Thinking of trying an experiment.

[Ridgerunner]

I splurged on a nice stn stl 6qt pressure cooker a couple years ago, it's great for quickly stewing those old hens, making bone stock (way way better than a slow cooker/crock pot), and cooking dried beans in a jiffy.........wish I had gone larger so I could can meat in it too. I think even pints are too tall to can in it, given the 2/3 liquid rule for pressure cookers? Exactly! That's a big part of it, have lost a large majority of my once prodigious gumption in the last 4-5 years. Several of my personality aspects have rendered me pretty isolated as far as 'community' goes..... ...... I have asked a few people, but they don't do meat. I've done some jams and fruit in the past and have water bath equipment. Am now really keen to do chicken as I don't have much freezer capacity and no generator to save all that work from the regular power outages around here. I could invest in a large pressure canner....or invest in another freezer and a generator....canner seems to make more sense, just have to get over dipping into mortgage savings to do it....now I'm just babbling, sorry for the thread diversion bobbi-j.

Diversions are quite welcome! Do you still have the instructions for your pressure cooker? When I can in my big canner I don't need to have that much water. It's a specific amount, but I don't remember how much. Too bad you're in Michigan - I'd can with you!

Hmmm(with a hopeful note)......do you have to cover the jars with water for pressure canning like with water bath? Yeah, instructions say no more than 2/3 full for pressure cooking....1/2 for beans because of foaming.

No, you do not need to cover the jars with water when you pressure can. There is a mark in mine that shows the minimum level of water. It can be higher than the mark, just not lower.

 

[aart]

Quote:

Yeah, instructions say no more than 2/3 full for pressure cooking....1/2 for beans because of foaming.

No, you do not need to cover the jars with water when you pressure can. There is a mark in mine that shows the minimum level of water. It can be higher than the mark, just not lower.

I can't believe I never even thought of this...that I was stuck with applying water bath technique to pressure canning!
<dropsheadontable>
So how high is this mark from the bottom of a pint and/or quart jar?

Anyone recommend a resource to learn pressure canning(rather than just searching the web)?

 

[Mrs. K]

County extension office will have bulletins. How many are in your family? For DH and I, I use pint jars for nearly everything. I think I have a 6 qt and an 8 quart - and I add so many cups of water.

If you are pressure canning, meat or beans, it will still take quite a length of processing time. You need to keep the pressure fairly constant. What I am trying to say, is this is not a multi-tasking thing. I don't set up the canner and go clean the bathroom, instead, I get a book and sit right there in the kitchen to keep an eye on it.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

The bible of canning is the Ball Blue Book. It’s just full of recipes and how-to. You kind need to get that.

Each canner will have its own instructions. I’ve linked a manual from Presto since that’s the make I have. Some of the details can vary depending in which canner you get. Some use a gasket, some have a metal-to-metal seal. Some use a rocker, some use a pressure gauge. There’s no need of me typing too much just now. If you have specific questions, ask away.

https://www.gopresto.com/downloads/instructions/01781.pdf

 

[aart]

The bible of canning is the Ball Blue Book. It’s just full of recipes and how-to. You kind need to get that.

Each canner will have its own instructions. I’ve linked a manual from Presto since that’s the make I have. Some of the details can vary depending in which canner you get. Some use a gasket, some have a metal-to-metal seal. Some use a rocker, some use a pressure gauge. There’s no need of me typing too much just now. If you have specific questions, ask away.

https://www.gopresto.com/downloads/instructions/01781.pdf

The canning instructions in the booklet that came with my 6qt pressure cooker "applies to the Duo 10qt model....and the.... canning set".
The "canning set" consists of a wire rack for jars to sit on and some other typical canning equipment(lid magnet, jar tongs, etc)
So I'd at least need to get a rack for the bottom.
The 2-3" of water they require for pressure canning would not exceed the 2/3 fill rule on my 6qt pot.....
..... and I imagine head room between jars and pot lid is insignificant as long as jars are not touching it?
I'll be darned....looks like I could can some pints of meat in the pressure cooker I have already.(squeeeee!!)
Will have do to a little more research before being convinced I can use the 6qt...but am encouraged.
Never read the canning section of the booklet before......thanks for the prompting @Ridgerunner and everyone else.

County extension office will have bulletins. How many are in your family? For DH and I, I use pint jars for nearly everything. I think I have a 6 qt and an 8 quart - and I add so many cups of water.

If you are pressure canning, meat or beans, it will still take quite a length of processing time. You need to keep the pressure fairly constant. What I am trying to say, is this is not a multi-tasking thing. I don't set up the canner and go clean the bathroom, instead, I get a book and sit right there in the kitchen to keep an eye on it.

