Anyone canning?

Here's safe approved recipes for venison/beef etc. The entire NCHP site is worthwhile for canners whether new or old seasoned veterans.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_05/str ... hunks.html

If you are up here I have 3 brand new cases of canning jars I could give you...free . Found 'em on the side of the road !! Thats Yankee Coalburner Hospitality !!!

stokerscot wrote:We do a big garden, big enough to send kids to school from the produce stand. What I wait for is the smell of the sause cooking outside smelling up the whole neighborhood That smell of garlic and fresh sweet basil, oh boy I'm licking my lips right now. We usually don't get alot of jars in because we are so busy harvesting and such, so every jar is a prize The pickled beets, the pickled red cabbage, And something that is really unusual, canned melons. We cut the melon off the rinds and can them in sugar sauce. Orange and green. Man are they good!!!! We live a short distance from the ball factory, where they make canning jars and tops. My wife has won a few prizes at the county fair for canned goods What I want to know is how you can venison? I've had it and it was really good. Do you just can it instead of freezing it?

Love to see some pics if you got em and maybe a pickled beets recipe too.

Just wondering. Are all canning jars equal, or is one brand better than another?
We've always used the Ball brand.
Also, we canned corn in qt. jars and pt. jars. and had five qt. jars go bad on us. Any thoughts?
We did the pints and quarts separately and at the time and pressure described in the Ball book.
Maybe we should have made whiskey instead

heartofcoal wrote:Just wondering. Are all canning jars equal, or is one brand better than another?
We've always used the Ball brand.
Also, we canned corn in qt. jars and pt. jars. and had five qt. jars go bad on us. Any thoughts?
We did the pints and quarts separately and at the time and pressure described in the Ball book.
Maybe we should have made whiskey instead

We used to can a lot of Roma tomatoes for sauce and every once in a while we would get a jar that goes bad. Usually my problem is jars that don't seal (no vacuum). I think it either stems from not getting all the air out of the jar or heating them too quickly.

As to your corn going bad - only thing I can think of is quarts are going to take longer to heat through than pints - they sit taller so less is in the water and there is less surface area in proportion to the amount of volume. Double check the instructions again for differences between pints and quarts in the same size canner.

I've gotten away from canning and even gardening - just not enough time left in each day, even though I always enjoyed it. But I've got a couple of friends that are hard-core gardeners/canners so I'll have to pick up some tips and get going!

Chris

I hear ya Chris
It's really frustrating for me sometimes with working full time, working on the house the gardens etc.
There's been many times when I've said to myself... Why the hell am I killin' myself like this? But I know I'd miss it.

I'm not an expert since the nearest Master Food Preservation class I can find is in Chicago. But, I've canned for on my own 30 years and helped before that. Used to run between 4-500 jars each year, now down to only a couple hundred or so.

Lack of seals, or seals that fail, can most often be directly attributed to how tightly the rings were when placed in the canner. Fingertip tight is pretty darned subjective. More seals are lost by the rings being too tight than too loose. The contents must be able to vent thoroughly during canning. Too tight rings prevent adequate venting.

Vacuuming, or losing liquid is primarily caused by too rapid changes in heat setting on the burner. This causes fluctuations inside the PC that ultimately cause vacuuming the liquid contents out of the jar.

Stephen in Soky wrote:I'm not an expert since the nearest Master Food Preservation class I can find is in Chicago. But, I've canned for on my own 30 years and helped before that. Used to run between 4-500 jars each year, now down to only a couple hundred or so.

Lack of seals, or seals that fail, can most often be directly attributed to how tightly the rings were when placed in the canner. Fingertip tight is pretty darned subjective. More seals are lost by the rings being too tight than too loose. The contents must be able to vent thoroughly during canning. Too tight rings prevent adequate venting.

Vacuuming, or losing liquid is primarily caused by too rapid changes in heat setting on the burner. This causes fluctuations inside the PC that ultimately cause vacuuming the liquid contents out of the jar.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience
You answered another question for me too..... losing the liquid. That happened with our carrots.

We're canning on an electric stove too, so regualting heat is tough.
I guess finger tight is something you have to get a feel for.

Ray

I'm wondering, who makes the best pressure canner
We have two of the Presto brand.
We used the first one for two seasons before the gasket crapped out.
Now, I've seen ones where they lock down with, I guess you'ld call them "thumb screws"?
They look like they're better built...... more industrial

Those gaskets are meant to be replaced.
Here's an example:
http://www.amazon.com/Presto-Pressure-C ... B000ORD8GM
The pressure cooker is probably fine.
-Len

I was gonna get a new gasket for it, but my wife informed me that this was her new seasoned sauce pot
and if I knew what was good for me, I'd keep my damn hands off of it.

So..... I'll get a new one

All American. Your grandkids will use it. Built like tanks right here in the USA.

All American!
Thanks Steven, I'll look on Amazon and see what I can find.

Ray

Also..
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitchen___ ... 910?Args=#
They've got a lot of good, hard to find items.
-Len