We have all had that moment when we pack up the dinner left-overs, open the fridge door and realize that the refrigerator will not hold another thing. Grrrrr! It happened to me last night. At 5AM I began filling up jars for canning. Yes, you can can your left-overs. You have my permission. :)
I filled up three pints with left -over chili from Saturday night, a quart full of pasta sauce with meat from my son-in-law to be, a quart of sliced chicken breast meat, and a bowl/pint of purchased chunky soup that my son opened but wouldn't eat because it had mushrooms in it. It was such an easy project that I decided to do this every week! I am so stoked! My inner tightwad is totally thrilled! Here's how I did it:
1. Always use clean, sterilized canning jars:
I wash my jars in hot, sudsy water, rinsed, then placed them in a large kettle filled with hot water. I allowed the kettle to come to a rolling boil. I t usually requires about 10-15 minutes to thoroughly sterilize the jars once the water is boiling. It is also good practice to have a smaller pot of water for the lids and bands. The water in this pot does not require boiling. We only need the rubber to soften up for a good seal. I usually allow it to heat up until there are bubbles forming around the lids.
2. If the jars are hot, the food should be hot, otherwise the jars will most likely brake. Likewise, if you have allowed your jars to cool completely after sterilizing them, then the food should also be cool.
( When canning left-overs, I usually have sterilized jars waiting. The food is cold, right from the refrigerator. I allow the jars and the food to come up to heat once they are in the pressure canner, but that's just what I prefer.)
3. A: Ladle the food into the jars, leaving an inch head space at the top. If there isn't enough head space, the pressure from the canner could blow out your jars. Special Note: When I sliced up the baked chicken breast meat, there was no liquid. I added water to the jar, allowing for the one inch head space required for canning cooked meats.
B:Using a butter knife or similar tool, poke through the food to release any trapped air pockets. Do not skip this step. Air pockets can possibly spoil your canned goods.
C:Using a clean cloth or paper towel, wipe the rims of the jars so that no foreign matter (food) is left behind. Particles of food can prevent a lid from properly sealing.
D: Secure the hot lid onto the jar and screw on the band. Give it a good tight turn. Now you are ready for the pressure canner.
4.Following the directions for your own pressure canner, add water to the pot and place in the filled jars. My pot has a line etched near the bottom of the pot for the recommended amount. Not all pressure cookers are alike, so please follow the specific directions recommended by the manufacturer. Secure the lid, but do not put the "weight piece" on the vent hole yet.
Also, because my jars are cold going in, I use cold water. If your jars are hot from reheating the food, use hot water in the pressure canner.
5. Set the stove to "high" and allow the water in the pot to boil. Steam will come out of the little vent hole on top of the pot. Let the steam blow good and strong for about 10 minutes, then place the weight piece on the vent stem. Now you will notice that pressure is slowly building inside the pot. My pot has a pressure gauge that allows me to see the amount of pressure as it builds up, so that I may adjust the heat accordingly.
6. I canned four different types of left-overs, however I was able to can everything in one batch. To make things even more complicated I canned in both quart jars and pints. So how do we know if we are getting it right? Well, it really isn't that complicated when you get down to it.
A: Know what the recommended pressure is for your are. This is easy enough to find out through a Google search or from the Ball Blue Book. I have always canned at 10-12 pounds pressure. I have never had any problems with spoilage as long as the needle on the gauge stays above 10 pounds of pressure. I like to stay at or under 12 pounds however, because I am uncomfortable going higher than that, even though I know that it is still really safe at 15 pounds. (Paranoia!)
B: Use the recommended time for the item you are canning, and for the largest jars you are using. In my case, meat products in quarts will process for 90 minutes. Even though I have pints in the same batch, I will can for the quart sized jars. It doesn't hurt the pints to stay longer, but it could spoil the food in the quart jars to cook less.
To recap: The jars are in the canner, the lid is sealed tightly, the weight is on the vent hole, the pressure is rising to the desired poundage... now, we wait and we watch. For the next 90 minutes we monitor the gauge to be sure we are holding enough pressure ( as recommended for your altitude) to prevent botulism, without getting to much heat that your pressure canner becomes dangerous.
7. Once you have allowed the processing time to lapse, carefully remove the canner from the heat source and let it cool off and drop back down to zero on the gauge. Do not remove the weight until you reach the zero. This can destroy all your efforts! Also, be careful when removing the lid from the pot. Steam is one of the worst things that you can be burned by and it really does hurt! Now, let's look at my jars!
