WHAT ARE YOU CANNING TODAY?

[tortoise]

4 pints D'Anjou pears today.

 

[Britesea]

Not canned... but I've got a load of green tomatoes in the freeze dryer, and a load in the dehydrator. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time and energy to can some green tomato salsa and green tomato pickles. I also have paper bags and boxes all over the living room with tomatoes that were starting to blush. We've been having tomato salads every night. My poor tomato plants were just hitting their stride when we got the frost warning (26F)... I went out and picked them all before the weather killed the vines.

 

[Mini Horses]

While you are using them, I'm sure you'd rather have been able to have them finish and ripened. Some will probably finish in a window sill. .

 

[flowerbug]

While you are using them, I'm sure you'd rather have been able to have them finish and ripened. Some will probably finish in a window sill. .

it doesn't matter if you put them in the window or not (and it is probably worse for them) they will still gradually ripen - just have to be patient and keep an eye out for those that spoil first.

we've done some late season canning from keeping them on a table in the garage for several months. they may not taste exactly the same, but they are still edible and by the time you use them in things like sauces with spices and such you won't even notice.

 

[Britesea]

I've got them in closed paper bags, to concentrate the ethylene gas that turns them red and ripe. In researching stuff, I discovered they do best in a warm environment for this; hence, they are in the warmest room of our house instead of the cellar. Supposedly, enclosing them with a banana that still has some green on the ends will do it faster, but it's amazing how quickly they are turning red this way- I have a big pile of them on the kitchen table already!

 

[tortoise]

7 quarts venison stew meat processing in the pressure canner now. DH browned the meat and is tending the propane burner. I couldnt have done it by myself! He set the propane burner up in the greenhouse to protect it from wind.

He ground and froze venison this morning too

 

[Britesea]

I finished freeze drying the tomato chunks that were ripe; there's still more in the bags, but in the meantime, I have a load of beets going in the freeze dryer. When it's done (tomorrow) I have some pork cushion meat to cut up, cook to render out the fat, then freeze dry that. We've learned that freeze drying the meat requires an overnight rehydration time as otherwise the center stays tough when we cook it. It might do better with the slow cooker; I have to experiment with that. After that, it's probably back to the tomatoes again, unless I decide to dehydrate them. I like the flavor better dehydrated for making powder; it seems to slightly caramelize and gives it a richer flavor than just freeze drying. The freeze dried chunks are great for adding to a quick meal though, as they rehydrate in just minutes.

 

[tortoise]

5 more quarts venison chunks and 2 quarts ground venison last night.

 

[wyoDreamer]

6 pints of beef chunks. This is my first time canning beef - now to see if we will sue it this way.

 

[Mini Horses]

The canned meats are really fully cooked and therefore a softer meat. Great for old roos! Takes the tough out. Mainly, for me, a canned meat is for a heat and eat quick type meal. You can cook in a casserole which would need less oven time since the meat is cooked already. That sort of use...then, some freed up freezer space....power outage supplies.

Hope you enjoy it.