Introduction to More Exciting Pressure Canning

When people decide to acquire a pressure canner, it is usually so that they can preserve excess garden produce.  But there is so much more that can be done--so much that is quite tasty and will be very desirable in the dark days ahead.  Pressure-canned foods add variety to the diet, especially in a world lacking fresh and frozen foods.

Now, I'm not going to reproduce the Ball Blue Book of Canning (hereafter the BBB) here.  Everyone should have a copy of that for reference for basic guidelines, correct preparation, and accurate processing times.  What I do want to do is explore some ideas for using a canner to prepare some less conventional foods that will save you time and definitely boost morale.

Vegetables

Most vegetables are canned per instructions in the BBB.  There's just not a lot that is exciting or different to add.  And actually, I usually prefer to dehydrate vegetables when possible.  But there are some situations where the dehydrated version just doesn't work as well in recipes.  One of those is dehydrated shredded zucchini.  Don't get me wrong; I do actually dehydrate quite a bit some years.  But when I rehydrate the zucchini for making cakes and breads, it doesn't reconstitute perfectly.  And some baked goods I want to have absolutely perfect.  And of course, I do just put several bags of shredded zucchini in the freezer, but I'm preparing for a time without easy electricity, so every year or so I can a few pints of shredded zucchini.  It gets packed in jars and processed per instructions for squash in the BBB.  And then when we want zucchini bread or cupcakes, we don't have to wait for the dehydrated stuff to rehydrate, nor are we dealing with cupcakes that are a little on the chewy side because the zucchini didn't fully reconstitute.

The other exception around here is potatoes. Yeah, lots of people can potatoes, but we never really cared for the texture, and unless they were being used in a stew, we never seemed to get around to eating them.  However, there is that other more popular way of eating potatoes in this country, the French fry.  Even if the pressure canner was not used for anything else, it would be worthwhile (in this family, at least) to acquire just to be able to have French fries when the grid goes down. These fries are so incredibly divine. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a taste. You’ll just have to trust me. Canning French fries is one of the first articles I posted on this blog; as such, not a lot of people have read it yet. All the work is done in the canning; when you wish to eat some fries (which will be often!), open the jar and put the fries into a strainer. Thoroughly rinse and drain to remove excess starch. Deep fry in peanut oil until they reach a golden brown. If your family is just not into the food storage thing because it's too horrible to contemplate eating that stuff, give these French fries a try.  You'll see a complete one-eighty as they realize food storage can be really good.

Dry Beans
Dry beans aren’t a particularly exciting item to can, unless you get excited about saving money, time, and energy. Dry beans normally take hours to prepare for each meal. By utilizing a pressure canner, you prepare beans for several meals at once, saving money now and time down the road. So how is it done?  Dry beans are truly one of the easiest items to can and a great way to get started with pressure canning.  Basically, you soak the beans for several hours or overnight; rinse, drain, and cook; fill jars about 2/3 full; add boiling water and salt; and process.  It might sound like a lot of work, but it is really quick and easy, and not at all messy.  Complete instructions are here. 

Meats

Canning in the meat world is just like canning in the fruit and vegetable world--follow directions and be careful.  There's nothing scary about it, and preparing meats is a lot faster and easier than preparing produce.  All meats are canned exactly as outlined in the BBB.  However, here are a few ideas for preparing and packaging meats for other uses.  Food fatigue is a real thing, and having a variety of tasty and familiar foods in our menu will be essential to maintaining morale in the coming crisis.

