I'm No Longer Afraid of Home-canned Chicken

I'm no longer afraid of home-canned chicken.

I spent a good part of the day on my feet, in the kitchen, "putting things up", to use that quaint old expression, and now I get my reward (the one I get today, anyway)-- I get to write about it.

I set a goal earlier this year, and I've been steadily working toward it. And up til this week, we'd gathered several quart jars of dried carrots, a quart or so of dried celery (very glad for my new dehydrator!!), 36 pounds of pasta, some powdered eggs, and a few other assorted items. I now own a new dehydrator, and have begun using my trusty old FoodSaver in a new way.

A new All American pressure canner (the one that doesn't need a gasket) arrived on Monday -- and I have not been able to leave it alone since I hefted it out of the box. When I ordered it, I knew it would be invaluable for putting together food storage for the future. But I had no idea what a blessing it would turn out to be for now!!

Learning to work with this (rather substantial, in every way) new piece of equipment was a good challenge, though not an insurmountable one. I kept wishing I had my grandmother at my elbow, to guide and reassure (or my mother, although I don't think she ever got into pressure canning -- pomegranate jelly was more her style)... But Grandma's gone (so is Mom), so I make do. There are many information resources (books, the web (although some should be taken with a grain of salt), the manual that came with the canner), but there is absolutely no substitute for experience. Happily, I've begun to gain a bit of that.

I've begun to learn what things can be canned, and how best to can them (raw pack, hot?). The coolest thing I've learned, so far, is that I can raw pack meat into pint jars (just the right size for my family), can it, and put it on the pantry shelf. And when I come home from work, too tired to cook, it will be there, waiting for me to toss it into a salad, or throw it into a quick sauce, or slice it for sandwiches...

And I'm no longer afraid of home-canned chicken. Because I've canned it myself, and now I understand the process. And I know that it was kept at the appropriate pressure, for the required length of time, and that it continued to boil in the jars, sitting on the counter, for a good half-hour after they came out of the canner.

The sloppy joes turned out great, although I'm not sure they had enough liquid in them. I substituted powdered carrots for the sugar (which doesn't work for me), and I think it made the mixture too thick, once it cooked (in the jars, in the canner). I'm waiting to hear back from the Cooperative Extension as to whether I should keep them, or toss the contents & reuse the jars for something else. Either way, we got at least one meal for my effort, and it was a good thing to try for my first adventure. (4/9/09 Ended up tossing the sloppy joes -- may have been ok, but better safe than sorry...)

The corned beef came out beautiful -- tender, and full of flavor -- although the jars had less liquid in them when they came out of the canner than when they went in. Assuming it's just because I overpacked them (which I'm pretty sure I did), they should be fine to eat. In fact, I don't think I'll ever cook corned beef any other way from now on -- this even beats the crockpot!!

Today, I canned two batches of beans: One plain (black beans), and the other (pinto) sweetened, on the order of three-bean salad. I was surprised when I opened the jar -- the beans are a lovely mahogany color. They could be a bit softer, though -- next time I'll make sure they boil a little harder (they should be boiled for 30 minutes before canning, but I barely kept them at a simmer).

Finally, as the local grocery store is featuring boneless, skinless chicken breasts at a great price, I picked some up. Cut them up (raw) to fit the jars, threw in a little salt, and tossed them into the canner.

So, after carefully canning this chicken, and watching it boil in the jars for a good half hour after I took it out of the canner, I'm no longer afraid of home canned chicken! Read more!

A Pleasant (and Corny) Surprise; Life Under Pressure

Canned my second batch of meat today -- happened to be corned beef, which I picked up at a great price the other day. Wasn't sure how it would can -- you have to simmer it for an hour before you can it (75 minutes at 10# pressure, for pints). Thought it might be overcooked. But, what a lovely surprise to open a jar and find the tenderest, most flavorful corned beef imaginable!! Even better than if I'd cooked it in the crockpot!! DH liked it as much as I did, so I'm hoping to pick up a little more to can.

This pressure canner has opened up a whole new world!! Next I'm going to can some beans -- some plain (black beans) and some pickled (pintos, like 3-bean salad). I read somewhere on the web that a little acid (vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda) in the soaking water will make them more digestible, so I'm planning to try that. I'm hoping that by eating a few of the pickled beans often on our salads, our systems might get more accustomed to them... Especially important, as we lean toward being veg, and a good part of our food storage features legumes in one form or another.

