I did ground hamburger this morning. Used a Weck jar to try it out.
Do both steps at the same time like an assembly line?We have been canning some lately and using a lot of stock, making the stock takes a lot of time and requires cleanup after each batch... I was thinking about increasing the volume of stock that we make at one time to reduce my total labor... What I have come up with is to use a water bath canner and rack to make LARGE batch of chicken stock at one time. I have a water bath canner and 2 racks so I am thinking I will use the worst rack, tie a string to each of the handles, place all the whole chickens on the rack (arranged like canning jars), bring the stock up to the point where you would de-bone the chicken, lift the rack and hook it to the sides, de-bone all the chickens, remove the empty rack, place the chicken bones and skin back in the pot, add a gallon or 2 of water (to displace the removed chicken) and finish making the stock..... any thought? Does this sound reasonable? What would you do to make the process better?
FYI today we are making beef stock, so I will not be trying this before Sunday afternoon......
1st question Urban, when do you sleep?When it was all said and done we got about 3 1/2 gallons of clean Beef stock made and the potato leek soup canned. The Beef Stock looks like a cross between coffee and tea..... nice and dark.... once we removed the fat and gristle we ended up with about 3/4 of a gallon of cleaned pulled beef. We needed to cut up veggies and meat for tomorrow's canning, but my body just aches all over... took some Tylenol and I'm ready to call it a night.
I am currently using a 22 qt stainless steel water bath canner to make the stock in....
A whole pig? Urban might be able to say how many pounds per jar but my guess would be 2# or less per qt. That's when salting and drying start coming into play.So while jars are currently plentyful here I have been wondering. I case the lights were to go out for an extended time. How many jars to can a pig and what size? I was thinking quart size large mouth for most of it. I really have no idea how many jars we need. I do know my wife's idea of plenty is off. I had purchased probably 20 cases and we went through half of it just with gardening.
I would estimate about 2#s of clean meat per quart jar. The larger cuts may actually be a little less #s per jar because of the empty space...So while jars are currently plentyful here I have been wondering. I case the lights were to go out for an extended time. How many jars to can a pig and what size? I was thinking quart size large mouth for most of it. I really have no idea how many jars we need. I do know my wife's idea of plenty is off. I had purchased probably 20 cases and we went through half of it just with gardening.
Get some rest UHI've been burning the candle at both ends making recipes based on the wife's instructions as I went and Murphy showed up today. We were canning Chili and at the end of the session we still had lots of meat, apparently I doubled the meat but not the dipping... So tonight we sorted beans and will try to do it again tomorrow..... I am very tired and as soon as I can open the pressure canner I will be calling it a night. The wife is so worn she keeps forgetting what she is doing.. I think that we need to take off a couple of days... But I doubt that my wife will stand for that, after all there are still 3 things on her canning list....
Time for a break. Mistakes happen when you get so tired. BE SAFEI've been burning the candle at both ends making recipes based on the wife's instructions as I went and Murphy showed up today. We were canning Chili and at the end of the session we still had lots of meat, apparently I doubled the meat but not the dipping... So tonight we sorted beans and will try to do it again tomorrow..... I am very tired and as soon as I can open the pressure canner I will be calling it a night. The wife is so worn she keeps forgetting what she is doing.. I think that we need to take off a couple of days... But I doubt that my wife will stand for that, after all there are still 3 things on her canning list....
UH this isn't really a "meal" but is certainly a time saver. Have you ever canned plain beans - so they are cooked when you need them and can just add them to whatever it is you are making? (so no soaking overnight) I will attach a link that is the same way I do it in case you're interested.Yesterday I received additions to my canning supplies, a 16 qt stock pot to supplement the 22 qt one I had, their lids are interchangeable with the water bath unit I have.... I also got a 23 qt pressure canner that will work with my stove top, so now I have redundancy....
At lunch we de-boned 2 chickens and their remains are simmering in the stock pot.... The wife will be sorting dry beans tonight and we will be hydrating them over night... Tomorrow afternoon we will kick-off the last days of canning quick meals, hope to be done by noon Saturday.
We do can plan beans, but some of our beans are a little old (2008) so we hydrate them before we can them... mostly pinto and kidney...UH this isn't really a "meal" but is certainly a time saver. Have you ever canned plain beans - so they are cooked when you need them and can just add them to whatever it is you are making? (so no soaking overnight) I will attach a link that is the same way I do it in case you're interested.
http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2013/02/canning-dried-beans.html
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