Pressure canner owners: When did you last can? *Poll*

[Spudgunr]

A thread on another forum got me thinking, when is the last time you canned? For me it was a couple weeks ago, and I had run into an issue I had never run into before. I had chatted with a guy at work, he owns a NICE canner. He is the type of prepper who buys everything he can, and is easily scared into buying overpriced equipment ($2000 solar generator that has only one battery in it). He seems to be of the mindset that just owning the stuff is enough. The high end canner (all american I think) he has has been on his shelves for 5-10 years and he has never even taken it out of the box. I have a couple dozen batches under my belt and am still learning new things, so when is the last time you practiced your canning?

The issue I ran into:

I canned some garbanzo beans recently. Should be the same as any dry bean, and it was. When the cooling was done I heard the clink of the safety latch dropping, indicating the pressure was down to 0 psi so I could take the lid off. I took the lid off, and within seconds the jars started flash boiling! I put the lid back on with the weight as quick as I could and the pressure climbed to 10psi. After another hour of cooling the pressure dropped back down again, I took the jars out and tightened the lids. They all sealed, but almost ALL of the liquid had flash boiled out of the jars. I had never had that happen before. I am glad it was only 4 quarts, but just goes to show that you will continue to learn for a while.

 

[BeauBailey]

I am canning some boneless chicken breast this afternoon. Just got a new seal for my lid so I think I'm good to go. The last time I canned was a couple months ago when I canned 5 lbs of chicken breast. It's great to make easy meals out of especially when we have made up some noodles to go with it.

 

[bdybdall]

I've got a friend who thinks throwing money away is the key to survival. When he was looking for canning gear at garage sales, I asked him if he had ever canned anything. He said " no, he'd figure it out when he needed to". He was the same way when I helped him with some reloading gear.

 

[bdybdall]

Makes me think I need to check out my canning stuff, also. I canned some stuff in earlier years (more tomatoes and green beans than anything else) but I haven't preserved anything in a decade. I wish I had some hot okra pickles like I once made.

 

[GhostofWinter]

I canned 34 pints of vegetable soup last week. I was making a pot of soup so it wasn't a big deal to make a BIG pot of soup and can the leftovers. I would have had 35 pints, but one of the jars must have had a small crack because the bottom blew out of it while canning. This not an unusual problem. But one that upsets you when you lose your hard work. I absolutely LOVE canning chicken breast. I love being able to just add this to soup, or make chicken taco out of. The breast meat just shreds apart when its heated up.

I do have to admit though that I haven't been canning like I want to. Being off work due to knee surgery has put a crimp in my ability to buy the raw products to can. Canning is however allowing me to stretch the money I do have coming in. Im using what I have stored up.

Of course once I get back to work I will be hitting the canning again to replace and replenish what I've used up.

 

[88GT]

A thread on another forum got me thinking, when is the last time you canned? For me it was a couple weeks ago, and I had run into an issue I had never run into before. I had chatted with a guy at work, he owns a NICE canner. He is the type of prepper who buys everything he can, and is easily scared into buying overpriced equipment ($2000 solar generator that has only one battery in it). He seems to be of the mindset that just owning the stuff is enough. The high end canner (all american I think) he has has been on his shelves for 5-10 years and he has never even taken it out of the box. I have a couple dozen batches under my belt and am still learning new things, so when is the last time you practiced your canning?

.

What relevance does the friend have to this? Or the make of his canner?

 

[Spudgunr]

I am canning some boneless chicken breast this afternoon. Just got a new seal for my lid so I think I'm good to go. The last time I canned was a couple months ago when I canned 5 lbs of chicken breast. It's great to make easy meals out of especially when we have made up some noodles to go with it.

Agreed, I have a LOT of canned chicken. There is a place just north of South Bend that does wholesale meat, they had 40lb cases of boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.25 a lb. Its an hour drive, so I got 80 pounds worth and canned it. I was quite thankful to have multiple canners, and the 23 quart canners that can hold 14-16 pint jars.

We like wraps, we put some mustard, garlic, mayo, canned chicken, fresh tomatoes if we have them, and if we have it ground bacon in a tortilla, makes for about a 5 minute meal that is cheap and yummy.

I recently got 6 dozen of the reusable tattler lids, I haven't tried them out yet, but figured for canned beans they'll be great. We can black beans, pinto beans, and chick peas so we don't have to buy them at the store, it runs about half price that way. I don't can too many, so I could go through the same couple dozen tattler lids a LOT of times in a couple of years. I figured a few makes more sense than dozens of dozens, at least for me right now.

I also see canning as a GREAT way to worry less about a power outage. If you have natural gas or propane for your stove or a turkey fryer, then if the power is out for longer than you can run a generator to keep your food frozen you could always can a LOT of what is in the deep freeze.

