PREPS PART 15: FOOD PRESERVATION

We have all discussed this here and there but I would like to see a concentrated effort to list all the ways to preserve food, methods used, etc. Recipes too are good.

So far I have seen discussion on canning, dehydration, buckets with nitrogen, dessicants, diatomaceous earth.

Which do you use? Any? All? Why do you like your methods and what have learned in doing it? Anyone had disasters?

OK folks....have at it.

LilRose, may I please add to your question? I would be interested to hear from any medieval re-enactors who have knowledge of methods used then that are not common today, or sources for that information. Thanks to one and all.

LC

I can, freeze, dehydrate, dry can with oxy absorbers in both jars as well as buckets. I like to cover as many bases as possible. I have never been one to put all my eggs in one basket. I expect that each method has it's good points and it's drawbacks.

At the moment, I am canning some small beans that are getting a bit hard. I hate to waste them and we don't use them very quickly, so I am cooking and canning them to extend their usable life. Earlier in the week, I canned 7 quarts of vegetable beef soup so I would have something quick to eat for lunches or in case of emergencies. I looked at the ingredients on all of the soups in the grocery store and there was only pea soup that I could eat. Being allergic to common things is difficult when you go to the grocery store.

We buy dehydrated foods from dealers in #10 cans. Usually things we can't get in our area and are light enough to ship. Things we can get locally, we put up in half gallon jars with oxy absorbers. We have a canner for #10 cans but don't have any more cans. We put up lots of things before rollover and they have come in very handy. We bought things in 55# bags and put them up in the big cans. Added an oxy absorber then sealed them. So far, they have kept very nicely.

We had some stainless steel fountain syrup cans given to us when the bottling companies phased them out. They are great to put beans and things like that in then flush with CO2 through the out tube. I have soup mix that is 8 years old and still in good shape. I take out about a gallon at a time and keep it in pickle jars. Then we flush it with CO2 again to preserve the rest.

The point is that there are many ways to store foods that can be used for different lengths of time. Use whatever method suits your budget and equipment. We have stored in large amounts because we have family that will be coming here if things get bad and I don't want any sad, hungry faces looking back at me. Besides, we each have our own allergies, so it would be very difficult for any of us to live in a shelter. You have to do for yourself because nobody else will. Sometimes nobody else can.

Foods that I have stored has been sent to various kids to tide them through rough patches. Everyone has them and Mom can afford to come through for them when they really need it. I can't remember how many boxes I sent to Alaska when they lived there. The shipping ate my lunch. But the grandkids had food to eat. That's the whole point.

Mushroom

Remember the phrase, "scraping the bottom of the barrel?" Evidently it comes from the pracrtice of preserving pork in it's own fat, by partially cooking the meat and putiing it in crocks and filling the crocks with lard. The meat will keep for quite some time that way. I copy/pasted this from another site.

"Meat potting is preserving meat in it's own grease in a large crock pot.
This is how we did it. Early in the morning Dad killed a pig and started
cutting it up. He gave the pieces to Mom who had the wood stove in the
kitchen hot and ready to cook. She started frying the pork and prepared the
10 gallon crock pot. This pot was about 18 inches in diameter and 24 inches
deep. Mother washed it, and got it just as clean as she could get it. As the
pork fried, it gave off lots of grease. She took some of this very hot grease
and poured it into the bottom of the crock, sealing and sterilizing the
bottom. Then she put the meat she had just finished cooking down onto this
grease.

As she continued to cook throughout the day she added the well fried meat and
covered it with the hot fat that came from the cooking process. By the
evening the pig was all fried up and in the pot, covered over with a nice
layer of lard that had hardened. As the days passed by, we dug down into the
lard to where the meat was, pulled out what we needed, and put it in the
frying pan. We cooked it good a second time to kill any bacteria that could
have possibly gotten into it. Doing this not only sterilized the meat for
eating, but melted off all the excess fat. The meat was taken out of the pan
and the fat was poured back into the pot to seal up the hole we had just made
getting the meat out." -Gordon Schaufertre. copyright © Al Durtschi

Could add vacumn packing, waxed hard cheese, pickling/smoking meat.

None of these are very difficult and use common equipment. Some require special ingredients. Very time consuming, esp. making cheese, but they could get you through the winter.

