What did you can today?

[Cricket]

Yesterday I canned 8 pints of beef chunks.

 

I used Violet's method, sorta. I cut chuck roast (around 9.5 pounds) into generous, roughly inch-size cubes, cutting out as much fat and gristle as possible. I seared them hot and fast with a non stick pan, no added grease, just to get some color on the outside but still very rare. As each small batch was seared, I dumped it into a stainless steel bowl that was in the oven on the lowest temp, just to keep it warm.

 

I made a broth with beef buillion, but also deglazed my pan with a little water and added that. The meat juices that collected in the bowl were also added. Note: We have very hard tap water, so I used distilled water for my broth. I figured the broth would be prettier that way.

 

Packed the chunks loosely into hot pint jars, added the broth, allowed one inch of head space, got the bubbles out, adjusted lids and processed at 10 pounds weighted guage pressure for 75 minutes.

 

After processing was complete, I turned off the stove and left it alone until the pressure was zero. Then I removed the regulator and let it sit another ten minutes. Only then did I remove the canner lid and move the jars to the towel on the counter. No siphoning!

 

Ping! Ping! Ping! DH and I both exclaimed over each "ping".

 

This morning all my lids are sucked in tight, and there is only about a 1/4 inch of fat on the top of the meat and broth. They are so pretty! I won't remove the rings and "test" the seals until a full 24 hours have passed, but I'm very confident that they all took a very good seal.

 

I told DH that that it's "Pot Roast in a Jar".

[Stephanie]

Well done Cricket and a very good description of the process. I thought my beef chunks were much more attractive than the chicken...although that chicken is mighty tasty!

 

In my short time of canning, only a few weeks, I have done chicken breasts twice, seasoned ground beef, chili and beef chunks. Having meat that doesn't require electricity for safe keeping is a blessing. And so convenient, just open and eat if you had to. Of course I plan to add it to dishes to stretch for my VERY large family!

[Bealadybug]

Leasmom,

Do you have an exact recipe for this sauce or do you kind of wing it. I would love to make it if you can send it to me. It sounds delicious.

Thanks

[Leasmom]

Well, I basically made something like a salsa verde sauce when I made the green tomato relish...I added the vinegar into the jars, not into the pot when I cooked it so I was cooking ground green tomatoes, onions, and peppers...the only difference from a regular salsa verde sauce was that I added it to a simple syrup and I didn't leave the tomatoes, onions and peppers in it. The symple syrup made the relish sweet and spicy. The leftover Green tomato juice too is slightly sweet and pretty spicy. So, instead of throwing it away, I'm saving it to add some green chili's to it after I bring it back to a boil to reduce some of the liquid and serve on top of enchilada's. It'll be like a green tomatillo sauce when I'm done. Its just my way of not wasting the juice...it's not exactly a green tomatillo or verde sauce but it will taste like it when I'm done.

[Crazy4Canning]

Wahoo to Cricket! Isn't it a great feeling to have a counter FULL of meat, let alone a cupboard?

 

I just finished about 48+ pints of sweet pickles.

I did some chunks and some whole gherkins (they were VERY small). I didn't realize that for the recipe I used I had to PRICK every WHOLE pickle. I kept telling myself, "These will be great on Thanksgiving....poke, poke, poke, these will be yummy with turkey...poke poke poke...they will be tasty with tunafish...poke poke poke..I really don't like the mind-numbing aspect of canning.

 

Never having done sweet pickles before, I was unaware of how labor intensive they were. Every day I had to strain the brine, boil it, add something....but if memory serves, this is what my mom & grandma did and it was certainly worth it.

 

I am now conquering the remaining blueberries into pie filling. I hope I have enough sugar!

[Crazy4Canning]

Originally Posted By: Crazy4Canning

Found a really great end-of-day deal a couple of days ago on about 6# of apricots for my gramma. They were too green to do much with right away, but I canned them this morning and ended up with 7 pints of fruit and 2 pints of apricot nectar. I'm giving gramma her apricots (the one thing she specifically requested!) and keeping the nectar! YUM!

