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All About Home Canning, Freezing and Making Jams and Jellies

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posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:08 PM
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I came across this page and figured it would be a good one for adding to your bookmarks. There are TONS of information that is applicable to the newbie as well as to those who are seasoned at food storage.

Dehydration is also addressed.

Enjoy!



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:09 PM
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People may not know this, but this is an ESSENTIAL skill to have in bad situations.

Star and flag sir. This is very good info.



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:15 PM
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LOL this may sound weird but I really love canning! Starting canning taco meat recently, Yum Yum. I have actually been on this site before, your right, all kinds of great information!



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:15 PM
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reply to post by bozzchem
 


Absolutely a necessary skill.

And Bread! Don't forget the bread! Please people, think about the bread! LOL

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Yup, back to basics for me as well.

Good post.



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:16 PM
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reply to post by projectvxn
 


I fully agree!

If one looks at the cost of pre-packaged stored food vs. the cost of storing it themselves, they'll see that they will not only save money but also learn a very valuable skill that they can pass on to their children as well.



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:18 PM
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reply to post by jude11
 


I bookmarked that link the day you posted it!!

Bread is a comfort food and just the smell of fresh baking bread can make someone's mood perk up a bit.

I am often asked to bring a loaf of my Italian herb bread when going to someone's home for dinner.



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:22 PM
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Originally posted by bozzchem
reply to post by jude11
 


I bookmarked that link the day you posted it!!

Bread is a comfort food and just the smell of fresh baking bread can make someone's mood perk up a bit.

I am often asked to bring a loaf of my Italian herb bread when going to someone's home for dinner.



Well, next time you come to my house for dinner I expect you to bring a loaf as well.


And some of that canned meat. Yum!



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:22 PM
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I learned canning and jam making from my Mom. We used to can all summer long; everything and anything. We used to get asparagus from the local growers, sometimes we'd buy other times glean it. We would freeze the tender tops and then we would peel the lower stalk cook it and can quarts of cream of asparagus soup. We ended up with almost no waste.

Every summer I go pick wild fruits and put them up. Drying food is something I'm still trying to learn; I have a great dehydrator but it's total operator error. This site is very helpful thanks.

If anyone has a good recipe for sourdough starter I'd be grateful.



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:28 PM
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Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by bozzchem
reply to post by jude11
 


I bookmarked that link the day you posted it!!

Bread is a comfort food and just the smell of fresh baking bread can make someone's mood perk up a bit.

I am often asked to bring a loaf of my Italian herb bread when going to someone's home for dinner.



Well, next time you come to my house for dinner I expect you to bring a loaf as well.


And some of that canned meat. Yum!


Will do!


I made a chicken/rice dish using canned chicken on my wood stove using cast iron cookware...it was incredibly good. I was somewhat leery about canning meat but am now convinced that it is a great way to store meat for the long haul.



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:30 PM
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Got news for all of you!

After visiting a friend in Virginia and helping her make homemade coleslaw, I decided that I and my family should get into home canning.

Now the capital costs are expensive. You will need jars (about 8 or 9 dollars canadian for 12), water bath canner, pressure canner, 20 litre stainless steel pots (I can't tell you the exact cost because it will depend on how many jars etc but I spent about $4,000 in capital costs)

My family consists of 1 daughter (family of 4), another daughter (family of 4) and my brother (family of 3) and myself. Each family contributes about $1000 / year to cover food costs, lids and consider the cost of energy to cook and process and freeze the food)

Last year, I canned 1700 jars of food including 8 types of homemade soups, spaghetti sauces with meat and veggies, chili with meat and veggies, 12 types of vegetables, and 8 types of fruit (including fruit cocktail). Additionally, I filled 3 freezers with various cuts of meat including 110 lbs of homemade sausages of 5 different types. There are also a few specialty items (jams and pickles)

Each family reports that average monthly grocery bills dropped from
Typical grocery bills decreased from $600 / month to less than $200 / month saving each family about $4500 / year (about $14,000 in savings). This tripled my return on capital investment.

I know what is in all my food. For example: mandarin oranges cost about $3.50 for 4 1/2 cup servings to send in kid's school lunches. A 500 ml jar of mandarin oranges cost $2.50 Commercial mandarin oranges are soaked in lye to remove the pith and therefore have very little actual flavor. My oranges are not soaked in lye and cost $1.30 for the same 500 ml jar.

Potatoes - bought in the fall at harvest for $1.00 / lb and jarred in 1 L jar (enough for 4 servings of 1 cup each). Jarred 400 pounds of potatoes. Cost is about 0.30 per jar. Potatoes can be used to make home fries, mashed or roasted. The texture is completely different from commercial canned potatoes. No potatoes are wasted or go bad.

Time investment was about 12-15 full weekends throughout the year.

Each member of each family is completely involved and everyone works and plays and talks while doing the jarring (family togetherness and bonding is priceless). Everybody has a job and everybody is expected to get it done.