When I think about food preservation, I like to think about what people did before refrigeration. Curing, drying and smoking all come to mind. Italians were pretty good at this, think salami, proscuitto and panchetta. These arent really all that hard, just take time. Really it depends on what you want to preserve and what you have to preserve it with.

This is a pretty good page on how to make salami and this is a very informative page on curing and smoking.

LilRose, we use all methods, but a person could go on forever about these great ideas. Since I've probably hijacked most of these, and there's SO much, I've posted a lot of links and tried to limit my running commentary.

A collection of how to's. Probably a hundred of them. Various ones are how to: make vinegar, preserve beef, cure hams, pickle hams, birds roasted in feathers (ugh), also canned peaches, grapes, raspberries, fruit juices, boiled cider, and a lot more.
http://www.recipe-for.com/how-to/index.htm


Here's a "winner" that will last forever. Probably would also take forever to eat, and unless things were real bad, you probably wouldn't want to, but, never can tell. The day might come when we're real thankful for it, so I included it. Would probably be a good teething biscuit for young ones. Add some bouillon and it could be a dog biscuit. And, there's always hockey pucks.
I think this is kinda the idea of the "Pilot Crackers." But, for what it's worth:

Hard Tack
Ingredients:
5 cups flour
1 cup water
1 tbs salt

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Knead dough and roll out till it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into 3x3 squares, and poke a 3x3 series of holes in the center, evenly spaced. Bake in preheated oven, 425 degrees
until dry and lightly golden brown.

Salting, Pickling
Salting, especially of meat, is an ancient preservation technique. The salt draws out moisture and creates an environment inhospitable to bacteria. If salted in cold weather (so that the meat does not spoil while the salt has time to take effect), salted meat can last for years.

The following passage from John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" describes the process briefly:

Noah carried the slabs of meat into the kitchen and cut it into small salting blocks, and Ma patted the course salt in, laid it piece by piece in the kegs, careful that no two pieces touched each other. She laid the slabs like bricks, and pounded salt in the spaces.

This technique creates a keg (a wooden barrel) full of salt and meat. This technique is ancient. You can read about its use during the sailing voyages around the time of Columbus. Many accounts of the Revolutionary War and especially the Civil War talk about meat preserved in this way. Salting was used to preserve meat up through the middle of this century, and was eventually replaced by refrigeration and freezing.

Today, salting is still used to create salt-cured "country ham" found widely in the southern United States, dried beef (which you can buy in jars at most grocery stores), and corned beef and pastrami, which are made by soaking beef in a 10-percent salt water brine for several weeks.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/food-preservation5.htm

Article about a spring house, a building built over a spring to keep foods cool:
http://waltonfeed.com/old/springhs.html

This is a comprehensive article on drying. Different methods including sun drying, oven drying, pretreatments, and packaging.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1975_July_August/We_Preserve_Foods_The_Natural_Way

The following links deal with canning and hope LilRose will take it as a hint to share her joy with her new canner and tell us what size she chose and help those of us who are have drooled over them for a long time, now have decided to get one, and can't decide which size to get. Ahh, a joyful dilemna. Shine some light on it for us, o.k., LilRose?

This article tells about preserving produce without refrigeration. Tells how to store and offers a chart with the storable time for each product. Covers home canning, root cellars, even how to make a root cellar.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/libr...How_To_Preserve_Produce_Without_Refrigeration

Canning meat. Roast, steaks, chops, bird, and squirrel. A how-to from the Ball Blue Book.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1983_September_October/Canning_Meat_the_Right_Way

From choosing jars to different types of canning, this article is just what it says. ABC's of canning:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1992_August_September/The_ABC_s_of_Canning

HomeCanned Milk tells how to do it.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1984_May_June/Home_Canned_Milk

I noticed that Cardinal has a great post on potted meat, but I already had this link on here, so I'll just leave it.

Potting Meat, which amounts to burying it in lard or grease. I've tried this with sausage, pork chops, and roast. Kept in a cool room and it worked fine. But we cheated. Just in case........we took a couple Tablespoons of vinegar beforehand. It will help prevent or lessen the symptoms of food poisoning.
http://www.logicsouth.com/~lcoble/dir9/potmeat.txt

Food on the Frontier is an interesting article. Will make most of us feel real good about what we have. Click next at the bottom of the page to go to the next page. There are 3 pages.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/frontierlife/essay6.html

There. Wasn't that good? Kinda limited the chatter.

http://www.waltonfeed.com/self/upack/dryice.html

This page is from the Walton Feed website.

