Joining the canning crowd

[dogmom4]

A couple weeks back a friend was substitute teaching at my center. She came in and said she had some canned tuna for me. (Over the years she has given me vaccuum sealed tuna for the freezer that her hubby catches). She sets some jars down on the counter and it took me a full minute for it to register...they were in mason jars and it was tuna...so it had to be pressure canned. (Yes, I learned that from here). Talk about exciting! When I asked her if she pressured canned the her response was "Well, yes..." (How else should it be done ya know?) So, long story short...this Saturday I get lessons! And she has 2 canners... which means borrowing one! I sent her the link to darlenes soup lesson with nana's kickazz recipe...she has looked at it and she said she wants try some too.

So, here are my questions:

Can I pre-prepare the ingredients the night before...can I cook the chicken, defat and debone and then keep refrigerated until I take it over? Is that safe? And I'm assuming it should be ok for me to chop veggies the night before?

Also, can turkey be substituted for this recipe? or can I just can it straight. I'm using chicken for the first time, but our local Safeway starts their pre-Thanksgiving sale tomorrow. Whole turkeys for $5.88. I always buy as many as will fit in my freezer,but canning opens up all sorts of possibilities..and we use a lot of turkey.

Stacy

[Darlene]

Yes to everything above.

 

Yes you can pre-prep. Yes you can substitute turkey for chicken. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

 

I am so excited for you! Please keep us posted...I wanna hear all the details!

[HSmom]

Pre-prepping is a great way to simplify your first canning ventures. On canning day, you start with a nice clean kitchen, and all you have to do is combine ingredients, heat to boiling and put in jars. Then you can really focus on the process of canning.

[ArmyOfFive4God]

Just want to 2¢ here and say GRATS!!!!!