My Plans for Stocking Up

[robin282]

Hi,
I have made jams a few times, and that's about it. This year, I plan to do jams again, but I want to put up much more. I a root-cellaring book, and a stocking up book.

I would like to know from people here what their favorite things to put up are. What are the successes, failures, tricks?

I hope to can a bunch of stuff. I do NOT have a pressure canner. I would be doing the old boiling pot method.

Also, once canned, where do you store your jars?

Any info including drying or cellaring is welcome.

The economy around here is going bad, and I want to prepare for tough times. My husband's company only has 9 (non office people) guys left. A year and a half to two years ago they had 135.

Thanks to all,
Robin

[bluelacedredhead]

Robin, give me a couple of days to think about this. I've been canning for over 30 years and that's a lot of successes and failures to refer back on, lol

[robin282]

Thank you!
I am happy to have a reply here. I look forward to any info.
Robin

[plantsnobin]

When I was a kid we had a garden and canned green beans and tomtoes, and froze corn. My mom was not pleasant about it, and frankly, I was treated as more of a slave than anything. So, I had no interest in having to put out a garden and can when I had a choice in the matter. My husband also had to work like a dog in the garden when he was a kid, so he wasn't about to do that again either. As we got older though, we decided that we wanted to put out a little bit. A couple of years ago I bought a bunch of canning stuff and a new pressure canner. I was fun when you weren't being forced to do it. Although I didn't put out anything last year, I plan to this year. I do think the economy is going to crash, but I am not doing it for that reason. Ok, sorry about the long story. About your water bath, I think that you will need to get a pressure canner for most things. The water bath should only be used for high acid foods. Is there anyone near you who knows how to can? I think it would be intimidating to try to can when you have never seen it done. I live in the country, and I guess we just take for granted that everyone knows how to do things like this. That pressure canner jiggling and hissing sounds like it is ready to explode, if you haven't heard that before you might think something is going wrong. Ball has a book on canning that I would recommend. It can be a bit expensive to get started if you don't have canners, jars, etc, but once you have them they will last your lifetime. I don't remember what we paid for our canner, but if your area has a Rural King store, they have a complete selection of supplies you will need. Store the canned goods in the boxes the jars came in, in a cool dark place. Good luck.

[robin282]

Thanks for your story and information: very helpful. I thought you only needed a pressure canner for things with meat in them like soup and stuff. I did not realize water bath was just for acidic stuff; you have taught me better. I believe this is an item I will need then. I mean, if I am already buying canned food from the market, why not have my own? I do not have that store you mentioned, and the general are has lost all its country charms so to speak. I will find one though.

As for the sound, my mom used to pressure-cook some things.

Ultimately, I would like to can, freeze, dry, root cellar what I grow and, but less and less all the time. Right now, we eat everything that is grown right as it comes off the plant! I do have popcorn that I stored, but that is so basic a storage thing.

Thanks!
Robin

[canadamike]

Robin:

I can a lot. A pressure cooker will make it possible to can much more. I can meat, soups , stews, or whatever there is to can, It is all about acidity. A lot of people around here still can potatoes and other veggies in a boiling bath. It is dangerous for whatever is not acid enough. My wife did not like my canned tomatoes, although the fresh fruits were much better tasting, because I added lemon juice and she thought, rightly so, that the results were too acidic. I am on the acidic side of things with them, so I disagreed. Sweet makes it for me, but up to a point.

Presure cookers are really the way to do WHATEVER YOU WANT with food. There is a huge lot to be done with boiling bath, in the acidic realm ( tomatoes, fruits, jams, pickles etc..).

But freedom is achieved with pressure cooking. Borrow a darn presto from a neighbour. That's all it is. My pressure cooker is only a slightly oversized one, SLIGHTLY. You can can pints in the regular ones, and can things like chicken when they are in sales, and canned chicken is pure heaven when properly done, more flavourful than the fresh grocery store variety cooked bird itself. The nature of the fats in chickens makes it that the broth is often more flavourful than the grocery piece of...(meat. to be polite).