I have never really thought of dry ice before but this does make sense. Has anyone used this method?

Roxann said:

http://www.waltonfeed.com/self/upack/dryice.html

This page is from the Walton Feed website.

I have never really thought of dry ice before but this does make sense. Has anyone used this method?

Click to expand...

Now whatchew want that dry ice for? Didn't you just get your canner? I was thinking you posted that you ordered one. If so, would you post what size or model you got, and the reasoning behind it?

I want to order one, and for most purposes, I wouldn't need the large one. When garden harvest comes in, though, it's a different story. If power were to fail, I'd want a large one to process freezer things quickly. But, I'm wondering, in the larger one, if the canner weren't full, would the jars tips, rattle into one another and break. If you or anyone else has any input, I'd like to hear it.

I've used a 16 qt. model that holds 7 quart jars (or nine pints, I think) for about thiry years. Man, that sounded awful! Anyway, it has served me well. That's a lot of food. Of course, there were times I had to process back-to-back-to-back batches. But there is only two of us now, so I don't have to do that so much anymore. One of those huge monsters that I saw that stacks 7 quarts on top of 7 quarts would be the bomb.

Would the jars tip over? No, they shouldn't unless your heat is too high. Which is something to avoid. That pressure relief valve hitting the ceiling, while exciting, is not a pretty picture

Actually, I never process less than a full canner. Just fill clean, empty jars with water and process right along with the food. You will have sterilized water on hand, or a really clean jar, whichever you need first.

Warning!! Canning can be addictive. I've been doing it a lot longer than I've admitted. It is my hobby/obsession. If it can be shoved into a jar somehow, I've tried it. At least once anyway. Have fun!!

I love to can and have a nice pressure cooker, which I lost the weight thingy for. I also use my dehydrator for jerky.

I bought a vacuum sealer for my meats that I get larger quantites of, this seems to work well for these things.

I really want to put my canner back into sewrvice and make better use of my dehydrator this year.

splicerswife said:

Now whatchew want that dry ice for? Didn't you just get your canner? I was thinking you posted that you ordered one. If so, would you post what size or model you got, and the reasoning behind it?

I want to order one, and for most purposes, I wouldn't need the large one. When garden harvest comes in, though, it's a different story. If power were to fail, I'd want a large one to process freezer things quickly. But, I'm wondering, in the larger one, if the canner weren't full, would the jars tips, rattle into one another and break. If you or anyone else has any input, I'd like to hear it.

Click to expand...

Hi Mrs Splicer,
I did just purchase my canner. It is an American Harvester #915. I would say
it is medium in size but it is heavy. I used the company that Lilrose put up as a
thread . It was the cheapest price and yes, I did visit other Internet sites.

In terms of dry ice, if I am reading the page correctly from Walons, the dry ice
turns into a gas and is used as a means of safely sealing foods in five gallon containers .

I really am interested in various ways of preserving food. Lehmans has a
canner which is used by the Amish. They can by burning wood. This
would be excellent if the grid was done for a prolonged period of time.
However, it is almost $500

Rox

SwampMom said:

I've used a 16 qt. model that holds 7 quart jars (or nine pints, I think) for about thiry years. Man, that sounded awful! Anyway, it has served me well. That's a lot of food. Of course, there were times I had to process back-to-back-to-back batches. But there is only two of us now, so I don't have to do that so much anymore. One of those huge monsters that I saw that stacks 7 quarts on top of 7 quarts would be the bomb.

Would the jars tip over? No, they shouldn't unless your heat is too high. Which is something to avoid. That pressure relief valve hitting the ceiling, while exciting, is not a pretty picture

Actually, I never process less than a full canner. Just fill clean, empty jars with water and process right along with the food. You will have sterilized water on hand, or a really clean jar, whichever you need first.

Warning!! Canning can be addictive. I've been doing it a lot longer than I've admitted. It is my hobby/obsession. If it can be shoved into a jar somehow, I've tried it. At least once anyway. Have fun!!

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot SwampMom. I know what you mean about canning. I too, am addicted. I don't know what the canner I now have is supposed to hold, but it doesn't hold what it's supposed to. I can only get 5 qt. in it, and since I don't double stack, it only holds 7 pints.

