Canning beef stew!?

[justusnak]

I want to can some beef stew...but I use barly in mine. Will it hold up to the processing?? And for how long would I can a pint? Help!

 

[moolie]

75 minutes for pints is what my canning book says for stew (at the appropriate pressure for your altitude), not sure on the barley but I know that grains like rice aren't recommended for canning because of the mush factor. Hopefully someone else knows the answer to that one

 

[justusnak]

Thanks Moolie....thats what I was wondering...mush..

 

[freemotion]

Carla Emery suggests putting a tablespoon of whole barley...the kind that needs a LOOOOOONG cooking....into each quart jar. I haven't done this, but I used to put barley in stews in the past and it has a habit of expanding and expanding and expanding...so go light with it, and be sure there is plenty of broth for it to take up or you might have stew-loaf when you open the jars!

 

[lwheelr]

I should think the trick would be getting the balance of barley and broth right. It should not go mushy, but will absorb two or more times it's bulk in water.

Regular pearled barley should work fine. It is pretty hard to overcook it.

 

[Denim Deb]

Y'all must have read my mind. I just made stew for dinner the other night, and was thinking I should have made a large pot of it, and canned the rest. I just wasn't sure how to do it. :/

 

[freemotion]

I actually prefer to make it just for canning so the veggies aren't too mushy. It will be pressure cooked for 75-90 min depending on jar size, so I like to have the veggies just hot and not cooked when it goes into the canner. But I don't can veggies because they are too mushy, but lots of people (including my dh) don't mind that.

 

[moolie]

Yeah, I've only read about canning ready-made meals--so far I've only canned legumes and meat (ground and chunks, for quick and easy dinners) so I just wasn't sure about the barley.

 

[justusnak]

So, what everyone seems to be saying is...make the stew hot...not cooked...and put the barley in there raw...just a little. Hmmm, I might have to try this.