by Karen Ward
3 Ladle the ground beef into each prepared jar and cover with boiling liquid, leaving 1-inch headspace. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt to each pint jar or 1/2 teaspoon salt to each quart jar, if desired. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive utensil (refer to Chapter 3). Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands.
4 Process your filled jars in the pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes (pints) and 1 hour 30 minutes (quarts). When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)
5 Remove the hot jars with a jar lifter. Place the jars on a clean kitchen towel in a draft-free area. After the jars cool completely, test the seals (refer to Chapter 4). (If you find jars that haven't sealed, immediately refrigerate them and use them within one week.) Boil the contents of each jar for 15 minutes before tasting or eating.
Vary It!: Add a single bouillon cube per quart in place of the salt for a slightly different flavor.
Per 4-ounce serving: Calories 261 (From fat 123); Fat 14g (Saturated 10g); Cholesterol 101mg; Sodium 99mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 32g.
Poultry
Poultry is chicken, turkey, and other birds. To can fresh chickens (those that haven't been frozen), you use the cold pack method. To can chickens that have been previously frozen, you use the hot pack method.
Canning is the perfect way to use roosters and older hens. (An older hen, known as a stewing hen, is one that is older than 1 1/2 years.) These traditionally tougher birds are made tender and succulent through the canning process. The younger chickens tend to become too soft and are better if frozen.
Canning fresh chicken: Cold packing
Cold packing is recommended for poultry that has never been frozen and makes a fast and efficient way to preserve poultry for your pantry.
Preparing the chicken: If you have whole chickens, remove the breasts to freeze separately and can the remaining parts of the bird. Separate the leg pieces at the joint, so you have a thigh and drumstick for each leg. Place the pieces of cold chicken in a large bowl, only preparing enough chickens for a full canner load.
Make sure that the drumstick bone is not too tall for a lid to sit flush on the rim of the jar. If so, chop off the excess bone with a cleaver, or refit.
Filling the jars: When canning chicken, fit one chicken per quart. Cold-pack chicken pieces into each quart jar. Place the pieces close together, but not jammed in, fitting them like a puzzle, working around the jar until no more room is left (see Figure 11-1). Add one bouillon cube into each jar before hand-tightening the lid. Don't add any additional liquid to cold pack chicken because the canning process yields a surprising amount of liquid.
The natural gelatin in the chicken bones gives the cooled liquid a jellylike consistency. Once heated, this jelly will liquefy and be full of flavor.
Figure 11-1: Fit in the chicken pieces like a puzzle — but not too tightly.
Canning prefrozen chicken: Hot packing
You may also can prefrozen chickens. Say you have a freezer full of chicken and your freezer suddenly breaks down. Now you need to process a large amount of poultry, and fast. You can successfully can prefrozen poultry as long as it's not freezer damaged and you thaw it slowly in a refrigerator. (This is not a technique to use on old, forgotten chicken that you suddenly found at the bottom of your freezer.) A good rule of thumb: Can chicken that's been frozen for 4 months or less.
Preparing the chicken: To can prefrozen chicken, you use the hot pack method: Cut up the chicken and separate the pieces at all the joints so that you end up with thighs and drumsticks. Save the more desirable breast pieces for a separate meal. Remove the skin if you like (doing so reduces the amount of fat in the jar). Then cook the pieces about two-thirds of the way through. The meat finishes cooking in the canner.
Filling the jars: Fill hot jars with hot chicken pieces, fitting them together like puzzle pieces, until the jar is full, leaving 1-inch headspace.
Never Fail Canned Chicken
Canned fresh chicken is probably the most superbly flavored way to cook poultry. It's canned in the simplest manner as well: cold packed into hot jars. This chicken is perfect for any recipe calling for cooked or shredded chicken. Once canned, the chicken falls off the bone, making cleaning it a snap.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Processing time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Pressure level: 10 pounds
Yield: 7 quarts (each containing one 3-pound chicken)
Seven 3-pound chickens
Canning salt or bouillon cubes (optional)
1 Cut each chicken into parts, separating legs into thigh and drumstick pieces. Place the pieces in a large bowl, keeping them cold as you continue to cut. Remove the skin, if desired. Remove the breasts and use or freeze them separately.
2 Prepare the canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Keep the jars and lids hot. (For detailed instructions on preparing your jars, see Chapter 4.)
