Abundant fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, and seafood are savored during the peak of the season and safely preserved to enjoy all year. What was once done out of necessity, today has become an opportunity to take control of the food you and your family consume. These beautiful jars of home-canned goodness will give you the satisfaction of knowing the quality and freshness of the food in your pantry. They will also ease your meal planning and take a bite out of your garbage and recycling needs. Reusable jars and bands can be used for many years. The flat lid is the only piece to be discarded. Home canning is well worth the effort when you take that first delightful bite of food canned in your own kitchen!Abundant fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, and seafood are savored during the peak of the season and safely preserved to enjoy all year. What was once done out of necessity, today has become an opportunity to take control of the food you and your family consume.

Canning IntroductionIf you’re a novice to pressure canning, this outline will give you basic knowledge of the terminology and instruction of canning. The key to successful canning is to understand the acidity and spoilage factor of the food you wish to can, as well as the acceptable canning methods to process those foods. Invisible microorganisms exist naturally on fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood. Yet they are not a problem unless food is left to sit for extended periods of time, causing food spoilage. This is nature’s way of telling us when food is no longer fit to eat.
There are four basic agents of food spoilage — enzymes, mold, yeast, and bacteria. Canning will interrupt the natural spoilage cycle so food can be preserved safely.
Molds, yeast, and enzymes are destroyed at temperatures below 212°F, the temperature at which water boils (except in mountainous regions). Therefore, boiling water canning is sufficient to destroy those agents.
Bacteria, however, are not as easily destroyed. The bacterium Clostridium botulinum produces a spore that makes a poisonous toxin which causes botulism. This spore is not destroyed at 212°F. In addition, this bacterium thrives on low acid foods in the absence of air. Therefore, for a safe food product, low-acid foods need to be processed at 240°F, a temperature only achieved with pressure canning.
Determining the MethodThe level of acidity in the food being canned determines which method of canning is required, either boiling water canning or pressure canning. For the purpose of home canning, foods are categorized as low acid and high acid.

Low acid: Foods that are low acid have a pH value higher than 4.6 and include vegetables, meats, poultry, and seafood. Low acid foods must only be processed using the pressure canning method.
High acid: Foods that are high acid have a pH value of 4.6 or less and include fruits, jams and jellies, properly pickled vegetables and properly acidified tomatoes. Most fruits are naturally high acid. Pickles and tomatoes, which are not high acid, are made high acid with the addition of lemon juice or vinegar. High acid foods can be safely processed using the boiling water method.
Although fruits and tomatoes can be safely processed using the boiling water method, both can be acceptably canned using the pressure canning method. Always follow the processing method stated in the recipe.

Via : by Kendra

How To Can Cheese And Butter

Here is how to can butter:

1.   Use any butter that is on sale. (Salted is better; don’t use margarine.) Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

2.   Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.

3.  While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

4.   Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4″ of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

5.   Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids “ping,” shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

6.   At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

7.   Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time.  We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years.] Canned butter does not “melt” again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

A lovely glow seems to emanate from every jar. You will also be glowing with grateful satisfaction while placing this “sunshine in a jar” on your pantry shelves.

We have canned over 75 pints of butter in the past year. Miles loves it and will open a jar when I’m not looking! I buy butter on sale, then keep it frozen until I have enough for canning 2 or 3 batches of a dozen jars each.

 

Here is a recipe for canning soft cheese, also from End Times Report (.com):

Home canned “soft cheese” has better cooking properties than store bought bottled cheese meant for snack food. It contains no preservatives and is more economical than commercial products for cooking purposes. These instructions yield a product that is similar to “Cheese Whiz”, yet better tasting for a recipe of macaroni and cheese. This simple to do recipe for home canned cheese will keep for 2 years plus.

Ingredients:

* 1 (5 oz.) can evaporated milk
* 1 T. vinegar
* ½ tsp. salt
* 1 lb. Velveeta cheese or any processed cheese
* ½ tsp. dry mustard

Melt milk and cheese in double boiler. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Fill pint jars about 3/4 full and seal. Place in Boiling Water bath for 10 minutes.

Here’s another recipe for canned cheese, from Jenny at Frontier Freedom :

Jenny shares that she has used this recipe to can Cheddar, Swiss, Mozzarella, Monterrey Jack, Colby Jack, and Cream Cheese! Please check out her post to read the entire article.

