The Canning Thread

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  • smkranz

    Certified Caveman
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 21, 2013
    4,350
    Carroll County
    Today’s take from Walmart in Westminster (where low-income city dwellers are). They have pint, and half-pint jars, regular Ball bands & lids, and these Mainstays brand that are made in the U.S. Reviews of the Mainstays are mixed, with some people saying they are thinner. Honestly, I can’t tell that holding them side by side with the Ball lids.

    4d27cae772fe90fa7ba5517777b00bdb.jpg



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    smkranz

    Certified Caveman
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 21, 2013
    4,350
    Carroll County
    Took the day off, wandered through my fave supermarket (Wegmans Hunt Valley) for a couple hours, found some more jars and lids, and ended by putting up 4 quarts of vegetable beef stew, plus extra for tonight’s supper.

    d2731891b879ab8f207294849da4609e.jpg



    NRA Life ∙ MSI ∙ MD Designated Collector ∙ Certified Beer & Mead Judge
     

    FrankOceanXray

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 29, 2008
    12,028
    Took the day off, wandered through my fave supermarket (Wegmans Hunt Valley) for a couple hours, found some more jars and lids, and ended by putting up 4 quarts of vegetable beef stew, plus extra for tonight’s supper.

    d2731891b879ab8f207294849da4609e.jpg



    NRA Life ∙ MSI ∙ MD Designated Collector ∙ Certified Beer & Mead Judge

    Did you share your recipe for this yet? This seems like a good one to put away.
     

    smkranz

    Certified Caveman
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 21, 2013
    4,350
    Carroll County
    Did you share your recipe for this yet? This seems like a good one to put away.

    Basic recipe is from the Ball Blue Book. It doesn't have liquid volumes so I just played that by ear, and used half water and half beef stock, enough to cover the food in the pot plus a little extra. The original recipe also didn't include corn or jalapeños so I threw them in, and the corn adds good texture and sweetness.

    Easy Beef Stew

    (Half Recipe – as made 2/8/21)

    • 2 ½ lb beef stew meat, cut into 1-1 ½ -inch cubes
    • 1 ½ tsp vegetable oil
    • 7 cups cubed and peeled potatoes
    • 4 cups sliced carrots
    • 1- ½ cups chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
    • 1 cup chopped onion (about 2 small)
    • 1 ½ large jalapeno peppers, seeded
    • 1 frozen steam bag of corn (this was approx. 2 cups of corn)
    • 1 tsp salt
    • ½ tsp thyme
    • ½ tsp pepper
    • Water & beef stock – approx. equal amounts to cover meet and vegetables

    Recipe made over 5 quarts of stew.

    Directions
    1. Prepare pressure canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
    2. Brown meat in oil in a large saucepot. Add vegetables and seasonings to browned meat. Cover with water and beef stock. Bring stew to a boil. Remove from heat.
    3. Ladle hot stew into hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
    4. Process filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure 1 hour and 15 minutes for pints and 1 hour and 30 minutes for quarts, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat: cool canner to zero pressure. Let stand 5 more minutes before removing the lid. Cool jars in canner 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

    Initial comments: I trimmed what gristle and silver membrane I could see from the beef. The amount of salt called for seemed very low, so I added an unmeasured additional amount. We had the left-over amount that did not fit into 4 quart jars, for supper after simmering for an hour. Definitely needs more salt than the recipe calls for. Otherwise very tasty.
     
    Last edited:

    smkranz

    Certified Caveman
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 21, 2013
    4,350
    Carroll County
    Tattler lids are very good, expensive, but also have a learning process to them. You are not supposed tighten them as much or the air will not escape and then tighten them all the way after removing them. Videos I watched have people losing a few jar contents in the learning process.

    They also will not take well with maybe tomatoes or pickle recipes with Turmeric as the lid will stain yellow. They will work but lid will stain pretty good.


    I just invested in some Tattler lids, 3 dozen of each size for $54, with free shipping, and no stinkin MD sales tax. They will pay for themselves after just a couple uses, and I’m getting tired of trying to find regular Ball lids at non-gouging prices.

    https://reusablecanninglids.com/products

    BTW there also is a very active Canning and Preserving group on Gab.


    NRA Life ∙ MSI ∙ MD Designated Collector ∙ Certified Beer & Mead Judge
     

    smkranz

    Certified Caveman
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 21, 2013
    4,350
    Carroll County
    Yesterday was my first try with Tattler reusable lids, on wide-mouth quart jars of wild boar stew* that I pressure-canned.

