, but other than that everything gets jarred up.

This year:
Rabbit stock (for gravy and soup), tomato sauce, tomato juice, salsa, salsa verde, green beans, pickled peppers, zucchini, applesauce, plum sauce, black raspberry jelly, elderberry jelly...

There are still a few things left to do, like canned pumpkin and apple butter.
Oh, and,
I'd like to recommend an all american brand pressure canner. I LOVE mine.

 

[DBA]

This year the gardens were a miserable failure. I only canned about 7 quarts of green beans (did over 80 qts last year), also made 12 qts of salsa and about 20 qts of tomato juice. A few pints of tomatoes, and have raspberries in the freezer to make some jam.

Here is a pic of my pantry last year. I stocked it, plus had some full jars under my bed, on a shelf in the laundry room, and under the stair case.




Nevermind, pic on my phone is too large to upload, sorry.

 

[michaels4gardens]

We make fridge pickles and pickled beets and eggs, and the strawberry jam goes in the freezer, but other than that everything gets jarred up.

This year:
Rabbit stock (for gravy and soup), tomato sauce, tomato juice, salsa, salsa verde, green beans, pickled peppers, zucchini, applesauce, plum sauce, black raspberry jelly, elderberry jelly...

There are still a few things left to do, like canned pumpkin and apple butter.
Oh, and,
I'd like to recommend an all american brand pressure canner. I LOVE mine.

we can a lot here also, I also recommend the "ALL American" pressure canner, - I have 2 of the 921 model [21 quart] I use one to cook the meat for de-boning, and one for pressure canning the meat, - it sure makes it go a lot quicker having 2 pressure cookers going at the same time...
-- when we have garden produce to process, it is the same, we always have a lot to get in bottles and get "processed" I also have a 6 gallon stainless steel kettle, I also wish I had purchased that many years ago, it sure saves a lot of processing time. [the kettle is also great for making cheese]

 

[katiebear]

I haven't started to can yet but I really want to. I have an old pressure cooker, about 30 years old Mirro brand but I need to replace the gasket.(hubby wont spring for a pressure caner). Anyway I was reading on a prepper site (I know, we have been around that block before) that you do not need to cook the meat before canning. She just used as large chunks as possible then added water and ran a butter knife down the sides to remove the air. Is this correct? I don't want to loose my hard earned bunny meat :x store bought chicken is one thing but....
Thanks for any advice to a newbe, I do want to do this!!

 

[sunrise]

I'm also interested in finding out the best way to can rabbit meat. Do you debone? Cook partially or completely first? Chunks? shredded? Thanks

 

[wamplercathy]

I was thinking about canning my pulled rabbit or rabbit soup stock. When I did the pickles I guess I didn't get all the air bubbles out and the juice was a little low. Has anyone ever canned cooked ground rabbit? For like tacos, chili, or sloppy joes.

 

[Zass]

I'm also interested in finding out the best way to can rabbit meat. Do you debone? Cook partially or completely first? Chunks? shredded? Thanks

you do not need to cook the meat before canning.

I personally prefer to can only older, tougher animals, since fryers sometimes fall apart into shreds for me.
(the same goes for chickens)
I usually debone and sear my meat since that was on the instructions that came with the canner.
It may not be necessary. (I don't know for sure, but make sure to research anything to do with canning and food prep, since there will always be someone who says just about anything is fine, since their mother, grandmother or aunt always did it and never died.)


My extended family likes to act like I'm being a snob, because I INSIST on pressure canning my green beans and other low acid foods. They swear that it just needs to cook longer, and do not listen when I explain that boiling water never actually hits the temperatures required to to kill all botulism, and that by putting it under pressure, we are able to achieve those temps....


AH here are raw pack instructions!
http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/chicken_rabbit.html

 

[MamaSheepdog]

you do not need to cook the meat before canning.

I raw packed front legs bone in.

Do you debone? Cook partially or completely first? Chunks? shredded? Thanks

I soak the rabbit in a salt water brine for an hour prior to canning, as per the instructions I have seen whenever canning poultry or rabbit meat is mentioned.

I quarter the rabbits (front and back legs, rib cage, loin) and then partially cook the meat so just about a quarter inch is actually cooked.

This last time I boned the meat once it was partially cooked by pulling the meat off of the thighs with my hands, just cutting the tendons at either end. The loin meat is really easy to cut from the spine. Once the meat is off I chop it up.