 

[GhostofWinter]

Agreed, I have a LOT of canned chicken. There is a place just north of South Bend that does wholesale meat, they had 40lb cases of boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.25 a lb. Its an hour drive, so I got 80 pounds worth and canned it. I was quite thankful to have multiple canners, and the 23 quart canners that can hold 14-16 pint jars.

We like wraps, we put some mustard, garlic, mayo, canned chicken, fresh tomatoes if we have them, and if we have it ground bacon in a tortilla, makes for about a 5 minute meal that is cheap and yummy.

I recently got 6 dozen of the reusable tattler lids, I haven't tried them out yet, but figured for canned beans they'll be great. We can black beans, pinto beans, and chick peas so we don't have to buy them at the store, it runs about half price that way. I don't can too many, so I could go through the same couple dozen tattler lids a LOT of times in a couple of years. I figured a few makes more sense than dozens of dozens, at least for me right now.

I also see canning as a GREAT way to worry less about a power outage. If you have natural gas or propane for your stove or a turkey fryer, then if the power is out for longer than you can run a generator to keep your food frozen you could always can a LOT of what is in the deep freeze.

Whats the name of the wholesale place you are talking about?

 

[Spudgunr]

What relevance does the friend have to this? Or the make of his canner?

I thought it was pretty obvious... an example of what NOT to do. Don't just buy stuff thinking you'll have it when you need it, but not knowing how to use it. When the food in your deep freeze is thawing out and about to go rotten is NOT the time to pull out the canner for the first time and trying to figure out how to preserve your food effectively and safely.

 

[Spudgunr]

Whats the name of the wholesale place you are talking about?

I couldn't remember, but found it: Lowery Meat and Grocery in Buchanan, MI. They are always busy on weekends, you'll pretty well always have to take a number and wait a while. The front of the store reminds me of a little mexican grocery, the meat is in the back. They are old school, you can have them fax over their specials list (they put it out weekly, it generally doesn't change a lot unless they get something new in).

It looks like in the last year or two they finally joined the 20th century: Lowerys Meat and Grocery | Lowerys Meat Market | Southwest Michigan Meat Market current price is $58 for 40lbs of B/S chicken breast. 5 dozen eggs for $5.50? Yes please. Pork butt for 1.39 a pound, great deal right NOW (a year or so ago I went to sams and bought a case for $1.15 a pound and ground it all up, but current prices are about $1.60-1.80)

 

[GhostofWinter]

I couldn't remember, but found it: Lowery Meat and Grocery in Buchanan, MI. They are always busy on weekends, you'll pretty well always have to take a number and wait a while. The front of the store reminds me of a little mexican grocery, the meat is in the back. They are old school, you can have them fax over their specials list (they put it out weekly, it generally doesn't change a lot unless they get something new in).

It looks like in the last year or two they finally joined the 20th century: Lowerys Meat and Grocery | Lowerys Meat Market | Southwest Michigan Meat Market current price is $58 for 40lbs of B/S chicken breast. 5 dozen eggs for $5.50? Yes please. Pork butt for 1.39 a pound, great deal right NOW (a year or so ago I went to sams and bought a case for $1.15 a pound and ground it all up, but current prices are about $1.60-1.80)

That's who I was thinking it was. Ive heard of them. but haven't made the trip up there yet. I can see myself going and buying 40-80 pounds of chicken and such to can. I just need to find the time and the cash to make the trip, then can all of it....

 

[PistolBob]

That's who I was thinking it was. Ive heard of them. but haven't made the trip up there yet. I can see myself going and buying 40-80 pounds of chicken and such to can. I just need to find the time and the cash to make the trip, then can all of it....

How many pints of canned chicken breast can you get out of 80 lbs?

 

[GhostofWinter]

How many pints of canned chicken breast can you get out of 80 lbs?

Dont quote me on this, but I believe you will get about 55 from it. I THINK I have about one pound- a pound and a half per pint, but it depends on how small you cut the pieces. and how hard you try to stuff them into the jars. I cut mine into chunks because I knew that I would be using it for recipes that would use it shredded or such. Also if you use wide mouth or regular mouth jars will make a difference as well.

 

[Justus]

Good post!
We haven't acquired the equipment or canned anything yet but it's on the to-do list.
We blanch/freeze most of our veggie harvest to use over the next winter and spring.
We dehydrate fruits when they come into season.

 

[GhostofWinter]

Good post!
We haven't acquired the equipment or canned anything yet but it's on the to-do list.
We blanch/freeze most of our veggie harvest to use over the next winter and spring.
We dehydrate fruits when they come into season.

This is good, but not to be an @$$. What happens if you lose power in the middle of July or August for 2,3 or more days? Even if you have a generator it would be both an expensive proposition to keep running, and you would have neighbors wanting/expecting you to allow them to put their stuff in your freezers or plug their freezers into your genset.

