What are you canning now?

[shortgrass]

thanks for the posts and questions girls. I didn't have a good answer to your questions, so I went back on Utube and watched several more videos in regards to ground beef. Saw several reasons for doing both. One lady loved having the broth after adding hot water to her meat, that it became richer tasting with time. Another said, her meat in a broth was mealy and soft in texture. Another said it hindered what she could use the meat for when it was canned in broth. I thought about it, when using beef, that if it wasn't cooked first, and packed raw, that it could have more fat than I wanted in the jar, and the more fat, the faster it could possibly go rancid. Also, watching the videos, all of the fat could also impede the sealing process by the fat climbing the jar walls and not allowing the lids to properly seal.  I am not sure how, but the first lady, who packed with hot water, said she could make meatballs with her canned beef.... I think I need to go and see how she was going to do that.  I can see if packed with broth, it would be great for soups, but dry, could be used for  many things, including soups too. 
Not sure if I have answered any questions, or opened up a new conversation.   I have not yet opened up any of the jars to use as of yet. 

Ah I see! That makes total sense...with the fat content of most hamburger, I wouldn't want all that fat to stay in the jar...

I bet it would make good meatballs...a little oatmeal and spices...probably really sift and workable... That gives me something to go on...dint know if I'll ever can venison just because DH goes nuts for jerky lol, but now at least I can try

Thank you for sharing!

 

[rancher hicks]

PLEASE HELP!!

I think I just made a HUGE canning error. I've been searching all over the internet & in few different books I have w/no real answer (the two answers I found contradicted themselves). So with all the BYC Members, I came here and found this active canning thread. Hoping there is someone out there who can help.

Problem: I just made a batch of blueberry jam from berries I picked from my yard. I try to do my canning while the kids are at school/summer camp, but I made the mistake of doing it when everyone was home. With all the distractions I forgot to add the lemon juice to my batch of jam. By the time I realized my error, all the jars had sealed and cooled most of the way. (I read if they hadn't sealed I could open, dump in a pot, add juice, boil & re-can. But I was well past that point.) Is the jam ruined??

In case it helps to know, I use the hot pack method & powder pectin.

1. If the jam set and tastes fine, I would leave it.

2. My Blueberry/blackberry jam was too hard and seedy, so I dumped it back into the pot added three cups of water, boiled it and then ran it through a sieve, added a packet of powdered pectin. It set not real hard but isn't as smooth as jelly. Since I got so l little I'm leaving it.

I did use some in a smoothie, 32 oz. Container of vanilla yogurt , three nannas, 12 strawberries and a half 4 oz jar of the remade jam. Will it got eaten so fast I could not believe it.

3. I believe the lemon is more for the set than the taste.

4. Be aware that all lemons are NOT created equal in acidity. Bottled juice may or may not contained added Citric acid. Check out "Cooks Country" and see if you can find the episode that compares lemons and bottled lemon juice.

 

[1FlewOver]

I agree....sometimes lemon juice is added for flavor, sometimes to help reduce foaming....so if it ain't broke, don't fix it....

You can always re-do if necessary...but you should be fine.

 

[shortgrass]

I agree....sometimes lemon juice is added for flavor, sometimes to help reduce foaming....so if it ain't broke, don't fix it....

You can always re-do if necessary...but you should be fine.

Oh yeah, foaming! My trick is 1/4 tsp of butter... Pretty much ZERO foam

 

[FamFitz]

Thanks for the replies! I knew coming on to BYC was a good idea. =]

I use the butter trick too for the foam. Works great! The jam did set fine as far as I can tell. I had one scoop too many so that got put in a glass dish in the fridge. Used it this morning on biscuits and it tastes great!

In my search last night the two answers I found were "it'll be fine, just maybe not best quality ever (aka:runnier than usual)" and "acid level/pH will be off causing the jars to go bad". I'm OK with a little runnier, but I'd hate for someone who eats my jam to get sick/food poisoning. Does anyone here know about that or how the lack of lemon juice (I usually use a fresh squeezed lemon) will effect shelf life? A few of my egg customers asked to buy jam. I'm wondering if OK to sell or if I should keep this batch for myself. It would be a bummer (for them & my wallet), but, like I said, I don't want anyone to get sick cuz I forgot a tablespoon or two of lemon juice. =/

 

[rancher hicks]

Well I picked and cleaned the wild grapes. Very sour. My grandson liked them. Crazy kid. I got just under four cups so I bagged them and put them in the freezer.

I wonder if rain fall determines how big the grapes get.

I also wonder if any has built and arbor for wild grapes to keep them low enough to harvest.

Seems to me there is plenty of "wild" fruit out there to feed a family.

I've been looking at the "Wild grapes" pages on the internet. There are lots of them too. Of course the bloggers and all that. Some making wine but me I just do the jelly.

 

[Beekissed]

The corn we bought this morning is so perfect I can't stop marveling over it! Picked fresh this morning, picked at the correct time for maximum sweetness but with kernels still small and crisp enough for wonderful texture, ears full clear down to the tip with perfect rows, large ears.

Can't say enough good about the quality of this sweet corn! It costs $36 for 116 ears of corn. That makes 28 qt. of corn, with each qt equal to~and even greater to~ the amount of corn found in 3 standard size cans of corn from the store~, but has 100% better taste and quality. So it works out to the amount of 84 cans of store bought corn for $36.

Not a bad savings at all and we'll be eating incredibly fresh and flavorful corn instead of that bland, over processed stuff from the store.

 

[iawoodchip]

Well I picked and cleaned the wild grapes. Very sour. My grandson liked them. Crazy kid. I got just under four cups so I bagged them and put them in the freezer.

I wonder if rain fall determines how big the grapes get.

I also wonder if any has built and arbor for wild grapes to keep them low enough to harvest.

Seems to me there is plenty of "wild" fruit out there to feed a family.

I've been looking at the "Wild grapes" pages on the internet. There are lots of them too. Of course the bloggers and all that. Some making wine but me I just do the jelly.

Seems to me they grow good on fence lines once they get started. I see my neighbor has a chain-link fence with a few. I'm going to wait a bit before I go after some. To me, the problem with wild grapes is they're WILD. The vines and roots goes everywhere.

 

[N F C]

The corn we bought this morning is so perfect I can't stop marveling over it! Picked fresh this morning, picked at the correct time for maximum sweetness but with kernels still small and crisp enough for wonderful texture, ears full clear down to the tip with perfect rows, large ears.

Can't say enough good about the quality of this sweet corn! It costs $36 for 116 ears of corn. That makes 28 qt. of corn, with each qt equal to~and even greater to~ the amount of corn found in 3 standard size cans of corn from the store~, but has 100% better taste and quality. So it works out to the amount of 84 cans of store bought corn for $36.

Not a bad savings at all and we'll be eating incredibly fresh and flavorful corn instead of that bland, over processed stuff from the store.

Very nice deal on the corn. That's a good savings.

 

[jerryse]

Well I picked and cleaned the wild grapes. Very sour. My grandson liked them. Crazy kid. I got just under four cups so I bagged them and put them in the freezer.

I wonder if rain fall determines how big the grapes get.

I also wonder if any has built and arbor for wild grapes to keep them low enough to harvest.

Seems to me there is plenty of "wild" fruit out there to feed a family.

I've been looking at the "Wild grapes" pages on the internet. There are lots of them too. Of course the bloggers and all that. Some making wine but me I just do the jelly.

Mostly genetics on the size of grapes . Rain can help some . Here in Illinois we have what is called summer grape that grows wild . Small pea sized fruit that is ripe now . Each region has a native grape species .