[Eli...]

ok, i have been looking to start home canning. my parents canned for years, but i have never tried....i want to can whole meals...like salisbury steak, mashed potato's, and gravy...or something like chicken and dumplings. the question is, can you mix meats, vegatables, and gravy? would it have a decent shelf life? i would have the meat fully cooked, ready to just be reheated...

 

[danger]

http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving/dp/0778801314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301366182&sr=8-1

Get that book. Lots of good information and recipes. You wouldn't want to can mashed potatoes. They'd store better as flakes. We mainly do soups or stews as ready to go meals. Low acidic foods like meat need to be pressure canned, while higher acidic foods like tomatoes can be hot water bath or steam canned. Most canned foods have a shelf life of a year or more. We're still enjoying raspberry jam from 2008.

FYI, this is a great pressure canner.

 

[Eli...]

thanks! i will check that out, my parents canned a lot of veggies, but not any meats....i found a pressure canner at wally world for $69 to....it got me thinking

 

[Pangea]

I can stews, chili (with and without beans), steak and gravy, soups, meats, preserves, and tomato juices/sauce.

I've never canned mashed potatoes since the dried flakes from Sam's club work so well.

I plan on baking fruitcake in jars and canning them this fall when the ingredients go on sale. Lots of calories in a jar-o-fruit cake. I could live off of that stuff!

 

[Eli...]

i was just thinking about having a whole meal in one jar....mashed potatos on the bottom, a couple of beef pattys on that, and cover it in gravy...i think that fresh potatos would tast better than flakes...but, i have never tried canned mashed potatos

 

[Pangea]

i was just thinking about having a whole meal in one jar....mashed potatos on the bottom, a couple of beef pattys on that, and cover it in gravy...i think that fresh potatos would tast better than flakes...but, i have never tried canned mashed potatos

If you try these from Sam's Club, you should be impressed. I'm kind of a mashed potato snob but these are fantastic.

 

[Old Warrior]

You can can whole or cut potatoes, just not mashed. Can potato chunks with whatever else you want, then just mash them when you are ready to eat them. Sheesh.

 

[Dixielee]

Meat must be processed in a pressure canner for 75 min pints and 90 min qts. With that in mind, I think everything would be one big glob of goo if you added too much together. I have done spaghetti sauce with meat, onions, peppers, but never layered them like you mention.

You have to process your product according to the food needing the longest processing time. That would be the meat. Buy the Ball Blue book of canning at the hardware store or most anyplace that sells canning supplies. It will give you fool proof ways to be successful as well as recipes that make you hungry!

 

[Eli...]

thanks for all the replies! i will be getting that book

 

[Cosmo]

If you try these from Sam's Club, you should be impressed. I'm kind of a mashed potato snob but these are fantastic.

+1. I have a case of 6 in my preps.

 

[elkhound]

heres the place for all your preserveing questions


http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

 

[Dixielee]

heres the place for all your preserveing questions


http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

You are right about this! I have the book, So Easy to Preserve and it tells you anything and everything you ever needed to know about food preservation.

You can't order the book online from them, which I found incredibly weird since UGA does everything else on line! I didn't want to snail mail them a check and wait for the book, so I googled the book, found it for $18 or so from a university in Maine, I think. I did the usual online thing and had my book in a few days, so check around and you can get it soon. I don't remember if I tried Amazon or not, it's been a couple years.

 

[CRC]

heres the place for all your preserveing questions


http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

I agree. Why risk having food spoil? Doesn't matter if you are canning, freezing or dry storage - do it correctly!

I bought the So Easy to Preserve book last summer - I've been canning for decades and thought I knew it all...silly me, I should have known you can always learn something new!

 

[Ziggenation]

FYI, this is a great pressure canner.

thanks! i will check that out, my parents canned a lot of veggies, but not any meats....i found a pressure canner at wally world for $69 to....it got me thinking

You don't want to skimp on a cheap pressure canner. All American is quality made stuff, cast aluminum. The biggest advantage is you don't have to use gaskets as the AA canners use a metal to metal seal.

 

[CBP]

I really like this canning book as well -- Growing and Canning Your Own Food by Jackie Clay -- from the Backwoods Home website. The Baked Bean recipe is to die for.

Meats are no different than veggies -- they just take longer to process. I found myself with an extra free turkey which is now 15 pints of meat and 15 pints of broth. I've got ham chunks off a picnic ham, hamburger, and swedish meatballs on the shelf too. I have some venison cubes in the freezer that I think I'm going to process to prolong their shelf life.

I suspect the issue with mashed potatoes is the thickness of the product and consistent heat penetration. You will find older books that say you can process mashed squash, but now they do not recomment it.

You could do beef cubes, little hamburger meatballs, or chicken chunks with cubed potatoes and a thinner gravy then just add some veggies as well if you like. Always process for the length of time recommended for ingredient that takes the most amount of time -- which would be the meat in this case.

 

[IsisRanch]

For safety reasons I personally would can the meat separately, gravy separately, and the veg in another jar. While the whole layering ideas sounds great, once you put that jar in the pressure cooker, it will not look the same when it comes out.

My personal experience is that I get better results when I can things with similar acidity or sugars together and not mix. I canned some chicken soup 3 years ago and I just tossed it over the weekend because it looked suspicious. Good luck and welcome to canning!

 

[homesteader1]

You don't want to skimp on a cheap pressure canner. All American is quality made stuff, cast aluminum. The biggest advantage is you don't have to use gaskets as the AA canners use a metal to metal seal.

I am sure the All American canner is a great canner. I have been using the presto for 40 years. The first gasket lasted 37 years. I also like the jiggle weights. With the gage you have to use the stove to control the pressure. With the jiggle weight you use the stove to set the speed of the jiggle but the weight controls the pressure. I think this is just easier.

 

[Allamakee County]

My Presto is cast aluminum, and someday I'll trade up to a stainless steel one, but it's working just great for me now - worth its weight in gold, maybe even silver.

 

[elkhound]

I am sure the All American canner is a great canner. I have been using the presto for 40 years. The first gasket lasted 37 years. I also like the jiggle weights. With the gage you have to use the stove to control the pressure. With the jiggle weight you use the stove to set the speed of the jiggle but the weight controls the pressure. I think this is just easier.

dont want to sound like a smarty...but all pressure canners have a weight jiggler..other wise it would be a bomb.i have both a presto and AA canners and they both have gauge and jiggler.the presto with gasket in it is much easier to open after processing jars IMHO.

by the way in all canning you use the stove temp to adjust temp inside canner.if you are useing the jiggler because you dont want to adjust stove sorry but you are doing it wrong.the jiggler should just barely jiggle from time to time.if it jiggles so much then all you are doing is letting all the water go from the canner and this could cause damage to canner,jars etc.i see people ask in past..why did my canner go dry?...well its because the jiggler was working to much and letting steam out.a properly adjusted temp with proper water depth to start out with will never become dry by end of process time.

 

[elkhound]

My Presto is cast aluminum, and someday I'll trade up to a stainless steel one, but it's working just great for me now - worth its weight in gold, maybe even silver.

amen...i wouldnt take anything for my canners,jars etc.i need them to live my daily life right now much less a SHTF ordeal...:thumb::