Canning meat/what Equipment is needed, how much canning is necessary
- Thread starter Cosmos
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Thank you, Herondancer, for responding to Tuatha.
Tuatha, my point is a little dramatic : as Herondancer says, the most important thing is:
At the moment, I still have the same Presto. However, I have removed the manometer, which is not very useful. I put in its place a nut that I replace regularly when it starts to oxidize.
I bought a different pressure regulator than the original one. It allows to have the exact pressure without worrying about a manometer.
Here are some pictures:
I've eaten almost 10-year-old canned meats. They were good.
A friend opened a can of strawberry jam from 30 years ago in front of me to taste it : surprisingly, it was very good.
Tuatha, my point is a little dramatic : as Herondancer says, the most important thing is:
Keep practising. So long as you have the right pressure level throughout the processing time and good seals on your jars at the end, you're good.
At the moment, I still have the same Presto. However, I have removed the manometer, which is not very useful. I put in its place a nut that I replace regularly when it starts to oxidize.
I bought a different pressure regulator than the original one. It allows to have the exact pressure without worrying about a manometer.
Here are some pictures:
I've eaten almost 10-year-old canned meats. They were good.
A friend opened a can of strawberry jam from 30 years ago in front of me to taste it : surprisingly, it was very good.
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Apologies if this was asked before and I missed it, can you use any jars with a lid in canner - like the ones of the jams and pickles you get from the supermarket- or it has to be these special jars? This is a huge problem for me as I live on a tiny island, and I only sourced these specialised jars for home canning on Amazon, but they will not ship to my country. Not to mention that I need huge quantity.
Yes I think he was but I'm tying myself in knots here and overthinking. I'll go with what you say. Maybe the steam will get more pronounced the more I use the canner. Watched the video and all things agree, thanks for that. Got a new batch of jars today so once more into the breach.................Thanks for your imput herondancer.
Wow, you have gone to the dark side with your alterations sebbe,
Who would have thought getting 10 mins of steam would be such a problem? I'll just have to carry on. Thanks for replying.
It is advised against because some jars aren't built to withstand the pressure and heat and can break, also the seals sometimes don't work because the sealing edge is rounded rather than flat. That's not to say that some people haven't done it and been ok, but I don't know if I would trust it for long-term storage.
Thanks Lainey - anyone has EU source for the jars?
Hello Deckard, I don't know if they deliver to EU or where they are based but I get mine from ebay with 2 weeks delivery time. Much faster than Amazon.
Wares of Knutsford .co.uk has your country in the drop down menu on the address page. Maybe try them?
With a great deal of caution, theoretically, yes.
Check the seal carefully to make sure it's still tight. Clean the lid with hot soapy water in case it's dusty, or any critters have been around. Give it a good sniff when you open it to see if there are any off odours (you should hear the pop of the seal breaking). Pitch it immediately if the seal has failed or the smell is the least bit iffy. Then the recommendation is to boil the contents for at least twenty minutes to kill off anything you haven't detected. So some sort of stew or goulash that cooks for a long time would be your best bet for something that old. I made a very nice curry out of some 5-year old pork shoulder, following those rules. No one suffered.
I'd try to find a better place than a shed to store the jars. Ideally it should be dark and cool. Mine are in a basement garage which does have windows, but the shelves are set up away from them. The temps do vary but generally, it's cool enough.
Hope that helps!
th
I think I'll start canning again since it seems we are getting closer to needing the stored food on hand :)
ank
thank you. My issue is I live in the tropics so we are in dank humidity for 7 months of the year and our dwellings have no way of escaping the humidity. Some days its hard to know whether you're still wet from stepping out of the shower or you've already started sweating.
I think I'll start canning again since it seems we are getting closer to needing the stored food on hand :)
Laurelayn
Jedi
In the US you can have your canner checked for proper pressure readings by several avenues available through the USDA websites and/or your local agricultural extension offices. I do not know how this works in other countries. The chicken I have canned has been quite delicious though.
Yup. It's one of the happy instances of your tax dollars at work. I live in a semi-rural area, so the local agriculture office is in the nearest town. The testing is free, plus there's a lot of info available on handling local products. They just need a call to make sure the gal who tests the gauges is in that day. It only takes a couple of minutes. I try to go early in the season, because by August her office is hopping!
Oooh, that's tough. I guess the best you can do is keep them in the dark. Do you know anyone with a basement? It might give a little more protection.
Well, here I am again wondering why I get some crazy problems. Did 8 pint jars of bacon today wrapped in grease proof paper. Heard a pop soon after putting pressure regulator on.Carried on to the end and had 7 perfect jars for cooling. The 8th jars two piece lid had come clean off but jar unbroken and no spoilage in jar. When jars were cold I removed the twists but on 5 of the jars the screwing off process unsealed the lids. 
All the bacon undamaged so put in fridge to redo tomorrow.
Can anyone tell me why the 2 piece lid can come off a jar when screwed to finger tight.
Why were the screw tops loose when I came to take them off.
As the fat in jars will be cold and hard tomorrow morning, will I be ok doing them for the required time from cold or is there a problem with cold solid fat in jars. The fat in the jars come up to just under half way up.
Sorry for so many inquiries but my list of mishaps is perplexing to say the least but if I can get all these problems over in the first couple of weeks then "maybe" I'll start to feel like a proper grown-up..
All the bacon undamaged so put in fridge to redo tomorrow.
Can anyone tell me why the 2 piece lid can come off a jar when screwed to finger tight.
Why were the screw tops loose when I came to take them off.
As the fat in jars will be cold and hard tomorrow morning, will I be ok doing them for the required time from cold or is there a problem with cold solid fat in jars. The fat in the jars come up to just under half way up.
Sorry for so many inquiries but my list of mishaps is perplexing to say the least but if I can get all these problems over in the first couple of weeks then "maybe" I'll start to feel like a proper grown-up..
