We keep grape juice canned for the kids every year. Go down and pick up a barrel of fresh squeezed juice from the Amish. Got about 60 quart of juice, should last us a little while. We mix it with water and have real grape juice all year with no preservatives or crap in it.
We were looking at making some grape juice this year from my parents concords but ran out of time with all the wood collecting to get ahead this year. Did do a lot of canni g this year though.
Thats pretty cool, would never have thought of that. I love to can too. All my garden stuff are what I hit.
I've done that with some of my own grapes. I've frozen it instead of canning too. Added to water or apple or cranberry juice.
Look out! Here comes the newbie resurrecting old threads. I don't have grapes but I do have apples. Last fall I decided to try some apple cider. I made 6qts and have 3 left. Came out pretty good and I know exactly what's in it. Apples! They're tucked in the middle of the two different seasons of applebutter.
If you dig far enough you might find a thread of mine on making apple cider. I need to make one more batch and get all of those apples out of the freezer!
I tried making pearbutter but it came out more like applesauce. Tastes good though. If I have a good crop of bartletts and asian pears again this year I'll have to try cider.
Lookin good Joe, I really love having canned food at home. It just tastes so much better than the stuff you buy at the store.
Here's a little more of our basement grocery store. Chicken and venison. Soups and stews Tomato soup Wax beans Peaches Jams and Jellies
I'm partial to pears. I didn't bother taking a pic of them because there's only 5 qt jars left. Once they're gone I'll start hitting the peaches a little harder.
We didn't do near the amount of canning we normally do this past year because we had so much left over from the last two years. But were going through it now so this year will be a big canning year.
I have more pears than peaches. Maybe that's why ! I've lost all my peaches in the heat of Summer two years in a row. 2 peach trees, 9 pear trees.
I lost all my grapes to the heat last summer. I really missed making jelly last fall. Picture from 2012
Uncle Joe, I have to ask. What do you do with the canned chicken? How is it prepared into a meal once you open it?
Ok. I was wondering if it is sitting in liquid, does the meat become tender or mushy. Soup works or maybe chicken stew or pot pie?
Almost anything you do with fresh you can do with canned. The difference being; the meat is already cooked so prep time for a meal is slashed. DW just made a big pot of chicken corn soup yesterday. Bread it to make chicken tenders. Chop it up for chicken salad. Pot pie. You can sear it on the grill for a couple minutes and it's ready to eat. Really thin pieces and the edges of the larger ones can get a little mushy. I cut boneless breasts into the biggest pieces that will fit in a jar. A quart jar will hold just shy of a pound. I do thighs and legs with the bone in and skin still on. Some folks partially cook their meat before canning. I raw pack with water and a pinch of sea salt. I started canning from the garden in'07 and moved on to meat in '08. Now whenever there is a big storm coming, I make sure the garage is stocked with wood then sit back in front of the TV and watch the madness of people running to the store for that last loaf of bread or carton of eggs.
Making me hungry !! Been wanting to do more canning....get away from the crap at the stores..that comes from who-knows-where . All I jar-up so far..is honey !! No expiration date Heres the store I get it from !! Here what I come home with !!