~~Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving Give Away~~

[TurtleMama]

Oh, spiffy!! May I please be added to the list?

 

Cricket, I absolutely adore your amazing alliteration! hehehe

 

My canning story: One day, TurtleMama went to a "canning" class at a local pressure cooker store. She was excited to receive a packet of canning recipes and thrilled when she was told that she could can three quart or five pint jars in her 8-liter pressure cooker. Soon, she had several quarts of chicken put up in her pantry.

 

Shortly thereafter, TurtleMama discovered, via the miracle of Google, a spiffy website called Mrs. Survival. Since she was verrrrrrrrrrry interested in what she could do to protect her family should a major problem arise in her neck of the woods, TurtleMama started reading the threads of the discussion boards on this interesting website. Soon, she noticed that people were saying nobody should can in a pressure cooker.

 

TurtleMama was confused!! Surely, the people working at the store she went to the class to couldn't be wrong, could they? After all, she'd been going there for years. They wouldn't do anything unsafe! After asking several questions on the boards, TurtleMama was soon convinced that the woman running the store was NOT doing things the safe way. She stopped going to that store when she emailed the owner to ask about the unsafe practices she had learned about, and the owner refused to talk to her about it.

 

The quarts of chicken were promptly thrown away -- because as much as TurtleMama hated to waste them, she wasn't going to do ANYTHING that could put her family in danger.

 

So I guess you could say that the kindly, good folks at Mrs. S save lives!!!!

[Josephine]

I would like to be put in the draw, please!

 

I was pressure cooking chicken to then can into soup, following the recipe, when it said to take the canner off the heat and remove the weight. I did, and the steam came out so fast and loud I thought the canner was going to explode! I "yelled" at the girls to get out of the kitchen and forbade them to come back in as I went over and over th recipe to make sure what I was doing was right. I even PM'ed Violet, and after some confusion (she thought I was actually canning, not cooking to then can), she said it was correct. Even though the price of chicken pieces has been good, I still haven't gotten the nerve up to cook it again like I did before...

[Mandomom]

Oh, count me in!

 

I just started canning recently. My first attempt was a couple months ago with apple butter. I enjoyed it and decided to invest in a pressure canner recently. So far I've only made chicken soup. We haven't tried my canned soup yet. My husband is waiting to give it a chance to go bad if it's going to so he can be the guinea pig to see if it's poison before feeding it to the rest of us.

 

I really hope I DON'T have a canning story come out of that.

[Cat]

Josephine

 

I was pressure cooking chicken to then can into soup, following the recipe, when it said to take the canner off the heat and remove the weight. I did, and the steam came out so fast and loud I thought the canner was going to explode! I "yelled" at the girls to get out of the kitchen and forbade them to come back in as I went over and over th recipe to make sure what I was doing was right. I even PM'ed Violet, and after some confusion (she thought I was actually canning, not cooking to then can), she said it was correct. Even though the price of chicken pieces has been good, I still haven't gotten the nerve up to cook it again like I did before...

 

I tend to let it sit about 10-15 minutes, then ever-so-gently wedge a fork under the bottom edge of the weight so that it has a partial outlet for the steam. It comes out at a better, less scary rate.

 

 

 

[Violet]

Violet here, adding my name to the pot. Would be nice to win something !

This is really a nice thing you are doing.

Hmmm, canning story.

The worst thing I ever canned was some lentil soup. Years ago, I called the extension office,( long before I took training and started instructing) asking how long to pressure can my lentil soup. I was given the processing time. I proceeded to can the soup. A few weeks or month later I went out to get a jar of the soup. It was the most disgusting color of brownish gray you have ever seen ! Well, the lady never asked me if I had thickened my soup. Yep ! I had. So, all that soup was tossed.

 

[Crazy4Canning]

Cricket - your story makes me laugh! What a wonderful job!

