Canning Stuff.

[Larry Caldwell]

My sweet pickle recipe ferments the cukes for 7-10 days, then soaks them 24 hours in an alum solution before rinsing the crock and proceeding with the syrup. The alum makes the pickles crispy, but you don't want to consume a whole lot of it.

Get the Facts About Alum and How It's Used in Everyday Life

Find out what alum is and the uses in households and industrial situations, along with a look the different types of alum and whether they are safe.

www.thoughtco.com

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Canning getting to be lost art more so with today's youngsters...ask them what root cellar is.

Around here the stores ration canning lids, usually 3-5 boxes of 12 to a customer. There is a shortage of canning supplies every year, so we buy canning supplies in the winter when nobody is thinking about it. Stores have whole aisles of canning jars, rings, lids, pickling salt, pickling spice, and the produce section stocks fresh dill daily. A friend just did 24 pints of tuna. It doesn't look like a lost art to me. I just canned six grocery bags of tomatoes, free from a friend who had already done his canning, and 11 pints of sweet pickles this morning. Canning may be a lost art to the town kids, but country kids know it well, just like always.

I have a friend with a big cider press who does a cider party every year. There are abandoned apple orchards all over. You can drive in and pick right into the pickup bed. I have a bunch of half gallon mason jars dedicated to a cider water bath. 12 gallons of cider (24 jars) is not a lot, but it's a really nice drink during the winter holiday season.

 

[ning]

I've used the baking soda & hydrogen peroxide skunk fix a few times and it worked wonders.

 

[Torvy]

I had a similar childhood experience. Mom came from a large farming family, born in '32. Grandma's cellar was always filled with home canned food. We spent weeks every fall canning various things. I prefer most veggies frozen vs canned, but some things are just better pickled. Nowadays, I cannot have much sugar, so I prefer dill pickles and/or hot pepper types. I've done a little canning as an adult, mostly tomato sauces/salsa. (Similar to Larry's I imagine). Once we get out on the property full-time, we will do so with our home grown produce.

 

[Oaktree]

Canning getting to be lost art more so with today's youngsters...ask them what root cellar is.

Getting to be a lost art, period. Outside of my sisters and myself, I don't know many people of my generation that can/preserve. Oddly, those that do seem to be the younger generation. Maybe it's one of those "everything old is new again" things. Good for them.

 

[JasperFrank]

Tomato sauce does not work on skunk stink. The above post #33, formula, using hydrogen peroxide and baking soda does. Our dog just never learned and after the third skunking, we realized that the Tomato cure was just an old wives' tale. Our dog has since been skunked 4 more times and the formula presented in post #33 did the trick. I add a touch of vanilla extract.

We have gotten into the art of pickling eggs. Its like making home brewed beer. You can do what ever you want and create what ever flavor you want, if you follow sanitary rules of canning.

 

[shooterdon]

Mom canned every year and I still have many jars. But my “canning” is simple and cheap. I buy stuff on sale and stock up

Last sale I “put up” 240 cans of corn, peas and beans for $.20/can. Can’t buy the lids for that.

I know....not as yummy as home grown, but I do not care. If/when the SHTF, yummy is even further down our list of priorities.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Last sale I “put up” 240 cans of corn, peas and beans for $.20/can. Can’t buy the lids for that.

I know....not as yummy as home grown, but I do not care. If/when the SHTF, yummy is even further down our list of priorities.

Last week I bought Ball lids for $3.19 for 12 lids, BUT if you bought $20.00 worth of lids, (or any other canning supplies) you got $5.00 off.

A lid will do several different sizes of jars, so I'm not so sure you came out ahead of me. lol

SR

 

[ning]

ok stupid question time

We've done a good job in getting into canning over the last couple decades
but where we fail is EATING IT
and if there's one thing I absolutely abhor is spending a lot of time on a task and then literally having the throw away the results later; canned foods don't last forever (side topic: how old of food will you eat that you've canned?)

I can't get people to look in the pantry for canned goods before going to the store and buying something in the same category
of course, they're typically buying fresh - we mostly eat fresh veggies
and while my wife grew up in a typical American middle-class family that ate lots of (tin-)canned goods, we've been much more healthy eaters for decades and I'm not saying that home-canned goods aren't healthy, but they're not fresh veggies either.

How do you make this social change to get your canned stuff eaten?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Mom canned every year and I still have many jars. But my “canning” is simple and cheap. I buy stuff on sale and stock up

Last sale I “put up” 240 cans of corn, peas and beans for $.20/can. Can’t buy the lids for that.

I know....not as yummy as home grown, but I do not care. If/when the SHTF, yummy is even further down our list of priorities.

Survivalist hoard food. I eat mine.

I don't can corn, peas, and beans either. First, I don't like canned vegetables, except creamed corn is not bad. Second, pressure canning takes freaking forever. The only thing I will willingly pressure can is fish, like tuna and salmon. Hmm. Maybe I should try some half pints of crawdad tails. What do those cost in the store?