I sure appreciate your input and I think I'm going with the larger one. I know I want it larger than the one I have, and was debating how much larger. You've helped me decide. Thanks a bunch!

Is it possible to can eggs?

Hi Y'all!

I am writing from my hotel room in Los Angeles. Flew down this morning to go to the jewelry district. My darling future son in law asked me to come here and get a fabulous diamond for my daughter. The prices are about 1/2 or less here than in a jewelers anywhere else so here I am , doing the dance of joy! We went to about 10 jewelers looking for the perfect stone and finally found it! 1 carat flawless of the most perfect clarity and color. And for less $$ than my son in law sent me. Pear shaped. All the ladies can oooh and ahhh...gents sorry for hijacking the thread.
I will be sending the stone off on Monday overnite and he will have it in time to have it set and pop the question on her birthday next weekend! WWOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!
And for my diligent efforts my dear husband let me buy MYSELF a GORGEOUS diamond band.....I am breathless everytime I look at it. WOW! I must have been a good girl!

OK back to the real reason I am writing. I did purchase an All American canner.....Roxanne got hers but mine hadn't come by yesterday...hoping it is on the doorstep waiting for me tomorrow. I got the 15 quart, same as Roxann and I can't wait to play with it.
I also got one of the fun vacuum sealer pump thingys that Christian For Isreal was writing about. Need jars though.......I put an ad on Freecycle for jars with lids, got lots of responses but had to fly here so couldn't pick them up.
OK folks, I am heading for the free happy hour and then having room service since hubby is sleeping..poor baby got home from work at 4am and we left for the airport right after that and have been on the go ever since. We have a suite so I can play on the puter or watch TV and not bother him. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself!
talk to you later if happy hour wasn't too damaging!
Lil

Back in some old threads there are directions for saving eggs. Some rubbed lard or vaseline on them but can't remember for sure so best check the old board.

Also there is always pickled hard boiled eggs.

If TSHTF I am not sure we would have the ability to can food. Depends on how far back we go.

Drying foods and saving them the way the American Indian did is a good way to plan. Those who live in areas where salt is available salting would be good. Meat and veggies can be salted. Don't have the directions but I believe recently someone told how to do leather jackets (dried green beans). My grandmother did them that way and until her old age my mother remembered eating them and wanted some.

dried green beans.....'leather breeches' is what the Appalations (sp) used to call them, dried on string. I have the recipe in an old Firefox...I can post it when I get back home.

I am still using the same Mirro 16 qt canner that I bought 35 years ago. I have changed the gasket once in that time. I canned for a family of 5 and always found the 7 quarts and 9 pints plenty. I used to make up extra large batches of stew, soup, chili, or whatever and can a couple of quarts to have on the shelf. I found that even canning only one or two jars in that size canner never posed a problem. You just balance it well on the wire rack inside and it should cause no problem. I even waterbath in my canner by just adding more water than the normal 2" and let it steam heavily for the prescribed time. I only do this when I hot pack, however. If I coldpack and process with the pressure canner, I put the pressure on 5# and process as usual. If I only have a couple of jars to waterbath, I put a potholder in the bottom of a tall narrow stockpot (I have a 6 qt one) and waterbath as usual. That is very handy when you only have a little coming off the garden at a time. I usually do it with my figs. They ripen about 3 pints a day over about 3 weeks. It saves water and electricity by not having to heat a big canner.

Mushroom

Mushroom said:

I am still using the same Mirro 16 qt canner that I bought 35 years ago. I have changed the gasket once in that time. I canned for a family of 5 and always found the 7 quarts and 9 pints plenty. I used to make up extra large batches of stew, soup, chili, or whatever and can a couple of quarts to have on the shelf. I found that even canning only one or two jars in that size canner never posed a problem. You just balance it well on the wire rack inside and it should cause no problem. I even waterbath in my canner by just adding more water than the normal 2" and let it steam heavily for the prescribed time. I only do this when I hot pack, however. If I coldpack and process with the pressure canner, I put the pressure on 5# and process as usual. If I only have a couple of jars to waterbath, I put a potholder in the bottom of a tall narrow stockpot (I have a 6 qt one) and waterbath as usual. That is very handy when you only have a little coming off the garden at a time. I usually do it with my figs. They ripen about 3 pints a day over about 3 weeks. It saves water and electricity by not having to heat a big canner.

Mushroom

Click to expand...

