Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[airynne]

Our new coop has arrived! Now we just need some chickens to put in it! Looking forward to even more advice and guidance from the good members of BYC.

That is a lovely coop! May I ask where it's from? Or if anyone has any advice on getting a coop? The one I had my eye on is from a company that seems to have shut down either for now or for good. The husband says he can build one, but I'm still keeping my options open for just getting a kit or something more finished. He doesn't always work on my time table and I'd really like the coop done and ready by spring.

 

[elizmartin]

@elizmartin -- Have any suggestions?

@YNOT2K How far would you consider driving? You can check with @DeltaBluezTess who's in the Duval/Carnation area.
You might also try going to one of the shows. There are always people selling birds. October in Vancouver or November in Chehalis. You can search this thread and see the post with show information posted a few weeks ago.

HI, Am on a borrowed puter til my laptop gets repaired....geeze, forgot my BYC password,,,,, Thanks Carolyn, I do know that Royce is in Granite Falls near Getchell rd. with a variety of breeds (Barnevelders, Ameracaunas,Wyndottes, Orloffs, and more.....advertises on Craigs list often....... as well as a friend who has mostly Muscovy ducks. ( also does Craigs)....I am 10 minutes away and may have a couple of Salmon Faverolles or some mixed breeds available in another week or so.....Will look up Royce's info and get back to the list.

 

[Hinotori]

Our new coop has arrived! Now we just need some chickens to put in it! Looking forward to even more advice and guidance from the good members of BYC.

Awesome! Congrats on getting your coop!

 

[Chickielady]

Using an oven, to can foods, can be a problem... The temperature does not get high enough to kill the botulism spores...

Just so you know....

It is time to get a pressure canner before someone gets ill.... All it takes is 1 shot of botulism and your life will be ruined, and possibly someone else's life too.. maybe your grand children .....

Dave..... (anal about food safety Dave)

I LOVE my pressure canner !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only acidic and sugar foods are water bath canned...................(jam, jelly, ascorbic acid added-tomato products, fruits and fruit sauces.)

Dave is correct, best to take care and do what is right, than kill off your family.
Remember, botulism has no smell or taste...you just get DEAD.

 

[Chickielady]

Hey everyone! I have one day left on my trip but I wanted to share some pictures of feral chickens I saw (met) on Honolulu specifically the north shore.

According to a local man at the beach, people drop off their unwanted chickens where I found these but they appear to be more of a game bird - LOTS of chicks of various ages.



This handsome boy was near the Giovannis shrimp truck a couple miles up the road.



He decided to join us for lunch.



I couldn't help but read "Leghorn" in this street name near where we are staying.

CUTE !!!! and yes, alot of Leghorns !

 

[Chickielady]

Oven canning was developed for dry goods.

Air is a very poor conductor of heat. You need temps well over the boiling point of water to kill botulism. Only way to do that is under pressure.

I've had food poisoning before. It was a very horrible few weeks. I'm not going with any risk of food poisoning that can actually kill me.

I check the seals on every jar before I use it. Even on the high acid, high sugar jams and grape juice.

Oven canning is excellent for breads as well...hot jars are oiled & a dollap of dough goes in each, then lids & rings.
The dough cooks, steams, and then taken out of the oven, you have a bread ball....
A few Amish women I know do cook this way, and especially when they are picnicking or driving cross country (like going home to Ohio) they never eat in a restaurant !
Their food is all prepared before hand, breads in jars, beans and green canned also.
Pickles and Krauts as well.

 

[Chickielady]

I know this is redundant for Dave, Hinotori, and some others, but pressure canning is only needed for some foods including meat, fish, and low acid foods like green beans, etc. Pickles, Jams, Jellies, and fruit are classic examples of foods that do not have to be pressure canned. I don't want newbie canners to be frightened off thinking everything requires a pressure cooker! My rule of thumb is, When In Doubt -- Freeze It!

My rule of thumb is to think about how this food is going to taste after hard boiling for 30 minutes................MUSH ?

YES low acid foods MUST be pressure canned, that is foods like corn & green beans.
I do not can them...they are too readily available at the market, and are low on nutrition in the first place.
I avoid such foods (sugar sugar sugar !)
Tomatoes, Greens, Green beans, I DO can, and tomatoes in a water bath, relish & pickles in a water bath, and low acid greens & green beans or Texas caviar, IN THE Pressue Canner !!!
(With ascorbic acid added)

Just did a 17-pint bucket (ha) of Monte Bowen's "Top secret" Hot Dog Relish,
Which I have sworn to never give the recipe out, cross my heart, but I will say, IT IS AWESOME DELICIOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and probably redundant to carolyn, is how we try to get this STUFF out of the freezer cuz is it coming up on
ELK and DEER season !

Tuna and Salmon go in jars, Deer and elk get in the freezers, some to jerky, most in the freezers.

 

[Chickielady]

We only use it to seal the jars and if they aren't sealed we eat them. We do not use it to cook what goes in the jars!!

regardless, jars are not to cook food either !
Food should be cooked (boiling) before going in a water bath for at least 25 minutes, and all meats raw (except tuna) go in the pressure canner with oil & stay in for 11 pounds and up to 111 minutes, yes you read that correct, 111 minutes.
Wether the food is cooked before or not is not the issue, the very AIR in the jars, contains bacteria, that will survive an oven 'bake'
Putting cooked food in a jar and trying to 'seal' it in an oven is suicide.

 

[Chickielady]

I water bath the jams, juice, and fruit. Been doing that for years. Great Grandma used wax for sealing jams (which used to be standard). Grandma used water bath and lids because to many jars of jam would mold that way. With water bathing she very rarely had a jar not seal and no mold issues.

My SIL made tomato sauce a couple years ago. Didn't sterilize the jars. Didn't add acid to them. She thought you just had to add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water in the canning kettle to raise acidity. She ran them 5 minutes. My brother refused to eat it since he grew up with good canning practice. I guess it was a huge fight. Mom said the jars sat on the counter for a few months. Then the seals started popping from pressure. It was stupid. She'd asked my mom how to do them before starting because it was her first try canning and ignored what she was told. I almost got her a blue book for christmas that year.

Mom called me about 8 times yesterday because she was making pepper jelly for the first time, wanting me to keep looking up the recipe and canning instructions. Mom was worried the vinegar wasn't enough acid.

My uncle and I have Mom using extra acid in all jams now, too. Even on the fruits that don't need a little extra acid. Fresh lemon juice. It helps retain the color of the jams better.

5 minutes in a water bath ????????????????????

ALL my water baths are at least 25 minutes After the water is at a rolling boil and the food put in the jars was at a boil !
Such as Salsa, pot of salsa boils, ladeled in jars, lids & rings on, and then the buggers get 30 minutes, 25 of which will be a violent rolling boil!

 

[Chickielady]

After tasting that tuna I canned, hubby wants to go get a lot more and have me can it up. I need to get more of the 10 oz jars from the oyster place if we do. They were much cheaper than any half pints I can buy.

I need another freezer. One big one isn't enough. I even have the old little one from our apartment days and the one on the fridge stuffed full. As we've eaten the beef, it's space has been taken up with other things.

I don't can veggies, I prefer them frozen. Anything I freeze gets vacuum sealed to help prevent freezer burn.

This is why I am getting stuff OUT of my freezer & can it all.
And yes, home "grown smoked and cooked TUNA and then jar it.
Tuna is the only fish that should be cooked FIRST, chilled over night & then cut up, and jarred, and broth ladeled over & pressure canned 111 minutes at 12 pounds.

All other fish can be raw packed, with EVOO and herbs, and pressure canned the same.