I am loving this! New ideas…..can’t believe I need more jars! Had finished canning juices yesterday and just saw the lemonade concentrate recipe and will be looking for lemons now! Thought my canning was done for a while? Maybe get some of this put up before new countertops and sink goes in. Just thinking of fresh lemonade when it’s hot and humid…..YES PLEASE!
I'm sure this will be a bargain for anyone who cans regularly. I'm buying a AAC 1915X from offer up next week. A bargain at$ 100.00. Anxious to try canning something. Feel free not to answer all these questions, but how many bottles do you can each year? Can you tell when something isn't sealed properly? Does everything get cooked first? I could Google it, but I'd rather Ashley it... maybe a good starting book on canning... you're living my dream😁. From Chicago suburbs....
How many jars a year? That's a darn good question...and I've never counted? We turn our canned goods so regularly and are constantly using everything that there's rarely a "full" inventory all at once. We do have several hundred jars, and on average I'd say I run the pressure canner at least once a week...many weeks every day in the busy season. Mine holds 14 quarts....
So if I had to guess, I'd peg it at about 1000 jars per year maybe?
Can you tell when something isn't sealed properly...
Yes. First, once the jars are cool, the little dimple in the center should be down. Beyond that, you always take the rings off for storage, and you should be able to pick the jar up by just the lid with the tips of your fingers without it coming off. It should be really vacuumed on there, and you should have to use an actual bottle opener (or butter knife) to get it off. First, check the dimple, then take off the rings and pick them up.
If you're looking for a good book on Pressure Canning, then definitely Angi Schneider's pressure canning book. On canning in general, the best bang for your buck is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving as it has 400+ tested recipes.
So those are one thing we don't can, largely because there's no good method, and there are actually deaths associated with home canning eggs. I write about it in my article on pickled eggs: https://practicalselfreliance.com/pickled-eggs/
Once pickled, eggs can be stored in the refrigerator and they'll keep about 4 months that way without canning. Even if pickled, they can't be canned for room temperature storage as it takes too long for the brine to get to the center of the egg...and in that time it spoils if it's at room temperature.
You will occasionally see pickled eggs on shelves at the grocery store, but the only way to make that work is to put in some pretty intense industrial preservatives. McKensey has a brand of them I've seen, and they're full of a lot of chemical preservatives that are hard to pronounce. Perhaps there is a way to add those same preservatives at home...but why?
Anyhow, if you do want to keep eggs, they can be pickled and kept in the refrigerator, or you can store them in limewater...which actually keeps them good as new in a raw state, fresh as they day they were laid...for up to a year!
I’m exploring stewing beef options right now, and am looking at Beef Burgeon and Osso Bucco. I plan to thicken the sauce when heating (like I do with my jarred Stroganoff and Gumbo). Do you have any advice? I base all canning off of tested recipes.
Perfect timing! I'm actually testing beef recipes like that this coming month. I have two different beef bourguignon recipes that I'll be testing, one from the ball blue book of canning and another from Angi's pressure canning book.
The ball blue book one is kind of odd, and has a lot of grated vegetables (like grated apples, etc). That one's actually already on the internet on another site here: https://www.healthycanning.com/beef-wine-sauce
Angi's recipe is pretty much exactly like Julia Child's recipe, and that's the one I'm excited about. I'll let you know when I test that one and get it posted.
For Osso Bocco, you can likely can that just as it is, provided you don't dredge anything in flour before you brown the meat. If you have a particular recipe you love, send it to me. I'll test it and see if I can adapt it to a canning recipe for you.
I haven't done that one yet, but I'll add it to my list, we do love it.
What I did do though, was can up beef short rib...and I've gotta say that's one of the best recipes of all time. It is amazing, so flavorful and perfectly tender.
Basically just trim the bones out (that's optional, you can actually can it bone in if the bones will fit in the jar) and then brown the meat quickly in some oil. Pack into jars and then top with boiling beef stock. Then process according to the instructions for canning beef: https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-beef/
I am loving this! New ideas…..can’t believe I need more jars! Had finished canning juices yesterday and just saw the lemonade concentrate recipe and will be looking for lemons now! Thought my canning was done for a while? Maybe get some of this put up before new countertops and sink goes in. Just thinking of fresh lemonade when it’s hot and humid…..YES PLEASE!
Nice!
Love your new site.