Hey Mushroom, you say that you can chili and stew.

Are you saying that you can effectively can this with meats? I would like to put up some spaghetti sauce and thought that I would have to can it without the meats and add them later.

Meats added or not?

Jerry

Splicerswife where are you?

refrigeration without electricity is another possibility. i have posted several times about the icyball non electric refrigerator you can build yourself: http://www.ggw.org/~cac/IcyBall/crosley_icyball.html

and if you prefer conventional style units, there's electric/propane/kerosene refrigerators as well. converting one of these to burn wood or coal is also possible, as well as using alcohol or veggie oil, so renewable fuel will work.


Propane and Natural Gas models can be operated on AC electricity if desired, but are not energy efficient operated in this fashion (using almost 4000 watt-hours per day). Choose almond or white exterior finish with designer beveled edges.

LP gas consumption is approximately 8 gallons per month.
Gas use approximately 6.6 to 9.5 lb. per week.
Maximum burner output 1500 BTU.

Dimensions are :

63 1/2" high
23" wide
26 1/2" deep

Internal capacity is 5.3 Cubic Feet for the refrigerator section and 2.7 Cubic Feet for the freezer unit.

The Servel Kerosene model has the same appearance except 7 inches higher to allow space for a 2.5 gallon fuel tank and brass burner.
Specifications:
Total capacity: 8.0 cu. ft.*
Shelf space: 11.55 sq. ft.
Freezer cap: 1.6 cu. ft.
Freezer shelves: 3.78 sq. ft.
Dimensions: 70 1/2"H x 23"W x 26 1/2"D
Fuel use: 1.5 to 1.75 gal/wk
Max burner output: 2200 Btu
Weight: 230 lb

Clearances required from combustible surfaces:
Top: 16"
Side: none required
Rear: none required
Bottom: none required

*AGA-approved figure gives the actual amount of usable food storage space. Because electric refrigerators are permitted to overstate capacity" it is comparable to a 10 cubic foot electric refrigerator.


Optional Parts Kit Includes:
2 chimneys
12 wicks
1 raiser
1 flame spreader
1 wick cleaner

Now that you mention it I think she did call them that "leather breeches". She was from the North GA mountains so that is probably correct term. She said they were dried on a string. I do remember that. I don't however know if they were pretreated or pre cooked any or not though. She died in 1998 so can't ask her.

Hi, I'm new here and was wondering if there is a place where Prep threads are kept, this is Prep Part 15, where is 1-14? or are they just scattered?

Shenandoah

Jmurman said:

Hey Mushroom, you say that you can chili and stew.

Are you saying that you can effectively can this with meats? I would like to put up some spaghetti sauce and thought that I would have to can it without the meats and add them later.

Meats added or not?

Jerry

Click to expand...

Jerry, Meats can be pressure canned. When I can leftovers, I always use the time for the ingredient that requires the longest time. Meat usually requires 1 hour 30 minutes give or take. If you are canning spaghetti sauce, check out your canning book for the timing. It isn't hard just pay attention to the details and don't just take someone's word for timing. Check it out in a recent canning book. I use the Ball Blue Book. Messing around with your family's health is not cool. Do it right the first time.

Mushroom

I have a garden and fruit trees, and dry and can the produce. I have also canned meat with no problems. Before Y2K, I canned a LOT of meat. Mushroom is right, Jerry... just follow the directions in the canning book - you dont want to risk your family's health.

With several canners and thousands of jars and lids, I am all set for canning. Even though I dry the fruits and veggies inside, the weather is dry enough here that I could dry outside, if I needed to.

Years ago, an elderly neighbor was gathering squash and okra from his garden to bring to me. He told another neighbor that he had to keep bringing vegetables for me to can, because he was afraid I just might start pulling up fence posts and trying to stuff them in canning jars, if I ever ran out of vegetables.

That was one the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.

Shenandoah47 said:

Hi, I'm new here and was wondering if there is a place where Prep threads are kept, this is Prep Part 15, where is 1-14? or are they just scattered?

Shenandoah

Click to expand...

Hi! If you will go back and check the pages for the last two weeks, you will find
the Prep threads that you asked about. All of these prep threads have been started by LiRose. She has done a fantastic job. Also please visit the Homesteading forum. I hope this helps.

Rox (also a newbie)

Thanks Rox, will do!