• Beef. I can a good quantity of stew meat to be used as is in stews, but also to be shredded for use as taco filling, French dips, etc. Ground beef also gets browned and canned so that I can make soups and casseroles very quickly. 
• Pork. Some pork is canned in chunks for later use in chili or to be shredded for taquito filling or super quick pulled pork sandwiches. The Cooperative Extension has never tested the safety of canning smoked or cured meats, including bacon.  It may be perfectly safe; it may not be. 
• Bacon.  The Cooperative Extension does not recommend canning bacon for a variety of reasons, all of which are sound. That being said, there are still a lot of people doing it.  I admit to it myself, but now only for bacon ends and pieces, and not the strips that are "dry-canned."  I have posted on bacon in the past, including how people do it and exactly why the Cooperative Extension opposes the practice.  
• Chicken. Home-canned chicken makes for quick chicken salad sandwiches or adding to a summer salad for a main dish meal. And with a can of chicken on hand, it takes no time to get homemade chicken noodle soup ready when someone comes down with a cold.
• Chicken bones. This isn't being recommended as food for people, though apparently in some cultures chicken bones do get thoroughly cooked and mashed or blended in some dishes.  I'm not entirely sold on the safety of this in general, but it does work for making chicken bouillon.  However, chicken bones can be pressure canned, just like chicken meat is, for feeding cats.  After being pressure canned, the hollow bones are easily mashed with a fork and fed to cats. Unfortunately, the chicken bones are too high in protein to be fed to dogs (may cause kidney damage).

Convenience foods

Pressure canning is great for preserving the harvest, but it’s also ideal for making life easier with convenience foods for days when we're just too busy or sick to cook.  A ready supply of stew, chili, and soup provides peace of mind for those situations when they arise.  Each family will have its own favorite recipes, so I'll refrain from posting any here.  Most any recipe can be adapted for canning, one just needs to always remember to process for the time stated for the ingredient that needs the most time and highest pressure.  Read your BBB for specific guidelines here.

A pressure canner is going to cost $100-$300. But the peace of mind that comes from preparing your own food? Priceless.

Links to related posts:
A Few Thoughts on Pressure Canners
Canning French Fries  
Canning Refried Beans  
Canning Hamburger Patties
Canning Bacon 
Canning Chicken
Canning Ham
Canning Pork 

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

The Complete Guide to Home Canning

Canning references are like medical references; no single book covers everything, so it's nice to have a few sources to check.  The Ball Blue Book has been the canning bible for years, and for good reason.  It is chock-full of really good information.  Another great reference is The Complete Guide to Home Canning issued by the USDA and National Center for Home Preservation.  The most recent edition was issued in December 2015.

The Complete Guide to Home Canning contains everything one would expect to find in a canning resource--chapters on fruits, tomatoes, vegetables, jams and jellies, meats, and pickles, and loads of recipes for each.  There is a very nice explanation of various canners and usage instructions and safety issues.  Also discussed are the importance of cleanliness and sterilization of jars and equipment--what is necessary and what is over-kill.  And there is even a bit on the safe disposal of foods suspected to be toxic, including the safety protocol for dealing with botulism.

The instructions are simple, clear, and concise without any fluff to confuse.  Where there are options in how a certain food is canned, the Guide provides a clear explanation of why one method is preferred over another.  With 197 pages, there are numerous illustrations and charts for easy reference. 

The greatest drawback of this book is that it lacks any discussion of why cured ham and bacon, butter, or cheese should not be canned.  In an era of returning to a simpler life, homesteads, preparedness, and DIY everything, with the internet where people can post their personal experiences and make unsafe recommendations based on anecdotes, I feel this is a serious shortcoming.  However, the information it does contain is excellent and valuable.  And best of all, it's free!  Well, it's your tax dollars at work, so I guess in that respect it was pretty expensive.

Sadly, it's a little bit of a hassle to print because it is in eight sections.  It would be really nice if they combined it all into one.  However, if money's not an object, you can go directly to the Purdue Cooperative Extension site and order a copy for $19 plus $5.85 shipping. 


The Complete Guide to Home Canning (free download)
The Complete Guide to Home Canning (purchase from Purdue Cooperative Extension Office)

Links to related posts:
Canning Butter and Cheese
Canning Bacon
Canning Ham

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com

Rendering Lard

Most everyone has heard of, if not read themselves, the Little House on the Prairie series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and preppers especially seem to be very familiar with one title in particular--The Long Winter.  The blizzards just didn't quit that year and many people were indeed starving.  It makes you want to buy more food.