Kids gladly eat food that they helped jar even though it was sometimes difficult to get them to eat their veggies. Cooking time for each family is decreased to about 20 minutes to make a meal (Important for working mothers)

Are in debt? Having financial problems. Learn how to preserve food and you will see what a financial, psychological god-send it all is!

Tired of Control Freaks



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:32 PM
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Thanks Man...Finally a post with some useful information.....S & F



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 12:38 PM
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Originally posted by gallopinghordes
I learned canning and jam making from my Mom. We used to can all summer long; everything and anything. We used to get asparagus from the local growers, sometimes we'd buy other times glean it. We would freeze the tender tops and then we would peel the lower stalk cook it and can quarts of cream of asparagus soup. We ended up with almost no waste.

Every summer I go pick wild fruits and put them up. Drying food is something I'm still trying to learn; I have a great dehydrator but it's total operator error. This site is very helpful thanks.

If anyone has a good recipe for sourdough starter I'd be grateful.


There are a ton of recipes and tips for bread here (My Thread):

www.abovetopsecret.com...

You can also do a search on ATS for Sourdough Starter and get returns.

GL



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 01:37 PM
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For the bread portion of the thread...
www.amazon.com...=mp_s_a_1?qid=1305916418&sr=8-1



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 03:15 PM
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Thanks for sharing!
For extra info and easier priting...here's a PDF on canning...
Canning PDF



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 04:48 PM
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reply to post by bozzchem
 


Relating to home canning, I'll pass along these tidbits the first of which just recently happened in my family. A week ago I passed on to my oldest daughter a large pressure cooker that my mother got for Christmas in 1947. It had been on the shelf, unused, for over thirty years.

She went on line to find a new lid seal and discovered that she should have the pressure gauge checked. The check, done by the County Extention Service, showed that the gauge was faulty and needed to be replaced. So had she attempted to use the old, existing gauge to process her foods, in some way there would have been errors made in in either under or over processing. This can be critical when it comes to canning in glass jars. And of course, in over pressurizing the food either in jars or loose in the cooker could have caused the blow-out plug to pop out and food splattered on the ceiling if not something far worse!

Also, I once had a quart jar of gaspacho (sp?) blow up on me that had been cooked the day before and was left to cool on the kitchen counter. I left the room to unload the clothes dryer and heard a loud pop. The jar had exploded. The contents were fairly well contained, but the glass has shattered in small chunks all around the room. I was lucky to have been elsewhere or I may have been hurt.

Basically, home canning is serious business,very rewarding and makes more sense very day!

Oh! One last thing: I'm sure that on-line sites will insist that you use only a jar manufactured specifically for canning. To be sure, that is best, because they are of a heavier construction. But "in the old days" any jar that accepted a standard collar and lid was fair game. Many an old mayo jar lived again with tomatoes inside!
edit on 20-5-2011 by Aliensun because: Some states, at least Texas and Illinois, have "Country Extension agents" whose job is to help homemakers in such things as canning, etc.

edit on 20-5-2011 by Aliensun because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 05:11 PM
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Here's another site I've used before:

www.goldaskitchen.com...



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 08:24 PM
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reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks
 


You are my hero...I need someone like you to keep in my back pocket. I am still young and have only dabbled in processes like these. Would you mind if I kept you in mind for advice on this??



posted on May, 20 2011 @ 09:27 PM
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reply to post by Vanna
 


Not at all Vanna - its what grandmothers do!

Tired of Control Freaks



posted on May, 21 2011 @ 12:28 AM
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Awesome,a useful survival thread! I plan on getting into this in a few months,as I have someone close by who has experience andcan guide me.
I plan to pick up one of those turkey deep fryers so that I can do this all outside. It's getting pretty warm out, so I don't need the heat in the kitchen and if I mess up, it's better outside than inside.
Since I do lots of hunting as well as gardening, I plan on canning a whole bunch of stew. Not sure what else,maybe some fruits. Oh yeah,and chili too, a whole lot of chili!



posted on May, 21 2011 @ 06:20 AM
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reply to post by xxclaro
 


xxclaro

I thought about using a deep-fried turkey cooker as well but there are drawbacks that you maybe haven't thought of.

1. You need lots of heat for canning and the wind will cool the flame and the pots, thus requiring you to use far more energy than you would inside.

2. If you are canning veggies and fruits, you need to blanch and cool them quickly. To blanch properly, the water must be boiling when you put the product in the water and you must wait until the water boils again to start the timing (anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. When the timer goes off, you must cool the product as quickly as possible, which means you need a handy water supply and lots and lots and lots of it. This step is very very important and you must do it to exact instructions because the quality of your preserves will ultimately depend on it (texture and taste).

3. You need water that HOT to put in the jars and you will need space to rotate the jars quickly once you start filling them. You need HOT jars as well (you can use cold jars in a process called a cold pack but it will affect the quality). A stray breeze of wind may crack your hot jars.

I don't know what set up you have in your yard but if these are things you may wish to consider when planning out your steps.

TIRED OF CONTROL FREAKS



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