Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[1muttsfan]

When adding non-acidic ingredients to tomatoes it becomes very hard to judge how much more acid is required to make them safe. Since salsa is often not re-heated to boiling before eating, it is very risky to try to can it without pressure cooking - the ONLY way to kill any botulism spoors that may be present. Boiling foods for a certain amount of time will destroy the toxins produced by the Botulism bacteria, but not kill the spoors - which will grow again once the food cools off. Home canning is a great way to eat really good quality food and save money, but in the "old days" many people died from botulism from improperly canned foods. It is not worth the risk to yourself or your family to put up food that may kill you.

 

[preciouskitty]

Now for chicken stuff.

My girls are really beginning to lay. Of course, when I am home & free ranging,I have discovered some are quite creative as to WHERE they lay!
It's like Easter everyday...egg hunt!

Yesterday I had 2 cream colored eggs come rolling out from under my weeping cherry tree. I have been consistently getting light brown eggs from my NHRs & PRs (similar shades, one is just a bit glossy, the other more matte).

These cream eggs were pullet size, so I know it is a pretty new layer (all the birds just turned 19 weeks, & some have been laying for 3 weeks now).

Here's my question(s).
-- Can a PR lay that light of an egg?
-- Or, is it more likely that one of my 2 EEs lays cream? I really thought it was about 5-6 weeks too early for the EEs. Figured they would start no earlier than ~24 weeks. Plus, neither of them have the "really red" comb....

 

[SillyChicken]

I saw that with the canner. This is also a good reason to get a new stove lol. I do a lot of baking with my convection on the counter. Saves energy, just have to pay attention to it. So, double whammy, need a coil top range or gas, and need a full size working oven. Can't bake turkey and full size cake sheets in my counter top oven. Lol

I was thinking the same... I love the flat top.. but.... I think I want to go with gas in the next one.

 

[MsChickenMomma]

Hello everyone

I have a Rhode Island Red rooster in need of rehomeing. (If we can't find a home for him he will have to be culled.) His name is Randy and he will be two years old on the 19th of August.

The reason I need to re-home him is because since I have added another rooster to my flock (June of last year) he has become very aggressive towards the new rooster, and he is starting to take it out on his hens. He does really well with them when the other rooster isn't around. He does great with protecting the hens, and although he isn't compassionate towards people, he does great with them. He doesn't mind kids, and he has never shown any sign of aggression towards people.

If you are interested in him or would like to know more about him, please feel free to PM me.

Here are a few pictures of him.

Note: He DOES NOT do well with other roosters. He would do best at a home that doesn't already have roosters, or has room for him to be able to have his flock of hens.

 

[NovaAman]

Ooh! A new stove! THAT would be fun!

Nova,
How'd your BB pie turn out??
I may have to run down the road & get some blueberries this week. Right now I have key limes to squeeze so I can whip up a key lime pie. Then I can make a few blueberry ones.
It'll make my co-workers happy....

Super yummy... I made two pies actually. Need to get a picture. I am so proud of my pie. LOL I also can blueberry jam sans pectin yesterday so we'd have a more TOPPING style jam. I had some of that on icecream. YUM. Used the berries hole, and just let what did mash, so there's nice big berries in there yet. The recipe I used I have memorized. I don't know how I did that, but it's like my no bake cookies I make every winter for Christmas, some things just stick with you.

Add salsa and other tomato-based mixtures to the pressure canning list - these are very high risk of Botulism and should not be hot-water bathed!!

I red a few tomatoe recipes in the Ball Book that could just be done with water bath. I was hoping to do salsa too, but I am guessing that's going to have to be a wait one. Thanks for saying that, Or I might have tried it water-bath.

... the hummingbirds are hitting hard here three weeks earlier than normal. Also, the fly catchers and robins that usually nest here only hatched out one set of eggs. Usually they do two.

Nova, if you want to come here for a day, I will be happy to show you how to pressure can. And... if you bring the stuff, jars and whatever you want to can we will can stuff for you.

Sweet! Now I have to places I can go. Will have to pick and chose now! LOL. I'd like to can chili and beef stew. Those are the two big things, and potatoes, green beans, carrots. Maybe chicken soup also, but with out the noodles. Can it be canned with rice?