There's another series of children's books, also autobiographical, but this collection is worlds better than Laura Ingalls'.  While the former collection is written at a second- or third-grade level (or maybe college-level now with the way our world is), the Little Britches series by Ralph Moody is written at a much higher reading level.  The books detail Ralph's life from the time his family moved to Colorado to help his father's tuberculosis to his time in Kansas as a young man raising and selling hogs.  All throughout the books are many lessons to be learned about hard work and self-reliance.  I feel it is one of my great failures as a mother not to have read these books to my boys when they were young, but I didn't even know about them at the time.

Anyway, in the final book of the series I learned that, historically, pigs were raised as much for their fat as they were for their meat.  We're a bit removed from that in this age when the majority of our oils come from neat little bottles, or if you insist, from plants like soybeans, corn, peanuts, and coconut.  Before those came along, however, there was lard.  And most every woman with an ounce of brains knew how to render it.

It is not at all difficult, but it will smell up the house a bit, depending on what method you choose to render it and how much fat you are processing.

The three kinds of fat from pigs come from different parts of the body.  Back fat comes from, shocker, the back of the pig and still often has the skin attached.  Once rendered, it produced lard that is a bit yellow and has a stronger pork smell.  It's generally used for frying and sauteing and making sausage.

Belly fat comes from, another shocker, the belly and often has some meat in it as well.  Belly fat is not typically used for rendering into lard.  This is also where bacon comes from.

Leaf fat comes from around the kidneys, so there is no skin attached and no little layers of meat in it.  When rendered, the lard from leaf fat is perfectly white and odorless, so it is what you want for making biscuits and pie crusts.  Lard from the back and belly fat is great for sauteing and frying.

If you are ordering your pig fat from a family farmer or you're getting your pig from a butcher, you can request to have the different fats packaged separately to make the process easier for you.

Render the different fats separately, starting with the leaf fat.  Chop it into small pieces and place it in a crock pot on the lowest setting, or in a heavy pot (cast iron Dutch ovens are ideal) on the stove on low or in the oven at 225 degrees.  Add about a quarter cup of water.  This will prevent the fat from burning before it begins to melt and the water will eventually evaporate off.  Leave the lid off to allow the water to evaporate more easily.

Check occasionally for the first hour and stir.  This process can take from two to several hours, depending on the size of the fat pieces.  After the first hour, check more frequently.  Once the cracklings (little crispy bits) start to settle on the bottom, it's time to ladle the fat through a cheesecloth-lined strainer to remove the cracklings. If you allow the edges to burn or over cook it, the lard will brown and take on a stronger pork flavor.  It's still fine for sauteing and frying, but it won't be what you want for biscuits and sweet pie crusts.  (It will be fine for chicken pot pies.)

Pour the strained lard into clean pint or quart jars, write the date on the lid, and store in the refrigerator or freezer.  That way, when you write a blog about it in the future, you'll be able to tell people something more specific than "I think it's two or three years old and smells fine." (Note that I did not write good.  Bacon smells good.  Lard that is not rancid smells fine).   Yes, when the lights go out for good, we won't have refrigeration.  But that's ok.  People rendered lard for centuries before we had refrigeration and they simply kept it on the counter or in a cabinet for months or even a year at a time.  When it's our turn to go without electricity, we'll just have to keep it as cool as possible as best as possible.  Our faithful noses will tell us if it goes rancid.

And why do you want to know this?  Well, if you've exhausted your supplies of oil, how are you replenishing them?  What's sustainable here?  Pigs.  Unfortunately, unless you come across a rancher raising heritage breeds that still grow a lot of fat on them, the pigs won't have as much fat as they did historically.  But they will at least have some.  That fat is high in vitamin D and helps the body absorb and utilize vitamins A and E as well.

