Canned Nerd

I do exactly the same with my Brown Rice since it doesn't store well otherwise. White rice, however, gets made and then placed in my dehydrator to officially become Instant Rice and stores well dried. Good for many recipe mixes.

I bought some at Walmart to try them. After a few days most of the can is still there. They are good but may be an acquired taste snack. I can't eat the shell so I have to break open like a regular peanut to get to the meat. Hands get messy fast. I've heard that home canned have a better taste.

Turned 74, all alone now. Traded most of my canning to working on getting through far too many medical issues, including nearly dying from complications of gall stones, removal of gall bladder, pancreatitis, and a bad heart. Lots of experimentation on medicines to keep me earthbound and this week has been my best is a long time. May show up occasionally to say hi.

There should be just enough water to maintain the steam during the canning process. 2 to 3 inches is a good approximation, but you should pay attention to how much water is left when the lid is opened. Do NOT fill over the height of the jars since the jars will not vent properly. You only need to cover when you are doing water bath processing. Hope this answers your question

Adding any liquid is optional, raw or pre-cooked, since the meat/poultry does produce quite a bit of its own juice. A flavored liquid will generally add flavor. If pre-cooking just remember to avoid excess oil. You may have to experiment. Smoke flavor may change during the canning process.

I'm still eating food from 2006 that was already expired or near so since it was obtained from a food distribution charity, both home and commercially canned, and of course dehydrated stuff. I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as the container is intact but I do encourage rotation.

Oops I blew it on my previous post. I ordered a carton of pint jar boxes and inserts, thinking they were separate items, but the first item (S-18943) is "both" the box and the inserts. I didn't see the "kit" in the description. The second item was actually a dozen pint jars, the last thing I needed under the circumstances since I have several hundred empty jars already. The reason I know is because the shipment just arrived and I was surprised to find a case of pint jars in the box besides the boxes and inserts. It wasn't until I had another jolt of caffeine and re-read the packing list over a few times that the smarts finally sunk in.

From my files.... a Hint -- tiny amount (1/2 drop) a Drop -- 1/64 tsp (1/2 smidgen) a Smidgen -- 1/32 tsp (1/2 pinch) a Pinch -- 1/16 tsp (1/2 dash) a Dash -- 1/8 tsp (1/2 tad) a Tad -- 1/4 tsp Other measures that are useful.... 1/4 stick butter -- 2 Tbsp 1 stick butter -- 1/2 cup Juice of 1 lemon -- 3 Tbsp Juice of 1 orange -- 1/2 cup

I just ordered new boxes and insert separaters for Pint jars from ULINE (http://www.uline.com) at a cost of $4.00 each + shipping. They also offer for other size jars also and inserts are optional but I prefer them since they provide added strength when stacking. 10 KT S-18943 PINT CANNING JAR BOX KIT $2.80 $28.00 12 EA S-17491 16 OZ. REGULAR MOUTH CANN $1.20 $14.40

The processing time would remain the same. It's not a 'cooking' time but a processing time to kill a toxic spore.

I've seen it and put it in the same category as "As Seen on TV". They are designed to sell their product without regard or even knowledge of the end result. I have one of the Electric Cookers that has an optional 10psi setting, big enough for maybe 3 pints, but I would never consider it truly safe for pressure canning. Too many variables.

Just emptied 5 trays of dehydrated brown rice and more to be done in the coming days of cold weather. The dehydrator is a nice way to warm the kitchen. I'm storing the rice in 2 quart glass jars that used to hold Vlasic pickles (my candy vice) but first the rice goes into a large dish where the rice is lightly pounded -- like a mortar and pestle -- to separate the rice before storing. Too much of a hassle to try to separate during the drying process. I'm also dehydrating 'nests' of cooked spaghetti and also other bags/boxes of pastas that are getting old in my pantry. I love having the dehydrated cooked noodles that can be added to a meal without lots of pre-planning, requiring only a 1:1 addition of hot water to hydrate. I'm curious though about the cooking water for the pasta.....has anyone used it more than one time?

Congratulations. I hope you enjoy the experience. Just make sure to experiment with different levels of carbonation to find the level you like the most. Also make sure you add the syrup to the bottle at an angle to avoid agitating the bubbles.

