Canning 101...Help me!

[Ldavis24]

So my canning adventures haven't always gone well but I am currently simmering chicken stock that has been going on it's 18th hour or so and I will need to can it this evening.This stock is like gold from chickens I slaughtered myself and I DO NOT want to waste it. It is the best stock I have ever made and I want to can it but I need some basic rules for canning so I don't contaminate/ruin the stock...I have my dishwasher that can sanitize the jars/lids but what else do I need to know...

I'm gonna post pics of the stock compared to supermarket stock because it has blown my mind the difference there is! Can't help but brag a little.

[Arduinna]

Follow the directions for your pressure canner. Personally I do not use the dishwasher as I do not trust it to sanitize anything. I heat my jars and lids on the stove. I follow Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving and pressure can my chicken stock 25 minutes for quarts. I use a weighted gauge instead of the dial, although I still have the dial on there so I know it's at 11 lbs minimum, which is what I need for my altitude, not sure what yours is. 

I'd have started with something easier as a first time canner. High acid foods are better to learn on IMO and safer. I started with jams. 

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by Arduinna 

Follow the directions for your pressure canner. Personally I do not use the dishwasher as I do not trust it to sanitize anything. I heat my jars and lids on the stove. I follow Ball's Complete Book of Home Preserving and pressure can my chicken stock 25 minutes for quarts. I use a weighted gauge instead of the dial, although I still have the dial on there so I know it's at 11 lbs minimum, which is what I need for my altitude, not sure what yours is. 

I'd have started with something easier as a first time canner. High acid foods are better to learn on IMO and safer. I started with jams. 

yeah jams seemed so simple when I did them, now I am feeling unsure about the stock, maybe I will just freeze it this batch and woirk on my canning skills in the meantime.. I have to drag everything out of the attic anyway since I haven't tried it in ages. The stock is to time intensive to ruin it because I didn't can it right!

Thanks for the tips, I gotta pull everything out and figure this out for the next project..
 

[velochic]

Pressure canning is a lot different than just water bath canning.  I would do something more simple than meat-based foods if you're new to it.  I do pressure can meat, but I started pressure canning with vegetables just because they took less time.  If your stock is done, now is not the time to start learning how to pressure can it.  You need to prepare and read some if you've never pressure canned.  Sounds like you've got a good plan by getting things together for next time.  Good luck and happy canning!!  I love canning season and seeing all of those newly canned foods on my shelves.

Edited by velochic - 5/18/11 at 11:17am

[Ldavis24]

yeah I've done the water bath but pressure sounds highly labor intensive...I think I will spare my good stock and start small...My good friends mom actually does a ton of canning of all things so I think I will make a trip to her house down the road and ask her to let me help next time she is canning.!

[Arduinna]

The first thing I pressure canned was stock, in fact it's the primary reason I bought my pressure canner. But I did have a lot of experience with BWB canning and using a pressure cooker. It's really not that labor intensive. But if you are using a gauge instead of a weight it needs to be tested and calibrated before use. Other than that, the main differences are allowing it to vent, getting it to pressure and making sure it stays at pressure the entire time and then letting it naturally come down in pressure as it cools before opening. 

I did a test batch with just water in a canning jar before I canned stock. You could try that. I also didn't want to mess up my good stock the first time so this gave me a confidence boost. You can just put your stock in the fridge and can it in a day or two after you get organized and feel ready to tackle it for the first time. 

[Ldavis24]

Originally Posted by Arduinna 

The first thing I pressure canned was stock, in fact it's the primary reason I bought my pressure canner. But I did have a lot of experience with BWB canning and using a pressure cooker. It's really not that labor intensive. But if you are using a gauge instead of a weight it needs to be tested and calibrated before use. Other than that, the main differences are allowing it to vent, getting it to pressure and making sure it stays at pressure the entire time and then letting it naturally come down in pressure as it cools before opening. 

I did a test batch with just water in a canning jar before I canned stock. You could try that. I also didn't want to mess up my good stock the first time so this gave me a confidence boost. You can just put your stock in the fridge and can it in a day or two after you get organized and feel ready to tackle it for the first time. 

ahh thank you for the water tip!

I think I will actually try it with water first...I'm unhealthily attached to the stock I made...to the point where I think it is too awesome to eat...because I am nuts..

It's the first stock I made with birds I slaughtered myself and roasting the ingredients before simmering and it's been cooking for over 24 hours now and apparently as I keep typing I realize how crazy I am!....Anyway I very much appreciate the tips and I think trying with water is a great idea. I will just throw the stock in the fridge while I dig out all the canning supplies I have stored somewhere.