Ummm...opened up an odd jar and these were squishy enough for baby food. When I did these, I read the BBB and it said to PEEL the fruit. I think this is what did it. I'm turning these into JAM. I can't bear the disappointment of telling grandma these are so mushy.

[sjllm]

4 qts. 1 pint green beans. We are having such a slow green bean year, I usually can 21-28 qts at a time. Now I am not even getting one pot (7 qts.) each time.

[MamaTiger]

did 90 qts of grape juice on Friday since we had to pick all the ripe grapes on Wed/Th before Fay came thru dropping us with tons of water/rain that would ruin the grapes. Took just over 12 hours and I was totally wiped out. BUT now I have 203 qts of grape juice--2 year supply--if we serve it 2x a week.

[Virginia]

Apple Butter (SIL request) and Peach Butter-bet he likes that, too. Apples grown next door and peaches grown 50 miles away. Thankful to have local food.

[Bealadybug]

I canned 6 pints of Annies salsa... DH and kids ate the rest before I could get it into jars. Dehydrate cucumbers and squash. Thanks ladies

[suzann]

Sunday I canned Apple Butter 8 jelly jars

Monday I canned Jalepeno zuchinni relish 8 jelly jars

Today I am hoping to can plum jam

[JCK88]

spaghetti sauce

 

fruit leather (peach/raspberry)

 

peach raspberry jam

[RNMOM]

13 more pints of green beans

11 1/2 pints of Christmas pickles

20 pints of bread and butter pickles

 

 

[PoGo]

Yesterday, spaghetti sauce.

[Heather]

22 quarts of tomatoes and 7 pints of salsa

[DenimDaze]

7 quarts of stew going now. I guess I put in way too much water because I also have a pot of beef broth with some stew bits left over.

 

I now want a big stainless stock pot for my birthday. I haven't had a need for one until now - but this stew was too big for my spaghetti pot.

 

I'm hoping to do 7 quarts of chili later, but this was a lot of work already!

[onepoormomma]

Yesterday I canned chili, though only 3 of my 5 qts sealed. Not sure why, so we're having chili for supper tonite! Today I am canning my mother's lime pickles recipe. It makes smile to make my momma's pickles:?)

 

Up to my elbows in tomatoes...guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

[Pixie]

mmm...lime pickles saounds yummi! Mind posting the recipe? (or if you have point me to it lol)

 

I am blanching and peeling all my garlic today, if I get all that garlic peeled in time, I will can some tonight and some tomorrow. I can only do 2 batches at a time. I plan to do 6 batches total

[onepoormomma]

Lime Pickles

 

2c lime

2galwater

7lbs sliced or cubed cukes

 

stand overnight in lime water

wash well & stand in clear water for 3 hours

heat 2 qts vinegar

9 c. sugar

2T pickling spices

2T celery seed

3t salt

boil and cool. Pour over pickles, stand overnight. Bring to a boil, simmer 35 minutes. I just pour them in hot jars and seal, but I guess you can hot water bath them if you want.

[JCK88]

just took a canner load of green beans out...now to bed! (another batch of tomato sauce for the morning, and more salsa)

[mom11]

52 jars grape jam...My kitchen is now purple and sticky...Every single inch of it.

[mom11]

Oooopppps! It's actually jelly.

[Bealadybug]

Canned 8 qts of tomato sauce. Have 10 gallons of beans to prep and can tommorrow. Make 18 balls of pizza dough for freezing. Dehydrated eggpant, zuch, squash, and tomatos. Waiing for the sauce to finish and then Im offf to bed. More canning tommorrow. YEAH.

[JCK88]

Italian tomato sauce still cooking down....another inch in the pot to go.

 

Got tired. I'll do the salsa tomorrow...

[Crazy4Canning]

Originally Posted By: mom11

52 jars grape jam...My kitchen is now purple and sticky...Every single inch of it.

Ummm...yeah...I can relate...my DH says the kitchen smells like a pickle factory...

But BOY are they good!

12 qts (so far) of Dills
16 pts of Bread & Butter
24 1/2 pts of Sweet Gherkins

Each one a tasty experience