Sorry for the late reply. As Sirchopsalot posted, 'canning' may be a misnomer as like him, I just use canning (mason) jars to store the rendered bear fat but there is no actual 'canning' process (water bath or pressure) when preparing it. Getting antsy for this coming hunting season. Just ordered a new commercial-grade meat grinder so I'm hoping to get at least something. I usually process wild game myself but had a butcher do it last fall. They do a good job however I prefer to do it myself. Been using an antique hand grinder for decades but getting too old for that now so updating my processing with the electric grinder.
How awesome! Better than Jelly imho. Thats a good way to put away energy! Spiced tomato jam is a favorite here. Sounds weird, but boy is it good! Sca
Oh man, couldn't stop myself from checking this out and sure am glad I did. Most of you people are pretty experienced and those newer are really wanting to do it right. So glad to see! As a lifelong food preserver and 20 yr master food preserver I can answer a lot of questions. Start with this website, it's the gold standard for canning, freezing, etc. National Center for Home Food Preservation | USDA Publications Most states have their preserving publications online and free to download. I'll be back...
Break time, pig pen is almost ready. If I come across wrong chalk it up to not being much for chitchat. I use reusable canning lids and been for more than 10 years. No affiliation to the company. Tattler Reusable Canning Lids There's a bit of a learning curve but they saved my butt the last couple years. Tattler lids have been around since the 70's I believe. They also now make disposable metal lids but there's no reason for me to try them. I'd love to hear if someone does.
I picked up the other brand of reuseables, but have not tried them yet. I wont test them on meat canning, but preserves etc first. The disposable ones have shown up again, so I've kept a good collection over the last few years, topped off. Sca
I find bear lard better than pig lard, less smell and it's much whiter. Mine gets rendered then put in canning jars and into the spare fridge or freezer. My aunt swore it made better pie crusts than pig lard.
I never heard of these re-usable canning lids. What a great idea. I have some of my grandmother's jars that have glass lids with rubber gaskets and wire fasteners. I have only used them for regular food storage. I have never actually used them in the canning process as I was worried about the age of the jars.
The old jars might not stand up to heat especially in a pressure canner. I stick with newer jars for processing. The oldest ones that have zinc or glass lids and have turned blue or pink go on top of my cupboards. There are a bunch of blue half gallon jars full of dried beans, etc. in the food storage rotation. They only seem to be small mouth which is really fun washing... The reusable canning lids have separate gaskets which can be bought by the dozen. There's a company out there, maybe French, that sells brand new canning jars with bails and gaskets. Sure would love to have some of those.
Its really simple... I did follow the instruction straight on. But my Japs got done way earlier than he mentions... I think it was like 8 or 9 minutes into the boil. I also used Avocado oil...
Thanks much sir! My daughter and her husband will love it provided I can cadge some jalapenos off someone. No peppers this year since last year was a bumper crop. Yup, can see them chowing down now.
Salsa … the 7 on the left has 6 Jalapeños & 2 Habanero’s my first batch… didn’t think it was warm enough. So I stepped up my game with 6 jalapeños & 5 Habanero’s on the second batch. Just the right amount of heat.. Warm but not overly hot…
So far this water bath canning season I have made twelve 1/2 pints of black raspberry jam, sixteen pints of strawberry/rhubarb jam, seven 1/2 pints of strawberry/rhubarb jam, four pints of mixed garden relish, five quarts of mixed garden relish, six pints of dill beans, and yesterday I put up of the first seven quarts of tomato pasta sauce of the summer. Still to come: at least 50 more quarts of pasta sauce, 12 quarts of pickled beats, 12 quarts of dill cucumber pickles, and at least 12 1/2 pints of habanero jam. If I had more time I would probably pressure can some of my carrots and potatoes.