For more information:
https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-render-lard-and-why-you-should-use-it/ (history of cottonseed oil, canola oil, and Crisco)
https://www.myhumblekitchen.com/2011/02/how-render-lard-the-right-way-snow-white/
https://www.mommypotamus.com/render-lard-crock-pot/

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com   

5 june 2021

Expanded Food Storage--Canning Bacon

Disclaimer: The FDA does not recommend canning bacon.  Why this is, I have never been able to find.  If you find a source or know why, please let us know in the comment box below.  That said, preppers have been canning bacon for years.  Do your own research and decide what is best for your family.

Potatoes grew extremely well for me our first year in Missouri, and so I did what any normal gardener would do the next year--I planted a whole lot more.  And we grew a whole lot more.  I canned a lot of them, but we still had bushels for eating throughout the fall and winter.  Potatoes were on the dinner menu every night.  And while I did include soups and casserole dishes, we also had a lot of baked potatoes.  Usually you can't go wrong with baked potatoes.  Most everybody enjoys them.  We always had salt, pepper, butter, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream to dress them to our liking.  (Oh, and ketchup.  Some of the kids had to have ketchup.)

It was one of those years when we were trying to eat as much as possible only what we produced, not from economics but from the preparedness standpoint of wanting to see if we could grow what we needed and eat it.

And the children were getting tired of spud this and spud that.  So I opened a jar of canned bacon and briefly fried it to crisp it up and add to the table for topping baked potatoes. I was really surprised at what a difference it made to everyone.  And I realized we needed a lot more bacon in our preps.  For us, it has become one of those essential foods that can really make a difference and lift our spirits.

Like I mentioned above, I've been canning bacon for years.  Learn from my experience and can what you need or want for your family without waste.

Bacon Ends and Pieces

Let's begin with canning bacon ends and pieces.  It's fast and easy.

First off, you must have a pressure canner (no, you cannot substitute a pressure cooker).  You will process your canned bacon according to the instructions provided with your canner.

Second, you will need jars.  For my family of seven, I can bacon ends and pieces in four-ounce and eight-ounce jars.

Third, you will need the bacon.  Bacon ends and pieces are sold in 2.5- to 3-pound packages at Walmart and discount grocery stores and most larger chain grocery stores.  Most of the pieces are pure fat or pure meat with very little that actually looks like bacon strips.

When I started canning bacon ends and strips, I threw away a lot of fat.  Huge waste.  I got to thinking about it and realized that the fatty pieces should just be canned separately so that they could be rendered into bacon grease later.  So that's what I do now.  When canning bacon ends and pieces, I fill four-ounce and eight-ounce jars with mostly meaty pieces, eight-ounce jars with just fat, and eight-ounce jars with pieces that look more like bacon strips.  Nothing is wasted.

When it's time to make dinner, the meaty bacon will be crisped up in a frying pan.  Of course, the bacon has already been fully cooked in the pressure canner.  But you know how fabulous the smell of bacon frying is, and most people like their bacon toppings for potatoes, soup, and salad to be crisped up a little.

The canned bacon fat gets rendered into bacon grease as needed.  I use the grease for frying potatoes and hamburgers as well as making tortillas (subject of a future post).

The pieces that look more like bacon strips (and there never is that much of this kind in the packages I buy) get eaten like bacon.

Bacon Strips

Canning bacon strips take a little (or a lot) more time.  Most bacon-canning aficionados recommend using quart jars.  If you really need your bacon in full-length strips, then this is the way to go.  But if you don't, that's a heckuva lot of bacon, or a lot of wasted space if you don't fill the jar completely.  I can fit almost a pound of bacon in a pint jar, and that is plenty for my family of seven for most any meal.  Plan accordingly for your family.

Just as for canning bacon ends, you need a pressure canner.  You will also need the right jars, wide mouth pints or quarts.  Bacon may be safely canned in regular mouth jars, but it's a lot harder to get it in and out. A wide mouth pint jar will hold just under one pound of bacon strips.

You also need parchment paper.  Wax paper will not substitute and will not hold up to pressure canning.