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

Ladies, for those of you messing with the weight on your pressure canner, I'm ahead of Violet here when I say "LEAVE IT ALONE". Let it come down on it's own. PLEASE, please listen to this CrazyCanningLady. I know how tempting it is when you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to help the process along because it's 2 in the morning and you're dead tired or need to go pick up a kid from soccer practice, etc., but this ranks right up there with messing with the cooling jars on the counter - don't do it!

 

If you mess with the weight on your canner as it cools, it you are risking rapid depressurization which at the VERY LEAST can cause steam burns, smash your jars, create a reverse vacuum in the canner (you won't be able to get the lid off!) or at the very least create siphoning of the liquid in your jars which drops the fluid level and can make them unsafe.

 

Leave it alone and the pressure will come down gradually. Then you can remove the lid and take out your jars.

 

End of safety lesson today.

 

Luv ya'll.

[Josephine]

Ladies, for those of you messing with the weight on your pressure canner, I'm ahead of Violet here when I say "LEAVE IT ALONE". Let it come down on it's own.

 

...

 

If you mess with the weight on your canner as it cools, it you are risking rapid depressurization which at the VERY LEAST can cause steam burns, smash your jars, create a reverse vacuum in the canner (you won't be able to get the lid off!) or at the very least create siphoning of the liquid in your jars which drops the fluid level and can make them unsafe.

 

Was this toward me? I was cooking chicken in the canner, not canning it, and the instructions said to take off the weight to cool it rapidly. If not, never mind

[Cat]

Dittos... was it me?

 

I NEVER do it with canning... I'm too afraid of messing up the seals.

 

But when using a pressure COOKER, I have allowed the steam to ease out faster, as I described. I should have said, too, that I let it out to the rear of the canner and stove, NOT towards my face.

 

I'm aware that doing so could let "gunk" plug up the holes, so I'm always careful to pay special attention to cleaning it.

 

 

 

[PoGo]

Oh, these stories are absolutely delightful and heart warming. Thank you.

 

In sharing these stories, y'all are giving to me, and others reading them, so much more than I will be giving in books.

 

Cricket, of course you get a chance to win! A story is not required, and you're correct, I didn't say a story shared could not be fiction.

 

*PoGo gets a BIGGER piece of paper to write down the names of even more canning enthusiasts*

[Crazy4Canning]

Sorry if I offended anyone with the point of caution about pressure canners.

 

Around here a lot of people say 'pressure cooker' and *mean* pressure canner. Of course, the rules are different for using both of them.

 

[Cat]

No offence taken *at all*. If no one ever mentions it, some will not understand and take care to do things *right*.

 

And it gave me the nudge to remind to keep it *away* from the face AND keep the holes cleared and clean!!!

 

[Jake]

Please add me to your drawing. I have a daughter that is getting married in 2 weeks and could use a book of her own. I have been canning for over 20 years on my own and helping my parents for 15 years before that, so I have tried to teach this skill to my daughters. The one that is getting married soon was the only one that really took interest in it though. I could usually get her to help out when I asked, but as she has gotten older and busier her response has turned from "sure I'll help" to "call me when it is done and I'll come pick some up"

[ArmyOfFive4God]

What a wonderful thought, Pogo. I don't really have any canning stories except how my canner sat on the counter for weeks before I got up the nerve to have a go. And this was after I'd wanted one for ages. And when I DID use it the first go round, I was petrified. I didn't stay in the kitchen, but I ran in to do the things I needed (add weight, regulate the heat, etc), but rather peeked around the corner. I wouldn't let the boys anywhere near the kitchen door either. I think I read the how-to's from 2 different books & a few websites NUMEROUS times before, during & after, worried I'd messed something up.

[Cat]

Awwww, ArmyOfFive4God...

 

I have given my telephone number out a couple of times to "first-timers" when I know they are scared and trying it for the first time. I don't mind being "on call"... sometimes ya just need a reassuring voice saying it's ok.

 

So if anyone wants it, I'll give my number out... if I'm home and it's needed.

