The season has started. 15 jars of 1/2 pints of rhubarb jam, 4 pints and 4 quarts of strawberry rhubarb moonshine. A good start to the season all done in one evening.
Luckily the moonshine is not sealed so we get away with saving last year's lids and washing them well and re using them. As for real canning that needs sealed, I always have extra because my wife says I'm a hoarder-she isn't complaining this year-however things were tough last year for finding lids and I usually kept just over a year ahead on lids. This year I have lids to get me to the half way point and then I will be out. Looking around here there are no lids, but there are cases of jars available so we may be buying cases of jars just for the lids that come with them.
Luckily the moonshine is not sealed so we get away with saving last year's lids and washing them well and re using them. As for real canning that needs sealed, I always have extra because my wife says I'm a hoarder-she isn't complaining this year-however things were tough last year for finding lids and I usually kept just over a year ahead on lids. This year I have lids to get me to the half way point and then I will be out. Looking around here there are no lids, but there are cases of jars available so we may be buying cases of jars just for the lids that come with them.
Check out reusable lids? Not as cheap but they could go on jars that'll be emptied sooner than later till you have a critical mass on hand. Good idea putting up a year's supply in advance. Not sure if there any around here yet. Sca
Looking to get a pressure cooker to can venison. Anyone have recommendation that wont totally break the bank?
I scored a couple at rummage sales, paid $10 for one and $25 for the other witch looked about new. I replaced the gaskets and our county extension office offers free pressure testing. Both tested good and I was off to the races.
Could someone recommend a guide for canning meat? I'm new to canning so I need a "for dummies" type. Thank you.
Yup....the ball blue book. $10 most hardware stores. They take a very safe and conservative approach. Sca
Read the first chapter or two....there is a lot of basic how-to there. There are more steps to pressure canning, but once you've done a batch or three, you'll have the process down, and will just need to refresh the memory about the time and pressures. Sca
Not knowing that cooker: If there is a rubber plug in the lid, that will need replacement. I forget if its after a number of years, or some other measure. The seals under the lid do go bad. If you have a pressure guage, they/it will need to be recalibrated, annually I think. Having a spare carefully wrapped and tucked away wont hurt. I only have the ones with metal jigglers....because they dont need any recalibration to be accurate. Ive had gaskets go bad...they take longer to seal, which means longer processing times, energy use etc. Spares now on hand. Sca
Not sure how it goes out in your neck of the woods, but around here once a year the county extension office sets up a test day and they test pressure canners for seals, correct weights/guage pressure and overall condition to ensure safe canning. Also have recently read not to trust good canned in the countertop instapots.
I don't anymore. We put up elk, deer, antelope, and large batches of stew and chili in pressure canners. I bought a instapot at a thiftstore and got rid of it. Once you get use to a pressure cooker/canner there really isn't a need for a computerized doohickey. I had a few gallons of elk stew go bad when I first trusted the instapot. The american canners really are handy for large batches, but for making chokecherry syrup or jam, I just use the old presto. I haven't had the best of luck with the reusable lids with canning. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, but only use them for pickles now.
Thank you, I just messaged my Cnty Extension on facebook, I'll find out. I'd rather use this pressure cooker than my house one because it's a lot bigger. Sirchopsalot , we were gifted a jiggle pressure cooker as wedding gift in 94', I didn't use it that often for a couple decades because it was so loud and uncomfortable like when you pull up at a stoplight and another car is blaring screaming and dark acid rock music...., and I grew up with rocker. My mother gave a smaller rocker pressure cooker for Christmas several years ago and somehow that doesn't both me lol. and Camber we are not fond of the instapot gifted to us for Christmas a few years ago either, there was a video of them malfunctioning at the time and it spooked us.
I hear you about the noise. But having to send a guage out to someone to get recalibrated (or I can't can food because it wasnt done/am not confident in its accuracy)...nah. If the rubber seal is toast, it will take way longer to seal....like air will escape around the lid, and pressure will not build. If there is doubt, stick a new one on there. See how it goes. Then try the old one and see if there is a difference. Its readily obvious that it's no good. Far as finding one, Biddleman, fbmp, cl, online: its a little bit of an investment, but any good tool is. If you're just getting started, getting some jars put back isnt a bad idea. They'll fill quickly. We canned 40# of boneless skinless chicken last weekend, for a friend. 2# per quart jar. Then did pork just a few days ago....20# split with a friend. 8.5 quart jars....as there was a lot of fat to be trimmed off. All the best Sca
I have beef and pork in the garage freezer, I'm thinking it might be wise to can some or most of it with the warnings of upcoming blackouts..... It's vacuum sealed from the butcher, I guess I'd have to thaw it, unpackage it then can it? Your thoughts? I have a lot of ground beef. Husband says no, icky texture. Idk I'd rather have icky texture than none.