For best results, partially brown bacon strips on low heat.  (Higher temperatures cause more curling of the bacon, making it harder to roll up the bacon and wasting space in the jar.)  Lay bacon strips side by side in the middle of the parchment paper.  Fold the ends of the parchment paper over the ends of the bacon strips.  Tightly roll up the bacon and parchment paper, like you would roll up a sleeping bag or cinnamon rolls, really making the roll as tight as possible.  Put bacon roll in your jar.  If it doesn't fit, remove one strip of bacon at a time until it does fit.

Canning Bacon

Fill your jars with bacon, leaving the appropriate amount of head space for the size of your jars.  Wipe the rims and threads of each jar very carefully with fresh paper towels and vinegar.  Vinegar cuts grease, and even the slightest bit of bacon grease on the rim of the jar will prevent a seal from forming.  I actually recommend wiping each jar twice.  Bacon grease can be very hard to eliminate.

Put the lids and bands on and place in your canner.  Process your jars of bacon according to instructions for your canner and your canning guide for processing ham.  

After processing and cooling on the counter overnight, wash jars and bands very well in soapy water, then dry, label, and store.

When the time comes, you will be so very grateful to have these little jars of culinary joy.

UPDATE, 20 February 2019:

In researching for another post, I came across this quote from Dr. Brian Nummer, Utah State University, Extension Food Safety Specialist.  The original link is now dead; this link is to where the quote was posted.  https://www.healthycanning.com/home-canning-cured-meats-bacon-brined-corned-ham-etc/

QUESTION: I am not sure who to direct this question to, maybe you can forward it to the person who can give me the answer. A lot is going around right now about canning bacon by rolling raw or cooked bacon in parchment paper (I think that is what it is called) putting it in quart jars with no liquid and pressure canning it at 15 lbs for 90 min. Is this safe to do and store in a cold storage room for an extended period of time? Thank you for your time. Susan
ANSWER: This practice is NOT recommended . The possible reasoning behind this advice is that bacon has nitrites in it that prevent the growth of C. botulinum (the botulism microorganism). Therefore “canning it” would somehow preserve it and make it safe to eat. However, there are many holes in that reasoning.  
1. The advice is NOT research based. No one has actually studied the process to determine if indeed it is safe from food-borne illness.  
2.There is no mention of “bacon” with nitrites (cured bacon). If people think its safe, they may try other processed meats. None have been research tested and all may result in botulism.  
3. Canning something “dry” will NOT generate enough heat to make things safe. Heat is transferred by water. In a pressure canner steam heats the water inside a canned food transferring that heat to the food. A temperature of 240-250 F for 30-120 minutes is needed to make a pressure canned food safe (via a research-tested process). Without water the temperature the bacon reaches will not be enough to destroy the botulism organism!”

So now there is an answer from what I would call a reputable, reliable, knowledgeable source.  There has been no research conducted to determine if the process is safe.  

And so now I ponder whether to pull this post from the blog.  For now, I'm going to leave it up so that readers can learn from the new information.  But also, I have some thoughts.

All home-canned foods processed in a pressure canner are supposed to be heated to boiling before eating.   It's something we should all practice every single time we open a jar.  Heating the food to boiling will neutralize any botulism toxin that may have survived.  (Note that this is "neutralizing" the toxin, which is produced by the C. botulinum bacteria.  The bacteria have to be heated to 250 degrees to be killed.)  Once the toxin has been neutralized, there is no danger of developing botulism.  If the bacon is cooked after it is opened, it should theoretically be safe.  Also, the news media is pretty good about informing the public of cases of food poisoning.  These things make their rounds on the internet.  I've been paying attention to this topic for at least a decade online, and through other media since I first became interested in food storage at the age of 11.  In the mid- to late-1970s, there were all kinds of story lines in TV shows like Emergency and Medical Center where characters became sick due to botulism.  My mother was persuaded that home canning was dangerous and quit preserving her own jam, and said I was foolish to begin canning myself.  I have not been able to find anything online about anyone getting botulism from home-canned bacon.

Do your own due diligence.