Mrs K

It's just me so pints are perfect.
Yeah, I never leave the hearing range of sound from the pressure cooker when using it,
and I've got the stove setting pretty well figured out as to where the pressure will stay put.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you are cooking with your pressure cooker, you can do the canning. Really, homemade chicken noodle soup, with real meat and vegetables in 20 minutes is just a comfort food. My DH love chicken and dumplings. With a jar from my cupboard, easy peasy.

One time I butchered 1 rooster and 1 hen, cooked them in the pressure cooker, filled jars, and processed them, and wrote down the time from start to finish. Live to jars - 6 hours, 5 pint jars meat & 2 broth.

I think I had butcher maybe two times before, so not real quick, I am getting better and faster, but it does give me a time frame.

mk

 

[Folly's place]

Just remember to ALWAYS boil the food from your home canning for fifteen minutes before tasting or eating! Mary

 

[bobbi-j]

At Bobbi-j

Last year, I locked my bachelors up, no free ranging. Kept them in and fed them well. Free ranging is kind of like grass fat cattle, when covering the territory, they stay naturally lean, and all that exercise makes the muscles firm and tough. I did keep them until nearly 5 months old, but so far, they were my best eating chicken.

I see that you will can a great deal of them, do you butcher and can the same day?

Mrs K

I'm thinking of locking up all cockerels next year as soon as I find out they're cockerels. That was my plan this year, but *someone* didn't want to do that, and sometimes, it's just not worth arguing about. I'll plant the seed, water it, and when he tells me *his* great idea next year, I'll smile sweetly and say, "Yes! That's a great idea, Dear!"

I do not butcher and can the same day. I raw pack mine, so it's a job of cutting meat off the bone, and that can take awhile. You cook yours first, huh? I may have to look into that. For some reason, I always thought that would take longer than raw pack, but maybe not.

Speaking of diversions here are those green beans I was talking about.


Back on one of your latest posts though not the original topic of the thread, boy can we ramble, I think not having the cockerels in there makes a big difference in them going to bed. Chickens don’t like to be intimidated so they stay out where they feel safer. I have four 21-week-old cockerels that range with the flock during the day but they go back to the grow-out coop to sleep by themselves. They make it hectic during the day but cause no problems at night. In a couple of weeks I’ll drop that to one cockerel and move him to the main coop while moving several 14 week old cockerels to the grow-out coop. But that’s irrelevant.

I have eight grown hens, four 21-week-old pullets, nineteen 14-week-old chicks, and five 8 week old chicks all sleeping in the main coop. The 21-week pullets are laying and fulling integrated with the older hens. The pullets and older hens go to bed first. The 19-week-olds don’t go to bed until much later. The 8-week-olds are last to go in the coop. I find that fairly consistent. The more mature or the more dominant go to bed first, the others wait so they don’t get beat up while waiting for dark.

Nice looking beans, RR! We're about out of the last beans I canned, so it's a bean canning year here. Don't you can chicken broth or stock, too? I did that the last time I did chickens.

County extension office will have bulletins. How many are in your family? For DH and I, I use pint jars for nearly everything. I think I have a 6 qt and an 8 quart - and I add so many cups of water.

If you are pressure canning, meat or beans, it will still take quite a length of processing time. You need to keep the pressure fairly constant. What I am trying to say, is this is not a multi-tasking thing. I don't set up the canner and go clean the bathroom, instead, I get a book and sit right there in the kitchen to keep an eye on it.

Mrs K

It's just DH and me here, too. When we were feeding 3 teenage boys, everything was quarts! Now pints are fine, and if we need more, we just open more jars. For raw pack it takes 75 minutes if I remember right. Not sure about hot pack.

The bible of canning is the Ball Blue Book. It’s just full of recipes and how-to. You kind need to get that.

Each canner will have its own instructions. I’ve linked a manual from Presto since that’s the make I have. Some of the details can vary depending in which canner you get. Some use a gasket, some have a metal-to-metal seal. Some use a rocker, some use a pressure gauge. There’s no need of me typing too much just now. If you have specific questions, ask away.

https://www.gopresto.com/downloads/instructions/01781.pdf

I have a Presto 23 quart canner with the pressure gauge. I had a rocker, but it quit working. I'd recommend the pressure gauge one, myself. The rocker takes so much more attention. You have to try to keep it to 10 seconds between jiggles or something like that. It was super hard on my ADD. It's much easier for me to pay attention to the pressure gauge than to count the seconds between jiggles.

The canning instructions in the booklet that came with my 6qt pressure cooker "applies to the Duo 10qt model....and the.... canning set".
The "canning set" consists of a wire rack for jars to sit on and some other typical canning equipment(lid magnet, jar tongs, etc)
So I'd at least need to get a rack for the bottom.
The 2-3" of water they require for pressure canning would not exceed the 2/3 fill rule on my 6qt pot.....
..... and I imagine head room between jars and pot lid is insignificant as long as jars are not touching it?
I'll be darned....looks like I could can some pints of meat in the pressure cooker I have already.(squeeeee!!)
Will have do to a little more research before being convinced I can use the 6qt...but am encouraged.
Never read the canning section of the booklet before......thanks for the prompting @Ridgerunner and everyone else.