[Arduinna]

Glad you found the canned water suggestion helpful, when I did it I thought it was pretty funny that I now had canned water. 

Anyway, I forgot to say this. You may already know this, but I thought I'd just toss it out there. Other people may have a different method, but what I do it put the stove on high to get the water boiling ASAP but that means once I've gone through the steps of venting, putting the weighted gauge on and bringing it up to pressure I need to turn the heat down some. Once it's at the correct pressure you want to maintain that. If you leave the heat on high, the pressure will get too high. That is another thing that is useful to practice during the canning water test run, how high does the heat need to be to maintain the pressure for your altitude. 

If you have used a pressure cooker, you probably already have that mastered as it uses a similar process to maintain the correct pressure in the cooker ( except we don't vent a pressure cooker before bringing it to pressure, like in the canner). 

[BetsyS]

The first thing I canned in my pressure canner was dried beans.  They can really well (and are very convenient), but worse case scenario, you aren't out that much money, cause they are so cheap.

[Arduinna]

I've thought doing that, how do you do it so they aren't over cooked? Do you just soak them and then can?

[JElaineB]

Originally Posted by Arduinna 

I've thought doing that, how do you do it so they aren't over cooked? Do you just soak them and then can?

Not the PP but my DH has this awesome method of canning dried beans, he read about in Backwoods Home Magazine. He puts about 1/2 cup dried beans, 1/2 tsp. salt and any desired spices (optional), such as 3/4 tsp. chili powder, or 3/4 tsp. no-salt added taco seasoning, etc. into a clean pint jar. Fill to within 1 inch of top with boiling water. Pressure can 10 lbs for 75 min (sea level). Works great.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by JElaineB 

Originally Posted by Arduinna 

I've thought doing that, how do you do it so they aren't over cooked? Do you just soak them and then can?

Not the PP but my DH has this awesome method of canning dried beans, he read about in Backwoods Home Magazine. He puts about 1/2 cup dried beans, 1/2 tsp. salt and any desired spices (optional), such as 3/4 tsp. chili powder, or 3/4 tsp. no-salt added taco seasoning, etc. into a clean pint jar. Fill to within 1 inch of top with boiling water. Pressure can 10 lbs for 75 min (sea level). Works great.

I've always pressure canned mine at 10lbs./ 75 minutes, but I do cook them first and they've never been overdone for me.  I do an overnight soak, drain, refill with water and simmer for 30 minutes.  Hot pack and process.  I'm going to try this process, though, at least once because that would be a huge time saver to not have to soak, cook, then hot pack.  Since I process my cooked beans exactly as you do your dried I'm wondering what the texture difference might be.

So, I guess my question is if you have to cook the beans any more after you open the jars or are they tender enough to use straight-away?  (As opposed to being tender enough to add to soup, for example, that will be cooked another hour or two on the stove, but not tender enough to eat straight out of the jar in a dish, such as cold bean salad, that will not be cooked at all.)

[JElaineB]

Originally Posted by velochic 

Originally Posted by JElaineB

Originally Posted by Arduinna

I've thought doing that, how do you do it so they aren't over cooked? Do you just soak them and then can?

Not the PP but my DH has this awesome method of canning dried beans, he read about in Backwoods Home Magazine. He puts about 1/2 cup dried beans, 1/2 tsp. salt and any desired spices (optional), such as 3/4 tsp. chili powder, or 3/4 tsp. no-salt added taco seasoning, etc. into a clean pint jar. Fill to within 1 inch of top with boiling water. Pressure can 10 lbs for 75 min (sea level). Works great.

I've always pressure canned mine at 10lbs./ 75 minutes, but I do cook them first and they've never been overdone for me. I do an overnight soak, drain, refill with water and simmer for 30 minutes. Hot pack and process. I'm going to try this process, though, at least once because that would be a huge time saver to not have to soak, cook, then hot pack. Since I process my cooked beans exactly as you do your dried I'm wondering what the texture difference might be.

So, I guess my question is if you have to cook the beans any more after you open the jars or are they tender enough to use straight-away? (As opposed to being tender enough to add to soup, for example, that will be cooked another hour or two on the stove, but not tender enough to eat straight out of the jar in a dish, such as cold bean salad, that will not be cooked at all.)

My husband eats these straight out of the jar for lunch, he doesn't even heat them. They are a good texture, firm but not overly so. He has canned pintos, navy beans, Jacob's cattle, and garbonzos this way and they all worked fine.