1. I sterilize wide mouth pint jars (wide mouth half-pint jars may be used) in a 250 degree oven for at least 20 minutes. Since it’s harder to regulate a woodburning cookstove oven to that low a temperature, mine is usually hotter. Since you’ll process the cheese in a boiling water bath for awhile, this probably isn’t necessary, but I think it’s safer, so it’s what I do.

2. Sterilize new canning lids according to package instructions. I let them simmer in water about 5 minutes, then keep them in hot water until I need them.

3. Now I either cut up the cheese, or if it’s frozen I crumble it and pack it into clean, dry pint jars. Then I place the jars (without lids) on a rack in my boiling water bath canner, to which I have already added some water. Do not put the lid on the canner while the cheese is melting. You want the water to come about halfway up the jars. Any higher and it bubbles into the jars if it gets to boiling. Then, as the cheese melts, I add more cheese until the cheese fills the jars to within about ½ inch of the top.

4. When all melted, I remove the jars from the canner, wipe the rims, and seal the jars. Then I proceed with the boiling water bath for 40 minutes. (I use the Extension Service method of doing a boiling water bath.) When ready, remove jars from water with a jar lifter. Leave undisturbed until completely cooled. Check to make sure all the lids have sealed before labeling and storing.

As with butter, 11 pounds will fill about 12 1/2 pint jars — or just over 3/4 pound per pint jar. We keep ours in the cache year round. We’ve eaten cheese that I canned like this several years earlier and it was delicious. It tends to get a little sharper, which I like. It doesn’t melt as good as fresh cheese, but when you’re in the bush and don’t have fresh cheese, it’s more than acceptable any way you’d use fresh cheese! During the winter, we usually keep cheese stored in buckets outside so it stays frozen. But, like meat, come springtime with the warmer temperatures, I start canning.

To remove the cheese from the jar, there are basically two ways. You could place the jar in a pan of water (loosen the lid a bit first), and then place that pan in another pan of boiling (or hot) water. This melts the outside of the cheese and will help it slip out of the jar. But, it also heats the cheese, which may or may not be desirable. I usually just run a knife between the cheese and the jar. Sometimes the cheese will slide right out, but usually I have to sort of cut and pull it out in chunks.

I usually can butter in regular mouth jars because I don’t try to take it out of the jar all in one piece. That would be hard with cheese.

Here’s what Jackie Clay from Backwoods Home said about how she cans cheese:

You won’t find this one in a canning manual, but I experimented around and found something that works for me. One day I was canning tomatoes while whacking a chunk of cheddar cheese for “lunch.” Mmmm, I wondered. Tomatoes are acid. Cheese is acid. So I cut up cubes of cheese, sitting a wide-mouthed pint jar in a pan of water, on the wood stove. Slowly cubes of cheese melted and I added more until the jar was full to within half an inch of the top. Then I put a hot, previously boiled lid on the jar, screwed down the ring firmly tight and added the cheese to a batch of jars in the boiling water bath canner to process. It sealed on removal, right along with the jars of tomatoes. Two years later, I opened it and it was great. Perhaps a little sharper than before, but great. So I started canning cheese of all types (but not soft cheeses) and, so far, they’ve all been successful. To take the cheeses out of the jar, dip the jar in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes, then take a knife and go around the jar, gently prying the cheese out. Store it in a plastic zip lock bag.

CANNING MEAT

VIA : gopresto.com

Canning is the ONLY SAFE METHOD for canning meat.
All meat should be handled carefully to avoid contamination from the time of slaughtering until the products are canned. Animals should be correctly slaughtered, canned promptly or kept under refrigeration until processed. If you slaughter your own meat, contact your local county agricultural agent for complete information on slaughtering, chilling, and aging the meat.

Keep meat as cool as possible during preparation for canning, handle rapidly, and process meat as soon as it is packed. Most meats need only be wiped with a damp cloth. Use lean meat for canning; remove most of the fat. Cut off gristle and remove large bones. Cut into pieces convenient for canning.

To prepare broth, place bony pieces in saucepan and cover with cold water. Simmer until meat is tender. Discard fat. Add boiling broth to jars packed with precooked meat and poultry.

Meat should not be browned with flour nor should flour be used in the broth to make gravy for pouring over the packed meat. Pack hot meat loosely, leaving 1-inch headspace in Mason jars.

