Packaging rabbit meat

[Zee-Man]

... Even on a used one from eBay that looks good, shipping doubles the cost or more. If I find I wind up canning a great deal and really like it, I'd absolutely save up!
...

With All American you need only make sure it has the weight. Even so, if it doesn't you can a replacement cheaply. I understand that shipping could be pretty costly. Is Ch.... err Canada really weird on pressure cookers because of bomb scares? If you have large amounts of produce to process the All American is better. I think you will like the Presto fine though.

 

[MnCanary]

I can walk away and trust that my food won't be burnt when I forget to come back soon.

Forgetting to come back is a BIG problem for me, too. I get distracted and pretty soon there is smoke and the kitchen alarm is hooting at me. A smoke alarm is not the best timer. Maybe I should look into a sous vide.

 

[CanineWild]

With All American you need only make sure it has the weight. Even so, if it doesn't you can a replacement cheaply. I understand that shipping could be pretty costly. Is Ch.... err Canada really weird on pressure cookers because of bomb scares? If you have large amounts of produce to process the All American is better. I think you will like the Presto fine though.

It's not so much that we have an issue with them, as maybe they just aren't as commonly used? I dunno tbh. My grandmother for example, and many of her peers did a great deal of canning, but never with a pressure canner. I'd never take that risk, but that was just her generation (she'd be in her late 90s now, she passed away only a few years ago, and I grew up eating all of her foods. She was incredibly self sufficient. My dad, who inherited the home is still eating through the hoards of food stores she left. Anyway, I digress!). You can definitely find them here, it's just a bit of a pain, the options are a lot more limited (no all American definitely, have seen presto), and they are stupid expensive. For example, there's one small 16L in stock at a small town hardware store an hour away (none in any of the chains closer or in bigger cities, and they won't order) for more than it would cost, with shipping and exchange rates etc, to ship a 23L one from the US somewhere. It's bizarre honestly! I guess on the other hand, I live in a less populous province. If I was close to Toronto or somewhere big I'd probably have more luck in person. It's actually a pain to ship many things here. I'm trying to buy a cheaper air rifle from a US shop, but they haven't gotten back to me about shipping rates yet. An equivalent cheap but reasonable quality rifle here is double the price (or more) even after exchange rates (and I don't like the look as much), so I'm trying to buy online. We have them available here, but as with many things, there's just more options down there! You guys have more people by far, so it makes sense.

 

[Zee-Man]

@CanineWild Are you close enough to the border to make a weekend trip out of it. Duty and gas might be a cheaper alternative.

What your grandmother canned could make a big difference in the method. If her foods were all acidic enough, then hot water bath canning would be sufficient. Tomatoes, for instance, don't need pressure canning. The All Americans make sense for folks who have bumper crops to preserve. I think you would find the Presto will fit most of your canning needs, including hot water bath if your were to do that. Just for clarity sake, meat should always be pressure canned. Which province are you in? What is your elevation (it makes a difference in canning)?

 

[CanineWild]

@CanineWild Are you close enough to the border to make a weekend trip out of it. Duty and gas might be a cheaper alternative.

What your grandmother canned could make a big difference in the method. If her foods were all acidic enough, then hot water bath canning would be sufficient. Tomatoes, for instance, don't need pressure canning. The All Americans make sense for folks who have bumper crops to preserve. I think you would find the Presto will fit most of your canning needs, including hot water bath if your were to do that. Just for clarity sake, meat should always be pressure canned. Which province are you in? What is your elevation (it makes a difference in canning)?

Unfortunately I'm far enough in (Manitoba, something like 1200ft in my area I think), and far enough away from any larger US towns anyway it wouldn't be worth the trip for just that. My dad's company actually has a US postal address that we occasionally use for such situations, as they go in every week at least to pick up semi-loads of their stuff. With the current border laws though, they are strictly not allowed to bring anything in that isn't purely business related because of our border people. They've been saying it'll be open for more personal use 'soon'... since last summer. Quite frustrating! I'll either have to be patient (and who knows how long it'll be really, could be like that for another year for all I know), or just bite the bullet and pay either shipping, or outrageous local costs. I'm just humming and hawing cause I have very limited spending power currently. We'll see what I can find.

And no, she definitely canned anything and everything, haha. I water-bath can plenty of the acidic stuff myself, but I won't be adopting those methods. I mean, she grew up rural poor, so having a means to keep food without modern means was worth the risk vs starving, but not so anymore! For most at least

 

[a7736100]

This guy makes it so easy.

 

[Olbunny]

Our fantastic daughter n her man helped me butcher our last batch of the season. 28 friers. And one culled doe.
From start to finish where they are in the fridge. Took 6 hours. Or a bit over 12 minutes per rabbit average.
I'm thinking I would like to can these. We bought some pork belly to cube up n put a piece in each jar with a bit of salt for added flavor.
I'm thinking that we did pretty good on the time. Our daughter butchered all but a couple that I did.
I found an old house for sale T post that stands on its own. I have 2 ropes with slip knots to hang them by the back legs. And use an old rubber horse watering feeding tub under where we butcher them. The guts fall into the tub.
I like to use a CO-2 cartridge powered pellet pistol to dispatch them but it was cold enough that it would not work correctly. So learned something there. Don't leave them cold.
Anyhows it will be nice to take a break. I've been caring for 30-45 rabbits since last spring. For the breeding does too. They did great. First time mamas. One doe had near 45 kits and all the kits did good. Averaging 9 per and having 5 litters. We kept a silver colored doe from her to replace the doe we culled. Was nice to see some fat inside the mature does we culled along with them having good sturdy fur tells me they were healthy.

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

I use my sous vide very often. I chose the Annova brand since it has wifi control as well as on unit. I got a mid size camping cooler (~10 Liters) and cut out a space in the lid for the Annova. The insulated box aids greatly in efficiency. I use it to quick thaw meats, 1 pound of chicken thighs is ready to use in about 30 minutes or less. I re-heat canned soups and stews, jar goes directly in. I cook many dishes in it as well, from steak to fricassee (well fricasee needs some pan time too). Next up is to make dashi in it. I like it mostly since with the precisely controlled heat, I can walk away and trust that my food won't be burnt when I forget to come back soon.

My son has a sous vide thing, but it cooks in a plastic bag. Do they all do this? I would like it if I could cook in stainless steel or glass ... am I off base with this?