When you can, the flavor from the broth, thanks to the fats, even when scooped up, gets back into the meat. It is not to say it is like eating a fresh chicken from an organic farm, but it takes bland meat ( and imagine flavourful one) to a new level.

A lot has to be said about preservation. Our ancestors were not idiots.

But they did dy from unknown diseases, and there is a 1 in 10,000 chance of deadly bacteria, botulism being the main one. You want to be that person? 9,999 survived, there was no autopsia in those days, so they offficially died naturally , no diagnostic. Everybody said mom's canned stuff was great though...and for the very vast majority, it was. But what happened when the bacteria was there, albeit a rare occurence.

Its all a numbers game, really,

But I don't like it.

Get a pressure cooker if you permit me to say so, and be free and can WHATEVER YOU WANT,even seafood or your husband LOL. You will really save a lot on your grocery bills. I do canning, freezing and drying. They are ALL worth it.

Michel

[houseodessey]

Those who say to get a canner are right on. Even with my acidic water bath jars, I tend to cringe when eating them, awaiting the illness. I've read that heirlooms are sweeter and not as reliable with old recipes that were safe without canning. I bought a nice used canner on ebay that is wonderful and I eat without fear, too. It is well worth it IMO.

[canadamike]

Robin:

I forgot.

Keep your jars in the coldest place in the house, and AWAY from light, unless they will be eaten within 6 months or so. As I am talking to you, I am in front of apple sauce from last season in my garage, and I did not covered them from the neon in here. These jars, and the peaches, are browning. And it is only 2 flourescent bulbs...

Flavour is great though, but brown stuff is not so sexy...I prefer my wife LOL

[grungy]

Actually drawing on roughly 50 years of being involved with canning, (and although now I use a pressure canner myself), one can can almost anything in a boiling water bath. BUT, it is very important to - remember - cleanliness and sterilization and knowing where you product is coming from.
A lot of the bad rap for boiling water canning started about the same time as people started cutting corners. ie buying produce from strangers (rather than growing your own, so that you know how things were being raised and handled), or "I just wash out this jar and give it a quick rinse in hot water and then turn it upside down on a cloth (for no one knows how long) or I will just give this vegetable a quick rinse under the tap).
I am sure there are going to be people who jump in here and tell me how lucky I am that no one's died of food poisoning, ect. but I will stack up, my 50 years, another 30 for my mother and at least another 25 years for my grandmother without one fatality.
The disadvantage to hot water canning is the amount of time required to process the jars.
ie vegetables in a pint - minimum of 30 minutes at a roiling boil
vegetables in a quart - minimum of 50 minutes at a roiling boil
meat - yes I said meat- pints are 3-4 hours, quarts are 6 hours.
The food in the middle of the jars must reach and hold the boiling point for a minimum of 25 minutes. Use new lids for each season.

Okay I will get off my soap box now and await other comments.
Cheers,
Val aka grungy

[bluelacedredhead]

Michel, Do you not add citric acid crystals (or lemon juice) to your peaches prior to canning?? That would help preserve their blush.

[grungy]

Michel
One of the old timers tricks was to wrap the jars in two or three layers of newspaper to keep them in the dark. Believe it or not it works.
Cheers,
val / grungy

[grungy]

Robin,
Longest storage - cool, dry and above freezing areas. cold room in the basement, a root cellar, or if you don't have deep frosts, just dig a pit in your garden, and cover with a tarp and then straw bales and or mulches of leaves or grass, and then another tarp, to keep the snow off the insulation and so that you can bury down to the goodies.
Cheers,
Val

[robin282]

Great advice. I want going to get a pressure canner. I like the idea of not having to worry so much and that I can can (Ha!) whatever I want. This summer, I hope to can lots of tomatoes & string beans, and some others.
Thanks,
Robin

[robin282]

Anybody know if a mail order that has these for a reasonable price?
Thanks,
Robin

[plantsnobin]

I don't know where you live, but if you don't have a source close to you, you could try www.lehmans.com They are an Amish owned company that carries a lot of non-electric stuff. Not cheap, but most of that stuff will last you a lifetime.