Meats may be processed with or without salt. If salt is desired, use only pure canning salt. Table salt contains a filler which may cause cloudiness in bottom of jar. Use 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint, 1 teaspoon to each quart. More or less salt may be added to suit individual taste.

Follow step-by-step directions for your pressure canner. Process meats according to the following recipes.

When canning food in regions less than 2,000 feet altitude (dial gauge canner) or 1,000 feet altitude (weighted gauge canner), process according to specific recipe. When canning food in regions above 2,000 feet altitude (dial gauge canner) or 1,000 feet altitude (weighted gauge canner), process according to the following chart.

CUT-UP MEAT (strips, cubes, or chunks) Bear, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, and Venison
Remove excess fat. Soak strong-flavored wild meats for 1 hour in brine water containing 1 tablespoon of salt per quart of water. Rinse. Remove large bones and cut into desired pieces.

Raw Pack—Fill jars with raw meat pieces, leaving 1-inch headspace. DO NOT ADD LIQUID. Adjust jar lids.

Hot Pack—Precook meat until rare by broiling, boiling, or frying. Pack hot meat loosely in clean, hot Mason jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Cover meat with boiling broth, water, or tomato juice (especially with wild game) leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust jar lids.

Dial Gauge Canner—Process at 11 pounds pressure – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. For processing above 2,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

Weighted Gauge Canner—Process at 10 pounds pressure – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. For processing above 1,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

GROUND MEAT – Bear, Beef, Pork, Lamb, Veal, and Venison
With venison, add one part high quality pork fat to three or four parts venison before grinding. Use freshly made sausage, seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper (sage may cause a bitter off-flavor). Add 1 teaspoon salt to each pound of ground meat, if desired. Mix well. Shape meat into patties or balls, or cut cased sausage into 3- to 4-inch links. Cook until lightly browned. Ground meat may be sauteed without shaping. Remove excess fat. Fill jars with pieces, leaving 1-inch headspace. Cover meat with boiling broth or water, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust jar lids.

Dial Gauge Canner—Process at 11 pounds pressure – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. For processing above 2,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

Weighted Gauge Canner—Process at 10 pounds pressure – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes. For processing above 1,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

PRESSURE CANNING POULTRY

Pressure canning is the ONLY SAFE METHOD for canning poultry.
Cut poultry into convenient pieces for packing and precook until medium done or until pieces, when cut, show almost no pink color at the bone.

Precook by boiling in water or in a concentrated broth for more flavor. Make broth from bones and bony pieces, neck, back, and wing tips. Pack hot meat in clean, hot Mason jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Do not pack food tightly.

Poultry may be processed with or without salt. If salt is desired, use only pure canning salt. Table salt contains a filler which may cause cloudiness in bottom of jar. Use 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint, 1 teaspoon to each quart.

Follow step-by-step directions for your pressure canner. Process poultry according to the following recipes.

CUT-UP POULTRY
Cut poultry into serving size pieces. If desired, remove bone. Boil, steam, or bake poultry slowly to medium done. Poultry is medium done when pink color in center is almost gone. Pack hot poultry loosely in clean, hot Mason jars, leaving 1 1/4-inch headspace. Cover poultry with boiling broth or water, leaving 1 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust jar lids.

Dial Gauge Canner—Process at 11 pounds pressure.
With Bone – Pints 65 minutes and Quarts 75 minutes.
Without Bone – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts 90 minutes.
For processing above 2,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

Weighted Gauge Canner—Process at 10 pounds pressure.
With Bone – Pints 65 minutes and Quarts for 75 minutes.
Without Bone – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts for 90 minutes.
For processing above 1,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

RABBIT
Soak dressed rabbits 1 hour in water containing 1 tablespoon of salt per quart. Rinse and remove excess fat. Cut into serving size pieces. Boil, steam, or bake to medium done. Rabbit is medium done when pink color in center is almost gone. Pack hot rabbit loosely in clean, hot Mason jars, leaving 1 1/4-inch headspace. Cover rabbit with boiling broth or water leaving 1 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust jar lids.

Dial Gauge Canner—Process at 11 pounds pressure.
With Bone – Pints 65 minutes and Quarts for 75 minutes.
Without Bone – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts for 90 minutes.
For processing above 2,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

Weighted Gauge Canner—Process at 10 pounds pressure.
With Bone – Pints 65 minutes and Quarts for 75 minutes.
Without Bone – Pints 75 minutes and Quarts for 90 minutes.
For processing above 1,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

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