Just found this information and thought I would pass it on for those that might be interested in growing and making their own cooking oil. http://www.instructables.com/id/Grow-Your-Own-Cooking-Oil/?ALLSTEPS

Off to my BB&B today to replace my CO2 cartridge and check out the latest prices for the syrups. Frustrated by the increased prices. At least I have my $5 off coupon in my pocket which takes some of the pain away.

I would just say to be wary of any of the older books (pre-90's). Awhile back I got a newer book "Canning for a New Generation" by Liana Krissoff because I wanted to see how off she was from following the standard rules (hmmm, curiosity killed the cat). For myself only, since I'm an old fart and alone, I'm willing to soften the rules a little to try something new, but there are still items I would prefer to ignore. Others are okay. I personally wouldn't recommend it to the newbie but someone who truly knows safe from not should find it interesting.

Food that was grown in dirt instead of 'printed'.

Your first cartridge will be $30-$35 and don't forget sales tax so have some money on hand to spend. You might want to buy a couple bottles of syrup too since your initial purchase will only contain samples. What I love most about the SodaStream is you control the amount of carbonation. I'm a '3' Splat/Burp person which you will understand more of when you use the unit. Others like the bubbles-up-the-nose and go to a '5'. And of course you also control the amount of syrup used. I'm just so sad that prices have gone so high.

That's a pretty good gift certificate. Go for it IMO. There are many DIY Syrups showing up on the Internet now because of the higher prices, if you search. Not as concentrated as the SodaStream but useable and perhaps cheaper. The SodaStream is 'only' to make the sparkling water. The flavoring is added after-the-fact so allow your imagination to go wild, Also think about the Torani and Snowcone syrups. I bought a 2nd cartridge after awhile so I had something when the first went empty and time passed before a replacement was obtained.

I've owned a SodaStream (I know it better as Soda Club) since almost the very beginning when it was known in the RV and Boat communities as a way to avoid carrying cases of cans and disposing of same. The CO2 cartridges were twice as big and the syrup bottles were $2.99. <sigh> You could also find them online and it was a pretty good deal. All that changed when the name changed to SodaStream. I don't know what's going on these days, capitalism at its best/worst I guess. The prices for the regular sysrups (Diet Coke being the most popular I think) have jumped to $5.97 to $9.99 each at BB&B and Wal-Mart the two places I buy from regularly now. Those are the prices I will stop buying. And Wal-Mart seems to have stopped stocking the shelves so something is up. I love my 'SodaStream' and would normally continue to highly recommend it, but the prices today are questionable and IMHO greedy and the units themselves are becoming 'trendy'. If you have the money for it and can afford the supplies, then do it to avoid dealing with recycling bottles and cans. The refill exchange on the CO2 has been about $15, half the price of a new boxed cartridge. I find it intriguing that the've come out with an even smaller cartridge. I'm concerned the greedy posture will continue at which point I will jump off.

If anyone is curious about the 'not tilting' issue I'm sure it is mentioned somewhere on the National Center for Home Food Preservation website, which is where most of my knowledge comes from. In fact I opened their 'So Easy To Preserve' book and there it was on page 31 at the top of the page, very first sentence. But I totally agree it is a hard habit to break even in knowing.

Anything not in a can, usually a sealed plastic container of some form, is 'radiated' to kill bacteria. Not something that can be done in the home but a nice evolution in food storage and nutrition. Originally a lot of people were scared by the word 'radiated' so companies just eventually put the product out and didn't say anything with that word.

Off the top of my head that would appear to be temperature shock. The most common is direct contact with the heat source but since you say you were using the platform plate I would look at your heat source, possibly butane/propane? Even with a platform a high BTU heat source could still be too much. Another cause is loss of water. You should still have about an inch of water left in the canner at the end of processing. Another possible cause is removal of the lid to soon/fast causing a dramatic exposure of cool air to the superheated jars/water. Less common is a cracked or chipped jar. This is just an idea of things to look at when going back over your usual processing steps.

You probably don't even need to wipe since it will evaporate in seconds coming out of a pressure canner. And of course wait 10-15 minutes before removing the unpressurized canner lid so the jars/lids are not so hyper when exposed to normal air.