the other day. What if we were in a situation where we were living off just our food storage. And what if the electricity had gone away so the freezer wasn't freezing any more. That would mean there was no frozen meat left. All of my hamburger in jars is browned and canned - not in patty form. Just what would I give after a while for a hamburger patty or a cheeseburger on a bun. I have seen videos about canning hamburger and sausage patties. I think I need to give that a try. I will order some hamburger in two weeks and see what happens.
I have four family sized packages of chicken legs ordered for delivery tomorrow. Usually when I can chicken legs or thighs, I raw pack them in wide mouth jars and can them without liquid. That works well except when the meat doesn't make enough of its own juices and the parts that are not covered in liquid turn really dark in color. They aren't bad or spoiled - just ugly. This time I think I will lightly brown the legs first and then pack them in jars, adding a chicken bouillon cube to each jar and then hot water. I think that will solve the problem of ugly chicken legs and add flavor at the same time.
Sometimes we need to think a little bit outside the box. For instance, among preppers we always hear about storing rice and dry beans. That is a good thing to do, but what happens when we want beans for a meal and water is at a premium and so is cooking fuel. Even with soaking beans overnight, it takes considerable time to cook them. I have been running a load of various kinds of beans through my pressure canner now and then, or if I don't have a full canner load of meat, I will add jars of beans to make a full load, as the canning times are similar. Then when I want beans for a meal, there they are on the shelf, fully cooked and just need to be added to soup or heated for a meal. So far I have navy beans, great northern beans, kidney beans and some of those 15 bean soup mixes canned and on the shelf. I need to can up other varieties.
If I could figure out a way to successfully can rice, I would do it. But so far it hasn't worked for me. Rice added to chicken soup all but disappeared during the canning process.
I have done some experimenting with canning various kinds of meat. Ground beef for Sloppy Joe's didn't turn out well. The taste changed in the process and the change wasn't good. It had sort of a scorched flavor. The taste convinced me not to do that again. Taco meat, however, was a success as was barbecued pork for sandwiches. Although I usually can ingredients rather than the finished dish, once in a while it is nice to be able to open a jar, heat it up and have a meal.
I think that in an SHTF situation, variety in food will be welcome. I know that if all I had to eat was beans and rice, I would soon be much more grumpy than I am now. :)
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And we can't have THAT! - lol
ReplyDeleteOh, yes we can, Gorges...You have seen my rants!!
DeleteBy the way, I like your mosquito meme tonight. Reminds me of the saying here in Minnesota. When you kill a mosquito, save it. They are so big here it only takes three to make a meal. :)
I spent time in Alaska. The mosquito is the state bird; so big they have tail numbers on them!
DeletePete...Some of those Alaskan mosquitoes relatives must have found their way to Minnesota. But I do believe you win on the size of them. Good one. :)
Deletelol
ReplyDeleteI think about these things, too. I have cans of dried beans, but have not canned them cooked. I should. I have a new canner given to me, but I have not had the fortitude to can meat. I am hoping to find a young person who wants to can and have that person help me with the canning lifting in exchange for some of the canned product. There is a mosquito stalking me right now. I need to go get my electric flyswatter and deal with it.
ReplyDeleteLinda...Lifting the jars out of the pressure canner is sometimes the hardest part for me, too. But slow and easy usually works. Take your time - there is no rush.
DeleteMeat is one of the easiest foods to can. Most of it can just be packed into the jars raw and canned. It is just a matter of following the instructions for pressure and time. You are a smart lady. I know you can do it.
I haven't seen a mosquito yet, but the season is still young. An electric flyswatter? Classy!!
Vicki,
DeleteSometimes I have problems just lifting one jar. So, I have to be careful not to drop things. I have no doubt I have the knowledge and skill to do it. I saw my first mosquito in January. It has been that warm here. Now, there are hundreds to attack me. I killed about 20 that landed on me during a bit of the evening.
The electric swatter if from Lowe's. I never or rarely swing it, just raising it up under a mosquito or moth. Flies are hard to kill because they are so fast. Do not get the electric swatter from Harbor Freight. They did not work at all, but I got them because they were cheap. So, they went into the trash. When fruit flies take over, I just move the swatter slowly and listen to the pops as they die in droves. Tommy gets a kick out of hearing them die when I use it.
I have a hanging bug zapper in the chicken coop. I took the cage off of it so the flies could land right on the electrodes. It's gotten to the point where the chickens hear the zap and immediately run to the ground under the zapper, looking for the tasty morsels left behind!
