M14 Forum

huntinghawk · February 22nd, 2012, 03:11 PM

I'm just stomping at the bit to get started canning. But three weeks before my neighbor gets back from vacation.

Wanting to get something done, I have 10lbs of chicken leg quarters in a pot to cook. Will let the broth sit overnight & remove the fat off the top. Then freeze the broth for when we can.

Once cooked, chicken will be pulled off the bone. Dogs will get the skin & bone less the thin leg bone.

Not sure how much chicken I will end up but intend to weigh the finished product. I figure I would like one half pound of chicken in each one quart jar of stew. Also going to have to look at how much broth I end up with.

For the chicken stew, I want the fat removed which is why I am doing it this way.

I did not add any spices to the boiling chicken. That will be done later.

HH

Baking would be quicker but need to boil the chicken to get that broth.

huntinghawk · February 22nd, 2012, 06:24 PM

Ended up with 3.25lbs of chicken. That should be plenty for seven 1qt jars of chicken stew. I hate commercial canned chicken stew. There's like two little pieces of chicken in the whole can.

HH

huntinghawk · February 23rd, 2012, 06:37 AM

The chicken pieces I will have to cut most of it up into smaller pieces when I make the stew. That will pretty much ensure a piece of chicken in each bite. And each quart jar will end up with just shy of half a pound of chicken.

HH

huntinghawk · February 24th, 2012, 11:58 AM

Not doing good at finding old jars at a reasonable price. So I think next month it will be another trip to Kmart for new Ball canning jars.

HH

huntinghawk · February 24th, 2012, 12:29 PM

At 65 cents per jar for used jars I just wasn't interested. And most were one of the two Made in China brands which I wouldn't use if even were free. And none of the jars had rings either.

HH

Boom Stick · February 24th, 2012, 03:17 PM

I was able to buy cases of regular mouth ball pints for 5 bucks each (new of course) at a local Ace hardware store. you can also put an ad on craigslist.

I love canning and have a 15 quart all american pressure canner that holds 7 quart jars...bought it used on ebay for what I was willing to pay. New ones are pricey as heck but can get a lot of canning done. Most recently I canned chicken stock in my pressure canner..haven't done meat yet but plan on putting up some chicken soon..good thread look forward to reading more

Boom Stick · February 24th, 2012, 03:22 PM

here is a cool link...a little pricey but reuse is key when something cannot be found or made. just heard about these and have been giving them some serious thought.

http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/

huntinghawk · February 24th, 2012, 04:01 PM

Most canners will do 7 quarts or 11 pints. A friend suggested whatever I do in quart jars to do two batches which would be 14 jars. Figuring giving 2 jars away to friends, that leaves one jar per month for a year.

Rational thinking but not initially what I am looking at. I want to can to get ahead with my food stores. But what she said got me to thinking about 12 jars put away & using that as a 12 week supply at one jar per week. Would need to basically come up with 7 basic foods for each day of the week. And that is only looking at one meal per day. But for just one person, should easily be able to get two meals from one quart jar.

As well as the meals, going to have to look at condiments like butter. And I think items like salt, sugar, flour, rice, etc can be dry packed.

Chicken is cheap meat, so two would be chicken stew & another chicken & rice. Something else that appeals to me is canning meatloaf. And another is chili without beans which can be used for sloppy joes, morning sos, etc.

Anyone have anyother ideas?

HH

jmoore · February 24th, 2012, 04:03 PM

Had 157 tomatoes on the vine (on one volunteer plant!) mid November 2011. Had to pick due to a hard freeze warning. So canning saved a lot of waste:

One bowl of slices. There were two more. Plus the "ugly 'maters" that were chopped.

Slices

Relish. This was amazingly good! But I had to hand chop it to attain a good texture. Work, work, work...

Tasty and fun. And a good excuse for some family time. Also made good presents. Still a few left.

Thanks for the thread! Looking forward to the upcoming season even more, now.

BSalty · February 24th, 2012, 04:11 PM

This is a great thread! I grew up on canned foods, and recently to help our food storage along we began canning again.

Here is an excellent source. Just look through the episodes, there are a LOT of them on canning, general food storage info, and ideas on cooking with stored food.

http://byutv.org/show/9e945bac-b08d-...5-bdc28e6d6f03

Also if you have a ROKU you can watch them on there as well. Just ignore the religious stuff if it doesn't interest you.

Boom Stick · February 24th, 2012, 04:24 PM

Nice tomatoes! Tomato relish seems great. what is the recipe and process?? Can put that to use this year. please post

My inlaws (italian) canned 97 quarts of tomato sauce this year that was of their own tomatoes. They have a heavy duty stand up food mill...it's a whole event in the driveway lasts all day. We had flooding right before tomato season so the farms we usually pick at were wiped out. I ended up canning 20 quarts tomato sauce....made about 5 pints of tomato paste....nothing like it.

you can take two spoons of paste mix in 1.5 cups water and literally make sauce with it..just have to really cook it down to make it paste....takes hours and hours in the oven but comes out amazing. It is a staple in our kitchen.

huntinghawk · February 24th, 2012, 04:47 PM

Here's something I have in the back of my mind. Anyone that has had bannock or fry pan bread knows how great it is. When I did alot of camping I would put all the dry ingredients in a plastic bag, enough for one "cake". With the exception of the oil which was kept in a 35mm film canister.
So why couldn't you premix the dry ingredients & dry pack with a vac sealer? Just add water to mix it up. Alittle oil in the fry pan. Plus some extra sugar or honey to add ontop.

HH

jmoore · February 24th, 2012, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boom Stick

...Tomato relish seems great. what is the recipe and process?? Can put that to use this year. please post...

.

A recipe my sister found. I'll try and wrangle it out of her. Might need a reminder if you don't hear back from me directly.

jmoore · February 25th, 2012, 04:36 PM

Well, having "relived" the last canning project of 2011, I just had to partake.

Having been opened, this jar was refrigerated. So a brief warming before consumption to enhance flavor was done.

Note the dried tomato seeds from the plant above. In a week or so, they'll be separated from each other and put in soil filled cups for germination. Easy!

Green tomato relish, some Cajun mustard (on one), and Aidell"s all natural chicken and apple sausages.

Should have the recipe reasonably soon. Sister just needs to copy it and then get it to me. Which may involve some delay. And both of us remembering!

huntinghawk · February 25th, 2012, 07:39 PM

An American made All American canner is top of the line. A 1930s one is just as good as a new one. Handles, gauge, & pressure valve can be replaced. Only thing that will kill one is abuse like dropping & cracking the aluminum & that in itself isn't easy to do.

So I absolutely have no problem with purchasing a used All American rather then a new something else.

One of the things that makes them great is they are made so accurately they don't need a rubber seal.

HH