Chicken help needed-Quickly!

[cockadoodledean]

DH slaughtered chickens yesterday (6). I have one in the crockpot and cut up the others to can. Well, something is wrong with my pressure canner and pressure won't build or my guage broke-I'm not sure which. So, I have 5 quarts of bone-in chicken quarters that are minimally cooked. What do I do now?

 

[vfem]

MissPrissy May know?! I have never canned meat yet... that I am saving for next year.

 

[BettyR]

Cool the chickens and package them up and stick them in the frig. or the freezer if necessary. Take your canner to the nearest county extension office of the usda.

To find your local office check http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/ . A Master Canner will be able to do the testing usually for a very minimal fee. Some counties do not have testing available and you may have to go to another local county for assistance.

If you are cooking with a canner that has not been tested you run the risk of not getting the internal heat high enough and hence getting very sick or having lethal food. If there is something else wrong with your canner besides the gauge they will probably be able to tell you what it is. I never buy canners with a gauge...I don't trust them...I always use the one with the weight gauges. Gravity always works.

 

[cockadoodledean]

I was able to borrow my mother in law's and it's a weighted guage. So far I hate it! It's just hissing at me and I keep waiting for the jiggle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If this doesn't work I'm opening the jars and freezing the chicken, I'm sure it's cooked by now!!!
I'll check the extension office tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[BettyR]

You have to make sure that all the safety features are all in place and have popped up where needed. The weighted gauge ones can be temperamental at times. You get used to them. I have two...a large one that I can in and a smaller one that I use to cook roasts, beans, chicken and much more in. I LOVE my pressure cookers. They make pot roast and dried beans fast food.

 

[cockadoodledean]

I called my mom and we decided all of the hissing and sputtering was "the jiggle" I'd been waiting for. I'll be happy when my dial-guage is back up and running! Looking back I wish I had just made a bunch of meals and froze them....I'm having a baby in 4 weeks and that would have been nice

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
She is never on her anymore is she? I have been wondering why?

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
OH...WOW...Congratulations!! I know it can be challenging to get a meal on the table when you have a new baby plus other little ones to take care of. My oldest daughter was 7 but my son was only 2 years old when my twins were born. We all made it through quite well… but there are whole years of when the kids were little that I just don't remember. Sleep deprivation will do that to you.

 

[cockadoodledean]

Thank you

I've been thinking about the lack of sleep a lot lately. I haven't slept through the night in 5 years. Between nightime nursing and super early risers I'm happy with a 4 hour stretch of sleep!

 

[BettyR]

Yeah, I think 4 hours is about the average for a mom with young ones.