DeleteI will take chickens and a bug zapper for entertainment over late night comedians, any day of the week. :)
DeleteVicki, you just pigeonholed yourself...
DeleteY'know... "If your idea of entertainment is a bug zapper and a six-pack... you might be a redneck..."
...Count me in as well...
I had one of those antique glass fly traps. Y'know; the ones with the hole in the bottom where the flies could fly in, but couldn't get out. I had it in the coop as well. Within a week, the thing was FULL. There were THOUSANDS of flies in the thing. "What do I do now?" I asked myself. I ended up holding the trap right under that bug zapper and pulling the cork off the top. The flies flew out and immediately went off to Valhalla. I think that zapper dimmed the lights in the whole town. The smoke...
The STINK! The chickens converged on the carnage and had the feast of their lives. I could have sworn I heard one of them yelling "BONANZA!..."
Pete...
DeleteYep...That would be me! Except the six-pack would have to be coffee. I'm thinking there might be several of Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck" statements that could apply here.
Your description of the chickens hitting the mother lode of tasty flies had me giggling like a school girl. I had visions of your bug zapper causing a statewide power outage. I get it. After all, you are talking to someone who was raising 4 small kids who could drink milk faster than I could get to town to buy it, so I traded my husband's old Fairlane that was up on blocks for a cow. He wasn't too pleased, but the kids had milk and I had cream and butter. Probably doesn't get much more redneck than that. :)
Yup; If you have a home that's mobile, and fourteen cars that aren't... you might be a redneck...
DeleteFairlane, huh... My first car was a '59 Fairlane...
Pete...Nope. Was an old farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere and only one dead car. I don't know what year the Fairlane was, but it was one of those - "I'm gonna restore that car someday" - kind of things. Someday never came - hence the cow. :)
DeleteOne benefit of package sizes getting smaller is that the canned beans in the caselot sale are now 6 cans/case instead of 12 cans/case. It's still the same price, just a smaller 'foot print' so to speak. I buy a few cases each time the sale roles around so I've got precooked beans. Not as thrifty as a sack of beans but much easier for me to handle.
ReplyDeleteThe rain that was forecast didn't materialize so I'm off to water the gardens. Take good care.
Cheers, SJ
SJ...As time rolls on, as it seems to do in spite of me wishing it were different, I am finding that buying case lots makes more sense to me than it did when I was younger and stronger. I will continue to home can as long as I am physically able, but I fear I am limited as to what I can still do. My tomato product supply this year will be purchased in tins. So will the fruit except for apples if I can get my hands on some. I have a sneaking suspicion that my Sam's Club outing in the fall will be mostly for canned goods. I am beginning to be alright with that. :)
DeleteWe had some lovely, dry days here, but the weather radar shows rain headed our way and the forecast is for showers all weekend. Hope you are getting more strawberries than the birds are!
Good morning...
ReplyDeleteRain, rain go away! Earlier this week we were gifted almost 3 inches of the wet stuff in less than 24 hours. As I write this, we are receiving showers with threats of high winds, hail, possible tornadoes and of course several more inches of rain. I will most likely be complaining of dry weather in a month or two; begging for a nice shower. We farmers are kinda picky about our weather.
Vicki, I do agree with you about the homecanning of meat. While it seems a little intimidating for beginners, it really isn't any more difficult than vegetables or fruits. The super big secret is...tada...reading and following proper methods.
I had plans to pick strawberries this morning but the flies and rain changed my mind. I'll settle for making a batch of strawberry rhubarb jam to put on my pantry shelves...so good in the winter months.
I loved your reply to Frank and Fern's recent posting. You are absolutely spot on. Without faith and hope we lose our focus and purpose in life.
Take care and prepare, CWfromIowa
CW...I keep an eye on the weather radar. Kind of a hold-over from when I was on a farm. The nasty stuff seems to go north of us and south of us, giving us showers but no major storms or vast amounts of rain. Seems like you in Iowa have really been getting nailed. I think I feel guilty.
DeleteUnless you are a vegetarian, meat for meals is important. I think if a person has a variety of meats on the food storage shelf, it makes meal planning easier. We don't need a whole beef roast or chicken, but if we have smaller amounts to add to dishes, it makes life more pleasant. I have 7 quarts of chicken legs in the canner right now and 5 more waiting. They make the best - and easiest - chicken and dumplings or can be used many ways.
