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!