It's just me so pints are perfect.
Yeah, I never leave the hearing range of sound from the pressure cooker when using it,
and I've got the stove setting pretty well figured out as to where the pressure will stay put.

Go, Aart! You can do it! I'm looking forward to hearing your results!

If you are cooking with your pressure cooker, you can do the canning. Really, homemade chicken noodle soup, with real meat and vegetables in 20 minutes is just a comfort food. My DH love chicken and dumplings. With a jar from my cupboard, easy peasy.

One time I butchered 1 rooster and 1 hen, cooked them in the pressure cooker, filled jars, and processed them, and wrote down the time from start to finish. Live to jars - 6 hours, 5 pint jars meat & 2 broth.

I think I had butcher maybe two times before, so not real quick, I am getting better and faster, but it does give me a time frame.

mk

Just grabbing that jar out of the pantry is the best! I use it for chicken soup, chicken stew, chicken salad, chicken enchiladas.... The possibilities are endless! I also can beef/venison. I do them together, because the venison is too gamey for me otherwise, but the beef mellows it out.

Do you strain your broth so it's nice and clear or do you leave the little bits of meat in it?

Just remember to ALWAYS boil the food from your home canning for fifteen minutes before tasting or eating! Mary

I've never worried about that. I do, however, make sure the jar is still sealed before I open it. I figure if it's canned properly, and I have confidence that it is, it will be fine. I suppose that could come back and bite me some day.

 

[aart]

I was wondering about raw pack or cooked first.
Cooked would make it easier to remove all the meat....then toss the bones back in for stock....then can some stock separate.

@bobbi-j You pack raw, think I remember you once saying you put bones in too? Maybe not.
What about liquid in with the raw meat....enough to over meat?


Wonders how many pints it would take to can up one chicken?
Was perusing what jars I had and found a bunch of pints of peaches from 7 years ago<rolleyes>
All still sealed...but not thinking I'll eat any....they were not pretty (darkish) then and still are not, probably why they didn't get eaten.

 

[Ridgerunner]

From Bobbi-J
Nice looking beans, RR! We're about out of the last beans I canned, so it's a bean canning year here. Don't you can chicken broth or stock, too? I did that the last time I did chickens.

When I butcher my chickens I cut them into serving pieces and double wrap the breasts, wishbone, drumsticks, and thighs in freezer paper. There are only two of us so that’s plenty of meat for the table. I package the back, wings, neck, gizzard, heart, and feet in a zip-lok type freezer bag. Yeah, I know where the feet have been, but if you scald them without over-scalding they peel fairly easily and the claws twist off. That gets them clean enough for me. But if you over-scald them the skin tears really easily and they are a pain to clean. I bring some water to a boil and set my timer for 15 seconds for young chickens and no more than 20 seconds for old roosters and hens.

When I cook the table meat, I save the bones and any cartilage and freeze those. When I have a bag full of those I stick them in a crock pot overnight (14 hours or more), save the liquid, and discard the bones. Some people would call this broth, I don’t. I freeze it. When I cook the carcass in a crock pot I use the water from those bones instead of fresh water unless I’m out. When I make broth I add a dozen or so peppercorns, a bay leaf, a carrot, celery, basil, oregano, maybe thyme or chives or parsley, onion, and garlic.

After this is done I strain it through a wire mesh colander to get the bones and meat out. I pick through this bone, meat and veggie stuff to separate the meat. Be careful or you get small bones with the meat. This cooked flavored meat is great for casseroles, tacos, chicken salad, or just on a sandwich for lunch.

I save the cooked veggies and use that in my live traps as bait. It’s the best bait I’ve found yet for skunks. I’ve also caught a lot of raccoons, possums, and rats with it. I wrap a fairly small amount in a paper towel to keep it together.

After the broth is done I take the fat out. I use one of those de-fatters that has a cork in the spout and let the fat settle to the top. You then pour the broth out from under the fat. If the broth is warm the fat separates out a lot faster than if it is cold. My recipe calls for removing the fat. You could leave the fat in but I don’t know how if that changes processing time.

Then I filter it through several layers of cheesecloth before canning it. You could omit this filtering and leave the bits in if you colander is fine enough wire mesh but my wife wants the broth filtered so that’s what she gets. I fill the jars with 1” air gap and process it for 20 minutes for pints at 11.5 pounds. Due to my elevation above sea level I go above the 10 pounds you often read about.