While all that is going on, I have the rib cages boiling for broth, and toss the new bones into the pot as I get the meat off.

Once all the meat is chopped you just drop it into the jars (don't pack it down) and then fill with broth and a teaspoon of canning salt. At my elevation quarts process for 90 minutes.

Has anyone ever canned cooked ground rabbit?

I don't think that would be safe because it might not cook all the way through. I wanted to can refried beans but was told that you can't because it may not heat all the way through. There needs to be liquid around the meat pieces.

 

[sunrise]

Thanks everyone, I'm going to try my first batch next week! Oh and MSD, when you partially cook the meat are you baking it or boiling it?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Oh and MSD, when you partially cook the meat are you baking it or boiling it?

Simmering it. Our oven is broken, so I don't have much choice, lol.

If you do bake it, make sure to either wrap it in foil or put it in a Dutch oven with some liquid so it doesn't dry out.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I like to cut up and freeze the back of the rabbit for frying or baking, I toss all the rib cage , front legs, and necks into the pressure cooker with a couple inches of water [for a full canner/ pressure cooker], I let it come up to 15 lbs., and cook for about 20 minutes at 15 lbs., , then shut it off and let it cool, I take the meat off the bones and pack it into jars, until about 1 1/2 inch from the top, I then fill the jar with broth to about 1/2 inch from the top [head space] I also can all of the juice for making soup and gravy, [etc.] I brine all of the rabbits in salt water brine in the fridge, at least over night, sometimes for a week [1 cup salt / gallon of water]
I have no problems bottling quart jars of ground meat, but - if it is raw packed it will shrink some and your jar will be about 3/4 full when you are done [this depends on fat , and water content, - i.e.: hung venison is dry and doesn't shrink much]
I process meat and low acid foods at 15 lbs. for 90 minutes [except for fish - I process fish for 120 minutes] [I also bottle refried beans, cooking for the same amount of time, and have never had a problem, ]

 

[Squeaky]

I haven't done much canning recently. About six years ago up in NY I had about 120 tomato plants, I ended up taking two weeks of vacation to can all of them, but it was worth the time because nothing beats home grown canned tomatoes for a soup or pasta base.

A month ago hubby brought home a couple huge boxes of tomatoes from one of his customers, I had them stewed and in the freezer before he got home the next day, he was quite surprised over the amount of sauce I had.

 

[Miss M]

I haven't started to can yet but I really want to. I have an old pressure cooker, about 30 years old Mirro brand but I need to replace the gasket.(hubby wont spring for a pressure caner).

I have read that you can cook in a pressure canner, but you cannot can in a pressure cooker. Not sure if you were thinking about it, but that's what I've read.

 

[katiebear]

. [/quote]
I have read that you can cook in a pressure canner, but you cannot can in a pressure cooker. Not sure if you were thinking about it, but that's what I've read.[/quote]

Oh. I didn't know that. .I am going to have to do some research. To prove it to him. He understand tool spicificity but has a hard time understanding that it also applies to cooking tools. I wish he would just take my word for it.. I told him this but he was insistent. That is why I wanted to get the opinion of the canners here..

 

[Homer]

. Oh. I didn't know that. .I am going to have to do some research. To prove it to him. He understand tool spicificity but has a hard time understanding that it also applies to cooking tools. I wish he would just take my word for it.. I told him this but he was insistent. That is why I wanted to get the opinion of the canners here..

Don't do it Katiebear! It's not safe to use a cooker for canning. Here's a little ammo for ya.
http://foodsafety.wisc.edu/consumer/fact_sheets/pressurecannerandcooker.pdf I agree with everything in this article but they left one thing out.

A cooker is not built to stay warm (cool very slowly) when turned off. If you cool canned goods to quickly they will lose liquid and can make your foods go bad much faster.

 

[CalicoPrairie]

I've got chicken broth in the canner right now, about 16 pints, with probably 8-10 pints waiting to go in next. Next week, I'll be doing 20lbs of beans (we eat a lot of them), which will probably make 60+ pints....so maybe I'll be doing only 10lbs, lol.

 

[katiebear]

I found the book for my pot. It is a pressure cooker and canner. Mirro Matic..with directions for canning. It is very heavy cast aluminum.. I bought it new in 1980 or so.. it is an 8 quart. Hummmm hubby may be right after all (I hate it when that happens)