Shenandoah

How to Can Cheese

Hello, All,

I just found this question/answer article on the Back Woods Home Magazine site, regarding canning cheese. According to “Jackie”, it is doable. I wonder if it would be safer to “pressure” can it?

Noelle

http://www.backwoodshome.com/advice/aj92.html

For Education and Discussion Purposes. Fair Use Applies.

[the question regarding canning cheese]:

>>Canning cheese
I read somewhere about you canning cheese. Now I can’t find out how. Can you tell me where to look or better yet, how to do it?
Cathy Adams
Camden, OH<<


[the response to the question]:

>>You won’t find this one in a canning manual, but I experimented around and found something that works for me. One day I was canning tomatoes while whacking a chunk of cheddar cheese for “lunch.” Mmmm, I wondered. Tomatoes are acid. Cheese is acid. So I cut up cubes of cheese, sitting a wide-mouthed pint jar in a pan of water, on the wood stove. Slowly cubes of cheese melted and I added more until the jar was full to within half an inch of the top. Then I put a hot, previously boiled lid on the jar, screwed down the ring firmly tight and added the cheese to a batch of jars in the boiling water bath canner to process. It sealed on removal, right along with the jars of tomatoes. Two years later, I opened it and it was great. Perhaps a little sharper than before, but great. So I started canning cheese of all types (but not soft cheeses) and, so far, they’ve all been successful. To take the cheeses out of the jar, dip the jar in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes, then take a knife and go around the jar, gently prying the cheese out. Store it in a plastic zip lock bag.
— Jackie<<

Roxann said:

Hi Mrs Splicer,
I did just purchase my canner. It is an American Harvester #915. I would say
it is medium in size but it is heavy. I used the company that Lilrose put up as a
thread . It was the cheapest price and yes, I did visit other Internet sites.

In terms of dry ice, if I am reading the page correctly from Walons, the dry ice
turns into a gas and is used as a means of safely sealing foods in five gallon containers .

I really am interested in various ways of preserving food. Lehmans has a
canner which is used by the Amish. They can by burning wood. This
would be excellent if the grid was done for a prolonged period of time.
However, it is almost $500

Rox

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I got the All American #930. Couldn't decide and SwampMom's post helped me make up my mind. I was going back and forth between 3 models.
And ohhhh, yes, I've see the canner from Lehman's that you're talking about. That critter is totally amazing. They also have one that's even bigger for around 800. I'm thinking. Hey, maybe the business of the future. Canning for others. I'll be the mouth. "Come one, come all, bring summer produce and eat this fall." You can do the work. Wouldn't we be a great team?

Vere My Sone said:

Is it possible to can eggs?

Click to expand...

You got a death wish? You want to be obliterated among shattered glass and bits of flying yolk? You want your canner crusted with that stuff for your survivors to clean up the mess?

Gee, I don't know. It's a good question. If we don't hear from you for a while, we'll know you tried it.

LilRose said:

Hi Y'all!

I am writing from my hotel room in Los Angeles. Flew down this morning to go to the jewelry district. My darling future son in law asked me to come here and get a fabulous diamond for my daughter. The prices are about 1/2 or less here than in a jewelers anywhere else so here I am , doing the dance of joy! We went to about 10 jewelers looking for the perfect stone and finally found it! 1 carat flawless of the most perfect clarity and color. And for less $$ than my son in law sent me. Pear shaped. All the ladies can oooh and ahhh...gents sorry for hijacking the thread.
I will be sending the stone off on Monday overnite and he will have it in time to have it set and pop the question on her birthday next weekend! WWOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!
And for my diligent efforts my dear husband let me buy MYSELF a GORGEOUS diamond band.....I am breathless everytime I look at it. WOW! I must have been a good girl!

OK back to the real reason I am writing. I did purchase an All American canner.....Roxanne got hers but mine hadn't come by yesterday...hoping it is on the doorstep waiting for me tomorrow. I got the 15 quart, same as Roxann and I can't wait to play with it.
I also got one of the fun vacuum sealer pump thingys that Christian For Isreal was writing about. Need jars though.......I put an ad on Freecycle for jars with lids, got lots of responses but had to fly here so couldn't pick them up.
OK folks, I am heading for the free happy hour and then having room service since hubby is sleeping..poor baby got home from work at 4am and we left for the airport right after that and have been on the go ever since. We have a suite so I can play on the puter or watch TV and not bother him. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself!
talk to you later if happy hour wasn't too damaging!
Lil

Click to expand...