About hummingbirds. I should be ashamed to admit this, but until this year, I have NEVER seen a hummingbird with my own eyes. My boy drew on the sliding doors with window crayons. One of those crayons was red, and he made a big red something. Well, I saw this green hummingbird right outside the window, and I was calling my boys to come and see, and it flew away before they could and before I could get a camera. BUT wow what a lovely bird.

Note: He DOES NOT do well with other roosters. He would do best at a home that doesn't already have roosters, or has room for him to be able to have his flock of hens.

I don't want him... I have 7 roosters, but just wanted to say he's a nice looking bird. Hatchery or breeder?

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I don't want him... I have 7 roosters, but just wanted to say he's a nice looking bird. Hatchery or breeder?

Thank you. I bred him myself two years ago. His parents were hatchery stock, but they were both RIR's.

 

[preciouskitty]

When adding non-acidic ingredients to tomatoes it becomes very hard to judge how much more acid is required to make them safe.  Since salsa is often not re-heated to boiling before eating, it is very risky to try to can it without pressure cooking - the ONLY way to kill any botulism spoors that may be present. Boiling foods for a certain amount of time will destroy the toxins produced by the Botulism bacteria, but not kill the spoors - which will grow again once the food cools off.   Home canning is a great way to eat really good quality food and save money, but in the "old days" many people died from botulism from improperly canned foods.  It is not worth the risk to yourself or your family to put up food that may kill you.

I prefer to pressure can pretty much everything except preserves & applesauce ....

However, before I had a PC, I did water bath all my tomatoes for one season. I did this per the guidelines as outlined in the Ball Blue Book (100th year Anniv edition) AND the USDA guidelines for safe canning (link below).

http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE 3 Home Can.pdf

Both these references provide instructions on how to can tomatoes with water bath or pressure cooker. And in both cases bottled lemon juice or citric acid must be added. I always use bottled lemon juice.

Also, there are salsa recipes in the USDA guide...and they only use water bath, no pressure canning.

So, IMHO, if someone does not have a pressure cooker but wants to can their tomatoes, I think that a water bath method is safe as long as they follow the directions provided by Ball & the USDA. And it is VERY important to read all the directions, including all of the intro stuff before the recipes (which talk about the acidity & why/when to use lemon juice vs. vinegar).

 

[NovaAman]

HH, I posted this on the canning thread, but thought it interesting and useful, and am posting it here too, because this I am going to do.

I found this on e-i-e-i-omg!ven canning, so thought I'd share real quick.
Basically, this is what I do:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Take clean, dry quart or half-gallon canning jars and fill them with whatever I am canning. Put them in a roasting pan, or other high-sided pan. I do this strictly for ease of getting them in and out of the oven - you can also put them on a cookie sheet. Once the oven has preheated, put the pan with open, filled jars (NO LIDS) into the oven and close the door. Leave them in the oven for one hour. Remove from the oven and, being very careful NOT to burn your fingers, wipe the jar rims quickly with a damp cloth and place clean, dry flats on top of the hot jars and screw on the rings. Let the jars sit and cool. As they cool, you may hear the telltale "ping" as they vacuum seal, depending on how quickly it works. Test for a seal. That is it. If a jar does not seal, which happens on occasion, I put that jar to the front to use first.

So, I'd think you could give "flour" type dried good a go. I'd try just one jar at first, then check it out in 6 months or so and see what happens? I can keep googling/binging till I find an answer...

edited to add... found this here... Just the relevant snippet.
Flour,oatmeal,corn meal, etc., but not sugar, can be "canned" in the oven. Heat your oven to 250F, place your dry goods in a canning jar, finger tight lids, place on a cookie sheet and heat for 1 hour. This will kill the bugs (if any). Turn oven off and allow to cool completely before removing. Of course there are different ways of doing it, some people don't put the lids on until after the jars (still hot) are removed from the oven. Canning jars can break in the oven while heating, just like they do in the water bath or pressure canners.

 

[RaZ]

Both these references provide instructions on how to can tomatoes with water bath or pressure cooker. And in both cases bottled lemon juice or citric acid must be added. I always use bottled lemon juice.

I rather enjoy the canning debates that we have had here each year.

I have only ever canned using water bath. I have also never used lemon juice when putting up tomatoes. After all these years of eating water-bath canned tomatoes, I have not yet had a jar go bad. Maybe I'm lucky.

 

[NovaAman]

OR, you've got an iron belly.