Spent part of the day vaccuum packing things in jars. I have a FoodSaver, and the cannister set that goes with it. But I'm not using the cannisters to store food -- I'm using them to vaccuum seal jars with food in them. Works great!! There are 3 sizes of cannisters in the set, and I used all three sizes to seal various recycled jars (many sizes and shapes) as well as standard canning jars (from 1/4 pint to quart). I packed raisins, chocolate chips, dehydrated carrots & celery, even powdered eggs. I also packed some chile verde sauce that I decanted from a #10 can (bought it for canning pork). That had to go back into the fridge, of course. Then I packed a cube of butter into a 1/2 pint canning jar and vaccuum sealed it. Now it can stay out on the counter -- very nice to have soft butter ready at any moment, and also to save the space in the fridge. But this means I have to leave the FoodSaver on the counter, so I can reseal it after I use it. Ah, well, I suppose that probably has to happen anyway... Read more!

Under Pressure

The pressure canner arrived, just in time for about 45 pounds of pork I bought on sale. Unfortunately, before I got it (and read the instructions), I was under the impression that I couldn't can meat that's been in the fridge for a few days. This happened to have been vaccuum sealed, so it probably would have been fine. But I cubed it, and froze it in 3# packages. As it turns out, it probably would have been better to leave it whole, and in the sealed bags. Ah, well, live & learn...

You can slice the meat so that it'll fit into the jars, throw a little salt in, and can it (no water or broth). I learned this trick from a Wendy DeWitt video presentation. What a pro!! What a great video that is!! (info@brownbaggifts.com) And now I feel even better about my pressure canner purchase -- I can use what I'm preparing to make my life easier NOW, as well as in preparing for the future. Plus, it'll allow me to build our food storage at a much lower cost. (Wendy DeWitt suggests it can be done for about $1.00 per person, per day, and, with the necessary equipment, I think she's pretty much right on.)

I'm very grateful that I've been able to accomplish what I have, so far. And I'm very eager to keep moving forward in putting our food storage together. And, always, so much more to learn, and share... Read more!

Carrots, Cottage Cheese & Home-milled Bread...

I want to talk about baking with the flour from the grain mill (see previous post), but I have to backtrack a little first.

I need to start with carrots. And the dehydrator. Being a baker, and not able to have anything sugar cane- or sugar beet-derived, I've been trying to work out a honey-sweetened cookie recipe that's actually sweet enough. Until I read Mary Bell's "Complete Dehydrator Cookbook", I wouldn't have thought of dehydrating, then powdering, carrots. But dehydrating concentrates the natural sugars in things, so dried carrots are very sweet. So I shredded, dried and then powdered some carrots (the bases of most blenders will accept a regular-sized canning jar, and a 1/2 pint jar, packed full, is the perfect size for powdering the carrots). You have to compensate for the added liquid when you substitute honey for sugar, but instead I just tossed in a couple of tablespoons of carrot powder. Worked like a dream -- nice and sweet, and just about the right amount of moisture! I've since tried this with yeast breads as well, with equally good results. And now that I have them on hand, I'm finding lots of other uses for the dried carrots (and dried celery, and tomatoes...) -- adding them to salad dressings, and to soups and sauces... I've even powdered some fruit leather (put in the freezer first), and put it into cookies. Didn't make the cookies taste "fruity" -- just added a pleasant sweetness, and a little extra moisture.

I've shredded & dried about 50# of carrots so far, ending up with 8 quarts, packed (large-mouth canning jars are great for storing). (Fruits & vegetables typically dry down to about 25% of their original weight & volume.) I'll probably do another 50# shredded (for powdering, or for rehydrating and using in various ways), and at least 50# in slices. Again, I'm trying to build up a supply of foods that can be stored unrefrigerated, that will sustain us in case of an emergency -- even one that lasts a while.

I'm also dehydrating cottage cheese. It was a pleasant surprise to realize that it's actually easier to use once it's dried. I figure it'll be good protein for us and our animal friends. The best buy, both price- and quality-wise, is a 5# tub available at a restaurant supply outlet. I paid about $6.50 for it the other day. I use the mesh dehydrator screens, and put it in tablespoonfuls -- it's easier to work with this way. Crumble it when it's dry. I've used it in spaghetti sauce, and, along with some chopped dried veggies, to jazz up cup-a-soups.