Oooooh how exciting! It sounds like a puuurfect weekend. A diamond band, did you say? A DIAMOOND BAND? You know how many preps that would buy?
I read your post on barter items too. Leaves little imagination as to what's on your mind this weekend. Go back to your post and look near the top for items you suggested. Your daughter is going to be a very happy woman and you must be thrilled that you were trusted with such a big part of making it happen. That is something really special.

Thanks for the canner info. I ordered the 930 model. Hope it's not so tall I'll have to climb up a stool to set the jars in it.

Mushroom said:

I am still using the same Mirro 16 qt canner that I bought 35 years ago. I have changed the gasket once in that time. I canned for a family of 5 and always found the 7 quarts and 9 pints plenty. I used to make up extra large batches of stew, soup, chili, or whatever and can a couple of quarts to have on the shelf. I found that even canning only one or two jars in that size canner never posed a problem. You just balance it well on the wire rack inside and it should cause no problem. I even waterbath in my canner by just adding more water than the normal 2" and let it steam heavily for the prescribed time. I only do this when I hot pack, however. If I coldpack and process with the pressure canner, I put the pressure on 5# and process as usual. If I only have a couple of jars to waterbath, I put a potholder in the bottom of a tall narrow stockpot (I have a 6 qt one) and waterbath as usual. That is very handy when you only have a little coming off the garden at a time. I usually do it with my figs. They ripen about 3 pints a day over about 3 weeks. It saves water and electricity by not having to heat a big canner.

Mushroom

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Mushroom, thanks for your input. I placed my order before I read your post, but enjoyed very much reading it. It's great that you have a canner that lasts that long. That's one of the biggies for me too. You just want something you can depen on for a generation or two. If the new one works out well, it'll probably be the main veggie season one, and the smaller one for the soups and meal "leftovers"
You make me drool with canning figs. Ooooh. My grandma used to can them, but in Ohio, they're not grown and nearly impossible to find. Thanks again.

LilRose said:

Splicerswife where are you?

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Well, goodness LilRose, I'm right here. Just caught me in my 24 hrs. down. See, out of 7 days, I take one and put the clutter of my mind on the shelf and open my mind to divine inspiration and intervention. It seldom appears, but I keep trying.

But, I saw an almost metallic moon last night. It was so big, so bright, so beautiful, and whispered that this morning was going to be beautiful. And it was. It started out with a bright sunshine and I hadn't read or heard the weather report, so I had to go out and "feel" the weather report.

As I was noticing the swollen iris tips, and the deep green of some trees that matched the green of the grass, and the contrasting lime green of the nearby trees accented against a blue sky with cottony white clouds, and thinking how it used to be blue more than it is now, I started wondering if it really was that deep blue and I'd failed to notice.

Nah, great lakes gloom. I hadn't failed to notice. As my thoughts traveled to things that are in front of us every day, but we fail to notice, I smelled it coming. Moisture. I wouldn't have to check the weather. It was obvious.

But, as I began pondering how far behind the garden was as compared to past years, and calculating required growing times, and wondering if the farmers were going to have a bad year, the Great Lakes gloom changed from dreary gray to dark gray, and a few sprinkles turned into a gentle, warm shower. And I looked around and gave thanks, for the beauty, for the gloom, for the sun, for the rain, for the ..............oh geez. O.k. I was a slacker LilRose. But I was a good slacker.

Jmurman said:

I love to can and have a nice pressure cooker, which I lost the weight thingy for. I also use my dehydrator for jerky.

I bought a vacuum sealer for my meats that I get larger quantites of, this seems to work well for these things.

I really want to put my canner back into sewrvice and make better use of my dehydrator this year.

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I hope you get your canner part. It's so neat preserving food, isn't it? And the dehydrating. I just LOVE dehydrating. If you mention jeky though, do it in a whisper, DH and DS will come raid your cupboard. Impossible to keep them out of it.

Dont forget making and canning pestos. You can pesto many herbs and that alone will last quite a while, but if you can them......

LilRose said:

dried green beans.....'leather breeches' is what the Appalations (sp) used to call them, dried on string. I have the recipe in an old Firefox...I can post it when I get back home.