I filled up three pints with left -over chili from Saturday night, a quart full of pasta sauce with meat from my son-in-law to be, a quart of sliced chicken breast meat, and a bowl/pint of purchased chunky soup that my son opened but wouldn't eat because it had mushrooms in it. It was such an easy project that I decided to do this every week! I am so stoked! My inner tightwad is totally thrilled! Here's how I did it:
1. Always use clean, sterilized canning jars:
I wash my jars in hot, sudsy water, rinsed, then placed them in a large kettle filled with hot water. I allowed the kettle to come to a rolling boil. I t usually requires about 10-15 minutes to thoroughly sterilize the jars once the water is boiling. It is also good practice to have a smaller pot of water for the lids and bands. The water in this pot does not require boiling. We only need the rubber to soften up for a good seal. I usually allow it to heat up until there are bubbles forming around the lids.
2. If the jars are hot, the food should be hot, otherwise the jars will most likely brake. Likewise, if you have allowed your jars to cool completely after sterilizing them, then the food should also be cool.
( When canning left-overs, I usually have sterilized jars waiting. The food is cold, right from the refrigerator. I allow the jars and the food to come up to heat once they are in the pressure canner, but that's just what I prefer.)
3. A: Ladle the food into the jars, leaving an inch head space at the top. If there isn't enough head space, the pressure from the canner could blow out your jars. Special Note: When I sliced up the baked chicken breast meat, there was no liquid. I added water to the jar, allowing for the one inch head space required for canning cooked meats.
B:Using a butter knife or similar tool, poke through the food to release any trapped air pockets. Do not skip this step. Air pockets can possibly spoil your canned goods.
C:Using a clean cloth or paper towel, wipe the rims of the jars so that no foreign matter (food) is left behind. Particles of food can prevent a lid from properly sealing.
D: Secure the hot lid onto the jar and screw on the band. Give it a good tight turn. Now you are ready for the pressure canner.
4.Following the directions for your own pressure canner, add water to the pot and place in the filled jars. My pot has a line etched near the bottom of the pot for the recommended amount. Not all pressure cookers are alike, so please follow the specific directions recommended by the manufacturer. Secure the lid, but do not put the "weight piece" on the vent hole yet.
Also, because my jars are cold going in, I use cold water. If your jars are hot from reheating the food, use hot water in the pressure canner.
5. Set the stove to "high" and allow the water in the pot to boil. Steam will come out of the little vent hole on top of the pot. Let the steam blow good and strong for about 10 minutes, then place the weight piece on the vent stem. Now you will notice that pressure is slowly building inside the pot. My pot has a pressure gauge that allows me to see the amount of pressure as it builds up, so that I may adjust the heat accordingly.
 |
| Pressure gauge and vent stem on top of my pressure canner. |
6. I canned four different types of left-overs, however I was able to can everything in one batch. To make things even more complicated I canned in both quart jars and pints. So how do we know if we are getting it right? Well, it really isn't that complicated when you get down to it.
A: Know what the recommended pressure is for your are. This is easy enough to find out through a Google search or from the Ball Blue Book. I have always canned at 10-12 pounds pressure. I have never had any problems with spoilage as long as the needle on the gauge stays above 10 pounds of pressure. I like to stay at or under 12 pounds however, because I am uncomfortable going higher than that, even though I know that it is still really safe at 15 pounds. (Paranoia!)
B: Use the recommended time for the item you are canning, and for the largest jars you are using. In my case, meat products in quarts will process for 90 minutes. Even though I have pints in the same batch, I will can for the quart sized jars. It doesn't hurt the pints to stay longer, but it could spoil the food in the quart jars to cook less.
To recap: The jars are in the canner, the lid is sealed tightly, the weight is on the vent hole, the pressure is rising to the desired poundage... now, we wait and we watch. For the next 90 minutes we monitor the gauge to be sure we are holding enough pressure ( as recommended for your altitude) to prevent botulism, without getting to much heat that your pressure canner becomes dangerous.
7. Once you have allowed the processing time to lapse, carefully remove the canner from the heat source and let it cool off and drop back down to zero on the gauge. Do not remove the weight until you reach the zero. This can destroy all your efforts! Also, be careful when removing the lid from the pot. Steam is one of the worst things that you can be burned by and it really does hurt! Now, let's look at my jars!
 |
| Three pints of chili, one pint of stew, one quart of pasta sauce, and one quart of chicken. |
 |
| No need to let purchased stew go to waste. |
 |
| Sliced baked chicken breast meat ready for a casserole. |
 |
| Traveling at the speed of life. |
No comments :
Post a Comment