(Incidentally, I wondered what it will cost me to run my dehydrator, and did a little research -- you can find a calculator online. It's a 1,000 watt machine, if it's run at the highest heat setting, but I haven't used it at its hottest yet. If I did, it would cost just under $5 to run for 24 hours.)

As far as the grain mill, I've found it works best if I start on a medium grind setting (it has an adjustment dial, and is infinitely adjustable between very coarse and fine) and work my way to fine, putting it through several times. I could just put it through once and use the flour, and it would make perfectly fine (if a bit heavy) bread. But I want a lighter texture, so it's worth it to me to spend the extra time grinding -- particularly if I'm planning to share whatever I'm baking.

I've read a bit about how wonderful bread made with freshly ground flour is, and I was very eager to try my first loaf. But, so far, I've been disappointed. I don't think it's the flour, though -- it's either the baker or the recipes, or both. (Although I now understand what folks mean when they refer to the "bitterness" of bread made with flour that was ground awhile before the bread was made.) So I went out & invested in the new "Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book" (updated -- now has a bread machine section), and the Peter Reinhart tome that can only be described as a bread-baking textbook: "Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads". I've baked from the former, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the latter -- and the next time I have a week or two to bake a loaf of bread (after first having stopped to set up an Excel spreadsheet -- which he actually recommends!!), I may try his method. Actually, he gives such a promising description of bread baked using his (rather involved) method, that I might try it anyway. Just gotta figure out how to babysit the starter for the first couple of weeks while working full time...

Another happy discovery was that the powdered eggs I purchased for our emergency food storage dramatically expand the kinds of bread that I can bake on the delayed cycle in my bread machine. Normally, breads that contain milk or eggs have to be mixed and baked right away. But it's lovely to be able to put the ingredients into the machine and program it to be ready when we get up the next morning (or when we get home after work...)

Next Time...

My next adventure will be pressure canning. That will allow me to make and store some soups, maybe a few chicken dishes... Should be an excellent way to expand our food storage options...

Read more!

I Don't Remotely Pretend to be a Preparedness Expert...

but I'm sure learning a lot!! And because I think it might be useful to someone else out there, I'm sharing.

My goal is to have enough food on hand so we can survive for an extended period of time, even if we don't have power. And if we don't have power, we probably won't have any way to keep anything cold (let alone frozen!). So I'm focusing on things that have a long shelf life at room temperature.

A good challenge -- it'll take a combination of commercially prepared things and stuff I'll be making myself. I set up an Excel spreadsheet, to help me plan out what to buy & when. If you'd like a copy, email me at calamityjen47@yahoo.com.

One of the ways to prepare things to store at room temperature is to dehydrate them, so I dusted off my old Excalibur dehydrator -- only to realize, after waiting 24 hours for carrots to dry (should take 6), that it was at the end of its useful life. So I logged on to Amazon, and a few days later a beautiful new Nesco model arrived. Came with 8 trays; I bought an additional 2. Now I can dehydrate 10 sq ft of food at a time, at record speed. Came in handy when I lucked into 45# of kiwis and a bunch of almost-past-date liver (for our dogs)!!

So far, I've dehydrated some of the kiwis (made jam with the rest), the liver (VERY popular with the leash-and-collar set!!), lots of carrots (believe it or not, also popular with our canine friends, but very useful in other ways -- more on that later), cottage cheese (ditto), and some overripe bananas. Also made fruit leather (bananas, a package of strawberry-banana Jello and a carton of strawberry yogurt). Delicious, and how nice to use the overripe bananas, rather than tossing them!!

Like everyone else these days, I'm trying harder than ever not to waste anything. When I prep veggies, I hate to waste the trimmings. I was trying to accumulate them in the freezer for stock, but with all the dehydrating I'm doing, it was getting away from me. So now we're tossing them into the garden. We don't have a compost pile just yet, so we're just burying them under a bit of dirt. They'll break down, either way.

Next Time ~

Just bought a grain mill that can be hand-cranked or used with my stand mixer. It'll roll oats and other grains, and can do some other tricks, as well. I'm having a blast learning to use it (and the flour I make with it!!), and will post more when I've got another loaf of bread or two under my belt (pun intended!!). Read more!