I am hoarding the strawberry/rhubarb jam I made a couple of years ago. It is soooo good! Made some strawberry/rhubarb sauce too, that is to die for over ice cream.
I know that sometimes I sound like a Pollyanna, and I know that train wreck is right around the corner. But even with all of our warts, we are still the best nation in the world to live in. I don't see millions of Americans forming caravans and heading off to Canada or Mexico or anywhere else. I just love my country way too much to give up. That and there is this stubborn streak...
You do post the most stop and think posts. I feel its best to be able to have food to eat hot and cold. Beans are one of those foods. I was camping all I had left was beans, so I ate them cold. No time to heat before we broke camp. Could you add chicken stock or beef stock before canning.??
ReplyDeleteRob...You are spot on about having food that can be eaten both hot and cold. One of the reasons we prep is to have food on hand for really critical situations where that is all we can get. I doubt anyone who is hungry bordering on starvation is going to care if food is warmed. That's the beauty of home canned food - it is fully cooked and can be eaten cold if necessary.
DeleteYou can add stock to almost any meat you can. I don't add liquid to hamburger because I don't like the results. To me it is sort of like dog food. Instead, I brown it, pack it into jars and can it that way. I don't add liquid to bacon, either. But for chicken, beef, pork, etc., I usually add liquid. It can be stock or water. Because I like to save my canned stock for soups and stews and because I have a lazy streak, lately I have been adding a half teaspoon of dry bouillon to pint jars of meat or one bouillon cube to quart jars where I want to add liquid. The chicken legs I canned yesterday make their own juices while processing, so I added a bouillon cube and about 3/4 cup of water to each quart jar. That made enough liquid total to cover the chicken when it was done. The bouillon or stock adds flavor.
I hope I haven't totally confused you. I confuse myself sometimes. :)
It makes sense to me. I keep thinking about hard tack or rye crisp crackers/bread. that plus jerky, as none cooking food. If push comes to shove can you Sterno in your place.?? What about a small propane camping stove, using the small bottles you can buy, not the 20 lb bottles for outdoor grills.
DeleteRob...There is an experiment I'm going to try next time I order groceries. I have seen videos on dry canning crackers for long term storage. It involves putting crackers into quart canning jars and putting them in a low oven - 225 degrees, maybe - for maybe 20 minutes and then adding the lids and rings. The heat from the jars seals the lids. I can't remember right now the exact procedure, but there are several YouTube videos on the subject. Just do a search. It might be a good way to keep crackers from going stale.
DeleteI have a propane camping stove and a propane space heater along with a few small bottles of propane, but I am reluctant to store more propane until I can find a better, well ventilated way to store them.
I can use Sterno here. Duane says they use it all the time at the restaurant to keep buffet foods warm. Next time I get to Wal Mart or Sams, I am looking to buy at least one case and probably more. There is no problem keeping Sterno stored. It won't leak like propane can sometimes do. And I have seen in places that sell camping equipment, small metal Sterno stoves that fit over a can of Sterno and will hold a coffee pot or medium sized saucepan for simple cooking. That is fairly cheap and would be worth its weight in gold just to use for hot water to make coffee. :)
You can get a hose to connect the 20 lb. propane tanks to the camp stove. When I was camping with the scouts, I also had a tree that mounted on the tank. The tree had a place to connect the hose to the camp stove and at the top a connection to screw on a propane lamp. I was leery of the boys running around so I made a wooden base in which to set the tank to make it more stable.
DeleteJohn S. Russell
John...That sounds like a great way to make use of a larger propane tank. And I am copying your comment to keep for future reference. My problem is that I live in a very small apartment. I have half a dozen of the small tanks stored, but am reluctant to store any more until I can figure out a way to do it that is safe. There was a fire in one of the ground floor apartments a few years ago. If there had been propane tanks in that apartment, the damage could have been more disastrous than it was. Which is one reason I am looking at Sterno for emergency use. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Deletei think 'ask jackie' at backwoods home magazine cans patties ans she has published many recipes
ReplyDeletecountryside magazine years ago did dry canning report on rice,flour, and other dry foods canned in oven
ReplyDeletedeb...Thanks for the information. I know that Jackie has a wealth of canning information. I will see if I can find her article on canning patties. I haven't tried dry canning anything yet, mostly because most of my jars are in use, but I think I will give it a test run with crackers. Hope all is well in your world.
Delete