Canning help.

[kyle]

Hello, I am new here.

Me and my wife live in Taiwan, where we enjoy a low cost of living and high standard of life. But we are moving back to Canada, where i am from, and things are crazy expensive there, and we will be earning far less money. So we are looking at cutting back costs, the biggest of which is growing our own food.

We are moving to the west coast, USDA zone 7 for temp idea.

I am sure i can grow enough food to last through teh year for both of us, though i am new to storage aside from drying. I am really interested in canning, but to be honest, am a little lost and overwhelmed by the info. Does anyone have any links to the basics? i have a fairly good idea of plant and animal biology, so it doesnt have to be written for kids, but a good start to finish resource would be amazing! interested in storing meat and plant matter, and freezer space will be somewhat limited in order to save $ on power.

Thanks for any help! I am loving these forums, learned lots, and gotten confused lots, already!

 

[i_am2bz]

Many people recommend the book put out by Ball; you can find it where most canning supplies are sold, even at Walmart. That's for water bath canning.

 

[TanksHill]

Welcome!!!

This is a site I run to as a quick point of reference.

http://www.pickyourown.org/canningsupplies.htm

good luck, be sure to keep us updated on your progress.

gina

 

[tinkarooni]

I second the Ball Blue Book. It explains all the basic processes and gives you a ton of tips on drying and freezing too. It is full of all sorts of great recipes. I am completely self taught from that book.....(just don't let the part about boutilism and all that scare you away )

Good Luck

 

[BarredBuff]

. I d like to third the Ball Blue book, good information. Anything from Canning to Drying to Freezing. Good supplies and easy to find at Wal Mart. If your growing your own food do get chickens!!

 

[freemotion]

For nice videos if you are visual, go to www.canningusa.com. This is where I got the courage to fire up my first pressure canner for the first time.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Welcome!!!

This is a site I run to as a quick point of reference.

http://www.pickyourown.org/canningsupplies.htm

good luck, be sure to keep us updated on your progress.

gina

yep! what she said.. as well as the ball book. sometimes you can find them used on amazon.. but its $17 well spent

 

[patandchickens]

interested in storing meat and plant matter, and freezer space will be somewhat limited in order to save $ on power.

Do bear in mind that canning a whole lot of food takes a considerable amount of <whatever runs your stove>. I am not sure how the economics stack up against freezing -- it is going to depend tremendously on things like how much your freezer would be running (size, climate, where kept, etc) and what your stove-power-source cost is versus electricity costs -- but I would suggest looking into it rather than just *assuming* canning is so much cheaper. (Also you will face significant startup costs in buying jars, unless you can get quite a huge number for free, and then there's the yearly cost of the lids)

On the west coast I don't know if a solar dehydrator is a great option but I suppose it would depend where exactly you're going to be and surely would be something to at least contemplate. It is by far not going to preserve *most* of your food, but every bit helps, and solar is free

Also think about cold storage for taters, carrots, cabbage, apples and things like that. If you have a good useful cold-storage area in your basement or wherever, that is another *free* way of 'preserving' things, at least for some months.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[freemotion]

Pat, apparently you've never had the joy of coming home from a week away to find that your freezer quit working the moment you left....a week ago.

That's why I can some meat and freeze some. I freeze, dehydrate, and root cellar veggies, so I don't can them.

 

[big brown horse]

Pat, apparently you've never had the joy of coming home from a week away to find that your freezer quit working the moment you left....a week ago.

That's why I can some meat and freeze some. I freeze, dehydrate, and root cellar veggies, so I don't can them.

That happened to me this summer, a few days before a baby shower I had at my house. I made all the food from scratch in advance too. We were able to "ice chest" the good stuff, but the rest we lost... That includes 6 quarts of slow cooked bone broths from (happy healthy) roasted chicken carcasses. Huge loss in the form of time, good bones and money.

The next free weekend I had, I ran off to buy a pressure canner and a whole bunch of jars etc.

I already lacto fermented, water bath canned and dehydrated some foods. However now I pressure can all broths, all home grown potatoes and tomatoes.

By the way kyle,