    The lids and sealing rings went into a bowl of boiling water and stayed hot until I applied them. Instructions say to set the jar on a smooth surface, use an index finger to lightly hold the lid in place while screwing the metal band down just until the jar starts to rotate, then stop. Process according to canner and recipe instructions, then remove jars. The online instructions on the Tattler web site are actually in conflict at this point. First it says to let the jars sit for 4-5 minutes while the contents are still bubbling, to let some of that pressure release before you crank down the metal band. Then right after that, it says to tighten the bands immediately after removing from the canner. So I went with the 4 minute rule which made sense to me, then tightened the bands down. This morning, unscrewing the bands revealed perfectly sealed lids.

    The base recipe I used is for Pork Stew from The Amish Canning Cookbook. I included a little bit more potatoes, and a little bit less meat, because that's what I had. The recipe also didn't call for jalapeño peppers, but most of what I make calls for jalapeño peppers. The base recipe also uses almost no salt, so I about tripled the salt and it still could probably use more, but that's easy to fix in the bowl. Lastly, I was fortunate enough to have about 3 cups' worth of pork stock which the S.U. had made about a year ago, from bones acquired from friends who raise pigs.

    • 2.8 lbs. of wild boar roast, cut into cubes (approx. 1.75 quarts).
    • 1.75 quarts of carrots
    • 2.5 cups of celery
    • 2.5 cups of onions
    • 3 quarts of cubed potatoes
    • 2 large jalapeno peppers, chopped
    • 3 tsp. salt
    • 2 tsp. thyme
    • 3 cups of pork stock and approx. 5 cups of water to cover the meat and vegetables

    Brown meat, and add vegetables and seasoning. Add water and/or pork stock to just cover everything. Bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.

    Strain liquid from the meat and vegetables, and reserve liquid. Each quart jar packed with meat and vegetables to 1" will take approximately 1 cup of liquid to fill up to 1", so you’ll need that much of the liquid and/or pork stock for cannning. Return liquid to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Pack quart jars with meat and vegetables leaving 1.5" headspace. Ladle hot liquid into jars, leaving 1" head space. Clean the rims of jars, apply your lids of choice, and place into canner with 2" of hot water. Vent steam for 10 minutes, then bring pressure to 10 psi and process for 90 minutes. Turn off heat, and let canner cool to 0 psi on its own without any help from you. Remove weight, and wait 2 more minutes before opening canner.

    These quantities of meat and vegetables filled exactly 7 quart jars.


    * In full disclosure, I didn't harvest the wild boar myself. I harvested it from the meat case at Wegman's. In this case, they were two D'Artagnan Wild Boar Mini-Roasts which I painstakingly cubed and removed what little fat and silver membrane there was.
     

    dblas

    Past President, MSI
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 6, 2011
    13,087
    Picking up a used (only unboxed) All American 915 and accessories on Sunday for $225
     

    ArmedInMd

    Active Member
    Jun 9, 2008
    243
    Picking up a used (only unboxed) All American 915 and accessories on Sunday for $225

    Very nice, the All American canners are supposed to last a lifetime. I've been somewhat keeping an eye out. Last year I borrowed my friends Presto pressure canner in return for some cans. Hoping to do the same this year but should check. Thanks for the reminder
     

    ToBeFree

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 5, 2011
    2,614
    Highland Cnty-Va
    Sounds good SMK.

    I opened some pork I canned last year and we had carnitas.
    Man talk about tender! ;)
    Easy meal - now I have to get my fresh herbs to last year round and I'd be aces.
     

    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,064
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    I am going to play with my soup stew recipes to make them 1 quart recipes. The entire huge batch of soup and separating into quarts and re-cooking it proved to be extra work, IMO.

    Yes, canned meat is very tender!! We canned young rosters last year and it changed everything for my daughter. She was like, I'm raising more next year, killing all the roosters and boning them out to can and selling extra hens if it becomes a problem.

    I got extra beets still in the garden. No sense pulling them until spring, unless eating them. I might try borscht with venison and if I like it work on quart recipes for that too. Many, I got to build shelves.
     

    dblas

    Past President, MSI
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 6, 2011
    13,087
    I am going to play with my soup stew recipes to make them 1 quart recipes. The entire huge batch of soup and separating into quarts and re-cooking it proved to be extra work, IMO.

    Yes, canned meat is very tender!! We canned young rosters last year and it changed everything for my daughter. She was like, I'm raising more next year, killing all the roosters and boning them out to can and selling extra hens if it becomes a problem.

    I got extra beets still in the garden. No sense pulling them until spring, unless eating them. I might try borscht with venison and if I like it work on quart recipes for that too. Many, I got to build shelves.

    Once I get the pressure canner, I'm going to play with canning our ministrone soup and se how that works. Once I get that down, on to our potato/corn chowder.
     

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