Canning thread

Just went to local Ace Hardware. Boxes of lids right as you walk in. Grabbed a bunch. First Ive seen for sale in stores around here.

 

I've been looking around here, haven't seen any yet. I went to open some maple syrup made earlier this year, the lid failed and had a crust of nastiness on top. No name brand lids. I don't have much syrup either.

 

Interesting idea canning syrup.....water bath (due to sugar content)?
That we have always refrigerated or frozen.

Sca

 

I water-bathed canned some rhubarb simple syrup two or three years ago thinking to use it in mojito making or what-not.
Unexpectedly the simple syrup turned out pinkish-red as I didn't add any strawberries for red dye like I do when I make rhubarb jam.

 

Yes, water bath.

Local hardware store advertised loads of canning jars. Went there, no lids. Still bought a case of jars. Most of the ones I give away, I never get back.

 

Still could not get lids locally. I ordered online and wasn't too pleased as I like to buy local and support small businesses.

I picked up a pail of crab apples at my brother's house and gave them a try. A bit sour, but sugar made it good.

Not the nicest looking ones.





The crabapples by the swamp are almost ready. Should be good next week.

 

I bet they would make good applesauce too.....sweetened with maple syrup, molasses, honey...cinnamon...

We found lids at a few local places....they're around here.

Sca

 

They definitely would with a lot of work. I use bigger apples for applesauce so I can core them out to remove seeds. These were just cut on the end and stem removed.

 

Lids are still scarce around here.

I have a garden relish on the go this morning. I am still working through my once used lids from previous water bath recipes. I have not had one fail yet.

I won’t reuse them from or for pressure caning, but it has proven to be worth saving some for use during shortages - for water bath recipes only.

This recipe includes onion, 1 habanero, 1 zucchini, 4 beets, carrots, garlic and green tomatoes. Mix in 3 tblip canning salt, let sit an hour, drain liquid.

3 cups white vinegar, 4 cups sugar, 1 tblsp mustard seed. Bring to light boil with veggies. Water bath 20 minutes. Good with any savory food.

 

A Foley food mill is an awesome thing for making sauce out of smaller apples....and grapes, and .....just cut fruit in half, boil as required, and run through the mill. No separating anything.
Sca

Sca

 

Wondering if anyone on the forum has ever canned rendered bear fat? I plan on trying it this fall if I fill my tag.

 

What do you do with canned rendered bear fat?

 

Lots of uses. Excellent for cooking (pretty much anything you would use cooking oil/olive oil for) as well as waterproofing (boots/leather). Some people also use it as a gun oil, a skin moisturizer, as an insect repellent, and even as a beard oil. Maximize the harvest!

 

Interesting...does it have a particular flavor? Can you do that with deer as well?

 

Animal fat tends to maintain a trace flavor of their diet, so for example if a bear is feeding extensively on berries, there can be a hint of berry in the rendered fat. A dump bear, on the other hand, would more than likely have poorer tasting fat. Yes, you can absolutely use deer fat (or fat from just about any wild animal). Deer fat is great for cooking and some people use it when making homemade soaps. Rendered fat from wild game (same thing as 'lard' from pork) is a natural cooking oil whereas commercial vegetable oils are actually rancid and have been industrially bleached and deodorized to mask their rancidity.

 

We don't use a lot oils, some olive and a few spray types. Try to have some canola like oil around, but it often ends up "going off" before we use it up...which is extremely annoying. May have to look into this "canning fat" thing, especially the way things are going.

When you can it, I assume you actually have to pressure can?

 

Some studies are indicating animal fats are actually healthier than vegetable fats , at least for some people. Course, some of what they do with vegetable oils processing it may be part of the vegetable oil "problems". Kinda hard to "trust the science" when the science keeps getting disproven/questioned.

 

Having rendered lard a few times, over the last few years:
We store it in canning jars purely for convenience.
They keep moisture and air out.
We store some in our pantry (generally a cooler room) and the rest in the basememt (44° in winter, 70's summer).
So long as it is rendered, it will be free of water and other impurities. We've stored ours for multiple years, no issues.

So far none has gone off (they shouldn't anyway). They all have a rather 'piggy' smell and as EODMsgt said, MANY uses.

Sca