Canned Nerd

My sympathies. I had something similar for several years. My doctor said I had a form of severe Arthritis and not much I could do about it also. Walked like a penguin with a cane and was about to get a walker the pain was so bad in the feet and in my right wrist. To make a short story long, another doctor friend said I should try "Allopurinol" and "Colcrys" since it appeared that I had GOUT not Arthritis though they are related. I've been functioning normally ever since. No pain no cane. Oh yah, I changed doctors for having put me through pain for years for no reason. Don't give up hope and get other opinions and tests. You might actually find a solution.

My first question is what pressure is it capable of producing? Pressure Canners (sans dial gauge) will have a weight gauge capable of 5#, 10# and 15# psi.

The reason for 'boiling' before eating, based on my early understanding, was to kill the poisons that sometimes occurred with (improperly) canned foods. People learned that boiling the food coming out of the container would most likely (not always) prevent whatever was making people ill or worse. They did this even for commercially canned food. The scare was very real. This was later learned to be the Botulism toxin and the survival of the C. Botulinum spore that grew the toxin. I was intrigued by a recent viewing of oldie "Emergency" on TV involving a case of "Botulinum Intoxication" caused by a Stroganoff casserole.

Lindals, a pressure "cooker" is not any use for canning meat anyway since you need a pressure "canner".

Opened a jar of my canned chicken, some canned potatoes, and whipped together some chicken gravy from a homemade mix. Nothing special other than the chicken and potatoes were from 2008 and they were as flavorful as the first day they were canned.

I'm fortunate in many ways since I only have to store for myself, no other family or friends involved, and I have about a year's worth of food and as much water as I'm able to work with. When you start adding extra people into the mix the amount needed to store can go beyond your available space. I can suggest you store what you can with the space available and you are comfortable with. It should be part of your regular pantry so foods are regularly rotated and not just stored away and forgotten. I preserve and store more as an effort to stave off higher prices from inflation and reduced availability. Water is maintained for emergency situations, assuming I survive the emergency. You can go without food for a long time, but not water.

Just a reminder for us preppers, having dehydrated food has its advantages but it may not be an advantage in an emergency situation where water (or the ability to boil it) is not available or in limited supply.

I'm doing similar, but with cans of Mixed Vegetables that have been on my prep shelves for too many years and kind of ignored during my normal rotation consumption. Still good but decided to make space for better/newer items so I'm dehydrating the contents which will make nice additions to future soups.

I remembered at one time seeing a sign encouraging bulk purchases for parties so I assume it would be worth asking.

For me it was a clear bag labeled "Fajita Mix Peppers & Onion (10 oz)". First time I've ever seen it. Company was Taylor Farms Pacific, Tracy, CA 95376. It's probably a local thing. Nothing more than thinly sliced colored bell pepper and onion.

Thanks for the note since I saw the same thing today at my 99 Cent store and wouldn't have noticed it without your comment still in my head. Got a couple bags to try in the dehydrator. Smell is awsome.

I love store specials when their produce is reaching the Sell By dates. I got 4 packages of Baby Portabello mushrooms at $0.50 each which went immediately into the dehydrator. Also had frozen hashbrowns at 50% off which almost caused a audible giggle of happiness when I saw them. I love my dehydrated hashbrowns. I also picked up multiple loaves of sandwich bread at $0.59/ea for making croutons.

Canning meat is sooooooo much easier than doing veggies.

I believe the mind-set is if it is on the Internet, especially FaceBook, it has to be true.

I joined its forum recently in order to respond (correctly) to questions that show up there. I was hoping to get some interaction going but nada so far.

Also keep in mind that jars need to be consumed quickly once opened since there are no preservatives. Even with a large family quart-size jars would be impractical and sometimes even a pint jar can be too big to finish off in short order.

I have lots of 'red seal' $2 bills that I would love to joke with some of the young cashiers, except those are worth more than their face value now. Sold a bunch on eBay awhile back for a good price. It would be interesting to use 50 cent or Susan B. Anthony coins in the same way.

I've never seen a recipe where they had to be soaked first. Seems to be the exact opposite with roasting them first and having them completely dry, then oil is added to make the butter.

Unfortunately absolute cleanliness (as in bacteria/germs) is just in the eye of the beholder and not in fact, especially when exposed to the air we breathe. One has to give thanks for a normally efficient immune system that handles our everyday bacterias in our home.

I don't know about cheap based on the number of cans, but it sure is convenient since it uses just about every canned food in my pantry. Definitely plan on making it though I will have to eat it for days on end (no room in freezer to store it for future).

I don't know about anybody else but Tomato Paste to me has more intense flavor than just using sauce.

I'm going to plant mine outside in the dirt, as soon as the weather clears up, to see how they do.

I do all three on a regular basis and each has its place and purpose. Canning and Freezing are fairly obvious. If for nothing else dehydrating is great for ripe produce, fruits and scraps that might otherwise just be tossed into the compost....such as celery tops/leaves which makes great celery powder. Then there is mushrooms, tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, bell peppers, garlic, and the list goes on and on. I love dehydrating fruits for snacks. I couldn't survive without my dehydrator.

Dehydrating Oranges and Meyer Lemons taken from my neighbors' trees -- Orange tree from my neighbor to the right and the Lemon Tree with my neighbor from the left side. Both of them purposely leave branches growing on to their neighbor's side so we can enjoy some of the bounty. First the peel (zest) is removed and then the fruit sliced. All goes into the dehydrator that I don't use immediately as fresh.

I keep a supply of dehydrated rice, especially brown rice, in my supplies for the very reason that 'heat' and 'water' may be of limited availability in a bug-out situation. I especially like that it can be added directly to another food with liquid in it without having to be cooked separately.