canning a variety

[Shella]

since i was last on here. i have been thinking lots on planning my homestead. i understand that to eat primarily from my animals and garden, i will need to put up lots of food. im gonna grow a bigger garden and drag my old canning jars. ive been tryin to find some at yard sales and such too. been getting lids as well. i want to have a variety in my pantry, im going to can the basics like potatoes, corn, green beans, and tomatoes. any ideas on meals in a jars? who cans their meat?

thanx
shella

 

[snapshot]

I pressure can meat all the time. Chicken, pork, hamburger, elk. I don't do soups yet. Right now, I can whatever I can get cheap or free. Hopefully, I will have a garden in the spring so I don't have to buy as much.

I am still in the planning phase of my homestead also. Think I better start with what we eat most. potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, lettuce... I'm sure there will be more, just don't want to be overwhelmed off the bat.

 

[moolie]

I can meat as well: ground bison and chicken chunks. I use my Mom's old pressure canner and she used to can salmon as well and I'm waiting for hubs to bring home enough trout from a fishing trip to be able to can some up. I also pressure can beans (pinto, black, and kidney plain and navy beans as Baked Beans), stew, chili, soups (split pea and chicken), and broths.

I don't pressure can vegetables (although I do water bath tomatoes) except in soups, chili etc.

I use the Bernardin Guide to Home Preservation (US title is Ball Guide to Home Preservation) for all my canning recipes and times, although as I've got into pressure canning over the past year I have tweaked a few of my own recipes based on the ones in the book. Most meats and fish are processed 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts, and similar times are used for soups/stews/chilis etc. Be very careful if you tweak a recipe to make the one in the book first and then to not change the thickness/consistency of the original recipe if you change anything the next time 'round, and also to be very aware of your altitude--I need to use 15 lbs pressure on my weighted gauge (or 12 lbs on a dial gauge) for my altitude.

 

[Boogity]

Hi shella. We can just about everything that you mentioned in your original post plus we can lots of prepared meals, too. Beef stew, chilli, soups, broths, casserole dishes, etc. My wife is confined to a wheelchair and having all the canned goods throughout the winter is a Godsend. We would love to be able to freeze more stuff because canning (both hot water bath and pressure) does slightly change the taste and consistency of some prepared meals. But we do not have a freezer other than the small one in the 'frig and the cost of a freezer and the electricity does not fit into our budget.

Our pantry is in a small room in the rear of our home that we call the "mud room". I have built three shelving units and we currently have 36 quart jars and 40 pint jars of canned goods in there. We have a full-to-the-top red wagon of apples that I picked over the past two days waiting for us this week. These apples will become several different kinds of canned pie fillings, applesauce, and of course new ACV.

Sometimes canning is fun, sometimes it's a pain in the rear, and all the time it's messy. But we think it's well worth the effort.

 

[SSDreamin]

since i was last on here. i have been thinking lots on planning my homestead. i understand that to eat primarily from my animals and garden, i will need to put up lots of food. im gonna grow a bigger garden and drag my old canning jars. ive been tryin to find some at yard sales and such too. been getting lids as well. i want to have a variety in my pantry, im going to can the basics like potatoes, corn, green beans, and tomatoes. any ideas on meals in a jars? who cans their meat?

thanx
shella

Shella,

I can up the majority of the venison my DH gets, in the form of ground/browned and stew meat. I also usually can up pork, if I happen across a really good deal on loins. I also have everything you list, and then some, in my pantry. I love to can, and have been canning since I was 12 (which was back when Lincoln was President ), and even in the years I don't have a garden or my garden does poorly, I barter or buy things to can.

You may be interested in a canning book by Jackie Clay. Not sure the exact name (I just broke down and ordered a copy - it costs $24.95 ) but she prefers to can everything, and not use a freezer. She has a site (Ask Jackie), that I've gotten a lot of info from. You might check that out and see if it interests you.