Cissie Dee
Thank you Cissie!
I'm sure this will be a bargain for anyone who cans regularly. I'm buying a AAC 1915X from offer up next week. A bargain at$ 100.00. Anxious to try canning something. Feel free not to answer all these questions, but how many bottles do you can each year? Can you tell when something isn't sealed properly? Does everything get cooked first? I could Google it, but I'd rather Ashley it... maybe a good starting book on canning... you're living my dream😁. From Chicago suburbs....
That is a good deal, congrats!
How many jars a year? That's a darn good question...and I've never counted? We turn our canned goods so regularly and are constantly using everything that there's rarely a "full" inventory all at once. We do have several hundred jars, and on average I'd say I run the pressure canner at least once a week...many weeks every day in the busy season. Mine holds 14 quarts....
So if I had to guess, I'd peg it at about 1000 jars per year maybe?
Can you tell when something isn't sealed properly...
Yes. First, once the jars are cool, the little dimple in the center should be down. Beyond that, you always take the rings off for storage, and you should be able to pick the jar up by just the lid with the tips of your fingers without it coming off. It should be really vacuumed on there, and you should have to use an actual bottle opener (or butter knife) to get it off. First, check the dimple, then take off the rings and pick them up.
If you're looking for a good book on Pressure Canning, then definitely Angi Schneider's pressure canning book. On canning in general, the best bang for your buck is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving as it has 400+ tested recipes.
What's your method for canning hard-boiled eggs?
So those are one thing we don't can, largely because there's no good method, and there are actually deaths associated with home canning eggs. I write about it in my article on pickled eggs: https://practicalselfreliance.com/pickled-eggs/
Once pickled, eggs can be stored in the refrigerator and they'll keep about 4 months that way without canning. Even if pickled, they can't be canned for room temperature storage as it takes too long for the brine to get to the center of the egg...and in that time it spoils if it's at room temperature.
You will occasionally see pickled eggs on shelves at the grocery store, but the only way to make that work is to put in some pretty intense industrial preservatives. McKensey has a brand of them I've seen, and they're full of a lot of chemical preservatives that are hard to pronounce. Perhaps there is a way to add those same preservatives at home...but why?
Anyhow, if you do want to keep eggs, they can be pickled and kept in the refrigerator, or you can store them in limewater...which actually keeps them good as new in a raw state, fresh as they day they were laid...for up to a year!
Instructions on that here: https://practicalselfreliance.com/storing-eggs-in-lime/
Anyhow, those are two good options, one in the fridge, and another in the pantry, but neither are canned.
Hope this helps!
I’m planning to basically follow Angie’s recipe. I hope to can tomorrow morning. I’ll let you know how it comes out!
I found canning home grown chicken meat incredible, but store bought chicken was not good, that says something about how they were grown.
We love home canned chicken too. I actually just put up a guide with more than 20 different chicken canning recipes too: https://creativecanning.com/chicken-canning-recipes/
I’m exploring stewing beef options right now, and am looking at Beef Burgeon and Osso Bucco. I plan to thicken the sauce when heating (like I do with my jarred Stroganoff and Gumbo). Do you have any advice? I base all canning off of tested recipes.
Perfect timing! I'm actually testing beef recipes like that this coming month. I have two different beef bourguignon recipes that I'll be testing, one from the ball blue book of canning and another from Angi's pressure canning book.
The ball blue book one is kind of odd, and has a lot of grated vegetables (like grated apples, etc). That one's actually already on the internet on another site here: https://www.healthycanning.com/beef-wine-sauce
Angi's recipe is pretty much exactly like Julia Child's recipe, and that's the one I'm excited about. I'll let you know when I test that one and get it posted.
For Osso Bocco, you can likely can that just as it is, provided you don't dredge anything in flour before you brown the meat. If you have a particular recipe you love, send it to me. I'll test it and see if I can adapt it to a canning recipe for you.
I haven't done that one yet, but I'll add it to my list, we do love it.
What I did do though, was can up beef short rib...and I've gotta say that's one of the best recipes of all time. It is amazing, so flavorful and perfectly tender.
Basically just trim the bones out (that's optional, you can actually can it bone in if the bones will fit in the jar) and then brown the meat quickly in some oil. Pack into jars and then top with boiling beef stock. Then process according to the instructions for canning beef: https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-beef/
(I also only base off tested recipes.)