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Is this what you're looking for?:

String very full beans as you would for cooking, but do not break them.
Thread beans on twine, using just enough beans on each string for one or
two meals. Then drop them into a brine of ½ cup coarse salt and one gallon
of water for 15 minutes. Drain on newspaper. The brine will keep bugs
away from your beans. Hang the strings of beans on wire or rope in a dry
place for at least three weeks. Make sure they are completely dry or they
will mold.

Prior to cooking the dried beans, pour lots of boiling water over the beans
and soak overnight. In the morning, wash the beans well and cover with
water in a pan. Cook for 2 hours; then add salt, lard or bacon grease, and
pepper. Finish cooking about 2 hours more, adding water as needed.

Source: "Mountain Measures" -- Junior League of Charleston, WV
ed. 1974

Or, for the Indian version of leather britches:

Pick the green beans when young and tender and string them on a heavy
thread, like long strings of beads, one after the other. Hang the
strings of beans in a sunny pplace to dry. It may take as long as a
month for the beans to be thoroughly dry. When dry, store in baskets
for winter use. To use Leather Brithces beans: wash the beans well
and soak 2 cups dried beans in 2 cups of water for an hour or so. Now
add 1/4 lb. slab ppork, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce
heat. Stir, then simmer very gently for about 3 hours or until beans
are tender. Add boiling water if needed to keep beans from burning.
Serve hot as a vegetable dish. Good with Indian corn bread.

Source: "Indian Cookin'", compiled by Herb Walker, 1977

splicerswife said:

Oooooh how exciting! It sounds like a puuurfect weekend. A diamond band, did you say? A DIAMOOND BAND? You know how many preps that would buy?
I read your post on barter items too. Leaves little imagination as to what's on your mind this weekend. Go back to your post and look near the top for items you suggested.

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HEHEHEHE oooooh Splicerswife..........you are so naughty....and I TOLD you I had been good! BARHAHRHAHRHAHRHHAHHHAAAAAAAAAAA


You know, I actually did a very quick calculation in my brain over the diamond band vs the preps thing but the evil lil red devil on my shoulder was screaming DIAMONDS so loudly that I just couldn't hear the preps angel ......sigh............hey if push comes to shove it would be a hell of a barter item LOL.
All the way home on the plane I kept letting it twinkle and make rainbows in the sunlight.......I am smitten....somebody loves me.

LilRose said:

HEHEHEHE oooooh Splicerswife..........you are so naughty....and I TOLD you I had been good! BARHAHRHAHRHAHRHHAHHHAAAAAAAAAAA


You know, I actually did a very quick calculation in my brain over the diamond band vs the preps thing but the evil lil red devil on my shoulder was screaming DIAMONDS so loudly that I just couldn't hear the preps angel ......sigh............hey if push comes to shove it would be a hell of a barter item LOL.
All the way home on the plane I kept letting it twinkle and make rainbows in the sunlight.......I am smitten....somebody loves me.

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That is sweet. Very, very sweet and I'm truly happy for you LilRose, and I don't know of any preps that will give you happy memories. But I just have to hassle you.

Heck, I was being REAL good, too. When you wrote about being in your room, did I ask you if you'd checked for an excape route? Did I tell you to look for little holes in the shower that someone could be peering through? Did I tell you the survival rates of anyone above the 4th floor? Did I even ask if you if you were near ground floor? Did I tell you how high the fire ladders can reach? Did I ask if you were drinking bottled water or water from the faucet? Did I ask if the buffet had a sneeze bar low enough that tiny little people couldn't reach sticky, germy hands into the cottage cheese? No, I didn't even ask if you had a leatherman or a multitool in your purse. But I sure wanted to.

splicerswife said:

Thanks for the info! I got the All American #930. Couldn't decide and SwampMom's post helped me make up my mind. I was going back and forth between 3 models.
And ohhhh, yes, I've see the canner from Lehman's that you're talking about. That critter is totally amazing. They also have one that's even bigger for around 800. I'm thinking. Hey, maybe the business of the future. Canning for others. I'll be the mouth. "Come one, come all, bring summer produce and eat this fall." You can do the work. Wouldn't we be a great team?

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Well if I had $400+that I did not know what to do with we could go into business. I am having rotten luck at the moment finding canning jars at garage sales. Selling canning jars might be another means of making a living. However, I think that Blueberry might have the market covered. She has so many that she is not sure of the number.

Seriously, I am glad that you got the canner!