 

[Spudgunr]

Between this thread, the fact I already had black beans in the pantry/cabinets, and the fact I want to use up some stuff for moving, I decided I'd can a few jars of black beans today. PLUS, I've been wanting to try out my new reusable tattler lids to see how I like them. Also, I LOVE canning in the winter, you are putting heat into the house when you need it, and it is 100 percent efficient if you have gas heat. No more 20 percent of your heat going out the chimney/exhaust (I upgraded furnaces so its not THAT big of a deal now).

For the chicken breast, I usually go for about a pound or just shy of it per jar. I do not jam it in tight, our kids are small so we don't need as much as will fit in if packed tight. I cube it to around 1.25" chunks, if I went smaller I could definitely fit more in. I know I had wrapped some and froze it at the time since my wife loves the crock pot, so I can't give an exact count. I only have a dozen jars left! Since I'm HOPING to move this summer I'm not sure that I'll be replacing it all right now. Its a lot easier to move empty jars than full jars I'm guessing.

To bdybdall: I would at LEAST pressurize your canner to make sure it will still seal. If it is fairly new it probably will, but if it was 30 years old when you got it, probably not. I got a 60's or 70's era canner that may have very well had the original seal in it. It was not flexible at all and leaked quite a bit. I did get a batch out of it, had to have the stove on as high as it would go and it eventually conformed enough. I obviously replaced that seal, and got a spare while I was at it. I have 3 or 4 pressure canners, I only have one spare seal though (my spares are basically my variety of canners right now). I have seals that are at least 10 years old (I haven't been canning that long, just guessing based on apparent age since I get my equipment on craigslist) and are still plenty flexible. I will be eventually getting a couple spares. The one I bought two of was for the National 7a canner that I converted to a weighted gauge canner. I took a risk that the National 7 gasket would work on the 7a and it did.

According to this: National Pressure Cooker is the company name (1917) for the Presto company. It became Presto in 1939. my canner may be considerably older than I thought. I would believe that, I have a ball blue book I got in one of my acquisitions that was 35 cents and was copyright 1969 and it looks a LOT newer than the manual that came with the National pressure cooker (which is currently misplaced so I cant reference it). Pretty cool, my pressure canner is older than my grandmother. It has been a bit updated though, I removed the dial gauge and replaced it with the vent tube of a mirro so that I can use the mirro weighted gauge (I have two mirro canners anyway so I have two weights and three canners that use them).

 

[Justus]

This is good, but not to be an @$$. What happens if you lose power in the middle of July or August for 2,3 or more days? Even if you have a generator it would be both an expensive proposition to keep running, and you would have neighbors wanting/expecting you to allow them to put their stuff in your freezers or plug their freezers into your genset.

Ya, I know, it's not a perfect plan but it's OUR plan and what I explained does not take into account our non-frozen food preps.
By July or August our freezer is almost empty except for whatever fish we've caught over the spring and summer and maybe some ice cream.
Our generator is a short term solution and I really don't mind helping my friends and family.
We keep about 2 weeks worth of fuel for the genny to give us time to eat or dehydrate the fresh food that's in the freezer and fridge.
If a crisis lasts more than two weeks, we really won't need the genny since it will, more than likely, be a target for troublemakers.

I agree that canning is a good process to learn and this is a good thread.
Our kids are grown and gone, we don't need to store as much food as some homes do.
We've been holding off on canning due to the cost of supplies and the time that's required to do it.

 

[aescsar]

I fired up my pressure canner a couple of weeks ago when I made bean soup with ham for the weekend dinner and put away 5 quarts of the leftovers.

And you definitely have to watch out for after-pressure which is why you wait for the pressure to drop to zero and still wait 10-15 minutes.

 

[spencer rifle]

We use the dial gauge on our American pressure cooker and a flip valve that it came with. No weighted valve, and no seals. We occasionally have cans boil off partway. Pressure must be watched almost constantly, and heat adjusted accordingly. Too hot makes overboiling more likely. All those jars are still sealed and still good, though. All the Internetz sources say we must ditch our flip valve. We have not done it, and don't intend to. We are just careful about pressure, as one should be anyway when pressure cooking. We usually let it sit overnight to be absolutely sure its cool before opening, since we do a lot of our canning in the evening.

 

[Stickfight]

I THINK I have about one pound- a pound and a half per pint, but it depends on how small you cut the pieces. and how hard you try to stuff them into the jars.

"A pint's a pound, world around" is a good rule of thumb.

I have about 50 pints of elk canned and I checked a half dozen. They net between 475 grams and 500 grams, so just a touch over 1 lb.

That also happens to be the last thing I canned. Last thing I pressure canned was a couple dozen jars of turnips that a goat farmer was giving away this past fall.