 

 

[ArmyOfFive4God]

I might just get your number to chat You're wonderful for offering your "services."

 

Speaking of which, Hubba is supposed to talk to his bookkeeper today about me teaching her to can. She expressed interest to him & I offered.

[Steph]

What a sweet thing to do! I'd love to be included in the drawing!

[cowgirl8]

I'd like to enter, I hope i'm not too new to enter.

[PoGo]

I'd like to enter, I hope i'm not too new to enter.

 

Welcome to MrsS, cowgirl8! I hope you like it here.

 

Yes, you may enter the drawing. I didn't place any restrictions on length of time as a member.

The only rules are to ask to be included, and to PM your mailing address to me in a reasonable amount of time, upon winning.

 

A canning story is optional, not required to win.

[SandyinHouston]

Pogo, what a great and generous thing to do! Please enter me in your drawing.

 

My canning story is more of a nonstory I'm afraid. I've had my pressure canner for 2 years now and have still been too intimidated to use it. In the meantime I've filled my freezer completely full of stuff that I "Plan to Can". So full that I can't fit one more thing in it. This week my local grocery has pork loins on sale for 77 cents a pound. 77 cents!!! Can I plass this up??? No way! No freezer room...so I'm backing myself into a corner and finally forcing myself to tackle my fears and pull on my big girl panties and actually CAN something.

[Cat]

Sooo...

 

Get it out, wash it well, grab the instruction manual and a cup of coffee, sit and read it, wash and sterilize the cans, get the lids ready, search in "Preparing the Harvest" for "+canning +meat" (it searches for BOTH terms), read, tell someone here and have someone standing by for quick help, ask questions, and DO IT!!!

 

:cheer:

 

 

If I were home or my cell worked here, I'd give you my number. (In private, ya know ) Maybe another experienced canner here would do the same when they know you're getting ready to do it.

 

I'll be home by Sunday night if not earlier...

 

 

 

(Cat... from somewhere in Michigan frustratedly using the borrowed laptop with limited connection...)

[Prickle]

Pogo, what a great and generous thing to do! Please enter me in your drawing.

 

My canning story is more of a nonstory I'm afraid. I've had my pressure canner for 2 years now and have still been too intimidated to use it. In the meantime I've filled my freezer completely full of stuff that I "Plan to Can". So full that I can't fit one more thing in it. This week my local grocery has pork loins on sale for 77 cents a pound. 77 cents!!! Can I plass this up??? No way! No freezer room...so I'm backing myself into a corner and finally forcing myself to tackle my fears and pull on my big girl panties and actually CAN something.

 

I canned pork loin last night Be brave, you'll be glad you did.

[Jingles]

(Cat... from somewhere in Michigan frustratedly using the borrowed laptop with limited connection...)

 

 

My life in a nut shell and that is WITH a cable connection! Hope you are enjoying all the rain while you are here in Michigan!

[ArmyOfFive4God]

Pogo, what a great and generous thing to do! Please enter me in your drawing.

 

My canning story is more of a nonstory I'm afraid. I've had my pressure canner for 2 years now and have still been too intimidated to use it. In the meantime I've filled my freezer completely full of stuff that I "Plan to Can". So full that I can't fit one more thing in it. This week my local grocery has pork loins on sale for 77 cents a pound. 77 cents!!! Can I plass this up??? No way! No freezer room...so I'm backing myself into a corner and finally forcing myself to tackle my fears and pull on my big girl panties and actually CAN something.

 

I thought my few weeks was bad! Do it do it!!!

[PoGo]

You gals tickle me. It is scary at first, but once you pressure can something, you're hooked.

 

You'll start watching grocery sales like a hawk, so you can buy things to can. You'll cheer your garden on for more and more produce, to have more to can. You'll gladly accept your friends and family's extra produce and meat, so you can pressure can it. You'll haunt the farmers markets, so you can...

 

To repeat ArmyOfFive4God, "Do it, do it!"

[ArmyOfFive4God]