3 Fill the prepared jars with the chicken pieces until full, leaving 1-inch headspace. Add 1 bouillon cube or 1/2 teaspoon canning salt to each quart jar, if desired. Release any air bubbles with a nonreactive utensil (refer to Chapter 3). Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands. (Note: Due to the each chicken being a little different, you may find that you fit different numbers of pieces into each jar.)
4 Process your filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 15 minutes. When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)
5 Remove the hot jars with a jar lifter. Place the jars on a clean kitchen towel in a draft-free area. After the jars cool completely, test the seals. (If you find jars that haven't sealed, immediately refrigerate them and use them within one week.) Boil the contents of each jar for 5 minutes before tasting or eating.
Vary It! If you are canning chicken that has been previously frozen and then thawed, cook it two-thirds of the way through before filling the canning jars.
Per 4-ounce serving: Calories 214 (From fat 88); Fat 10g (Saturated 3g); Cholesterol 97mg; Sodium 85mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 29g.
Fish and Seafood
Many people are surprised to know that both fish and seafood can be canned successfully. Doing so is great if you're a sportsman or sportswoman and often end up with bags of frozen fillets you don't know what to do with. You can add seasoned broth or tomato juice to the jars, and the resulting food is delicious as well as a unique addition to your pantry.
Both fish and seafood fall into the delicate category. Both should be cold packed, and you must follow the recipe closely and handle the food with care throughout the process. But because they make wonderful additions to savory pies and soups or stews, they're worth the extra effort and care it takes to make a healthy and delicious product.
Fish and seafood differ from other meats because they are extremely low in acidity, which means that there is an even greater chance of error if you don't follow the recipe carefully. Because of the increased chance of error, canning fish is not the best project for a beginner. Try canning some other foods first. When you feel proficient with canning easier items (like fruits and vegetables), move up to meats, and then to fish and seafood.
Picking your fish
When canning fish, use a mild-flavored fish from clean waters. With fishing being a sport that requires an inexpensive license and a worm on a pole, you may find that fishing can fill a pantry for little to no cost.
Check with your local health department for official warnings and recommendations about eating freshly caught fish in your area.
Preparing fish and seafood
To prepare fish, you clean and scale it, but you don't remove the skin. You don't have to remove the tiny bones, either (they'll become soft and edible when canned). Then you cut it into pieces long enough to fill the jar and leave 1-inch headspace. If cutting chunks is desired, simply cut into pieces roughly the same size, again leaving 1-inch headspace.
To measure how long to cut your fish pieces, place the size jar you are using alongside a fillet of fish.
Filling the jar
Place the fish pieces into pint jars, skin side facing out (for a prettier finished jar), and leave 1-inch headspace, as shown in Figure 11-2. (Fish is not suitable for quart canning.)
Figure 11-2: Place fish skin side out in jar.
Fish and seafood need to be canned as quickly as possible — preferably the day it's caught. If you want to can either of these foods, make a plan that includes the actual trip out to catch them. That way, your supplies are organized and ready to use when you return to the kitchen. When you have a basket of fish waiting to be canned, that is no time to be looking for your canning tongs.
Canned Freshwater Fish
This recipe is one that my family loves. I (Amy) use it primarily as the base for a quick fish chowder. On a cold night, it tastes wonderful with crusty bread and a canned fruit on the side.
Preparation time: 1 hour
Processing time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Pressure level: 10 pounds
Yield: 12 pints
25 pounds fresh fish
Canning salt
1 Prepare the canning jars and two-piece caps (lids and screw bands) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Keep the jars and lids hot. (For detailed instructions on preparing your jars, see Chapter 4.)
2 Clean the fish, removing the entrails, scales, head, tail, and fins. Leave the skin intact. Cut the pieces of cleaned fish to fit the jars minus 1 inch for the required headspace; see Figure 11-2.
3 Fill the hot jars with fish, skin side out (refer to Figure 11-2) and add 1 teaspoon salt to each jar. Wipe the jar rims; seal the jars with the two-piece caps, hand-tightening the bands.
4 Process the filled jars in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 1 hour 40 minutes. When the processing time is done, allow the pressure to return to 0, wait an additional 10 minutes, and then carefully open the canner lid. (Head to Chapter 9 for detailed processing instructions for pressure canning.)
5 Remove the hot jars with a jar lifter. Place the jars on a clean kitchen towel in a draft-free area. After the jars cool completely, test the seals (refer to Chapter 4). (If you find jars that haven't sealed, immediately refrigerate them and use them within one week.) Boil the contents of each jar for 15 minutes before tasting or eating.
Per 4-ounce serving: Calories 212 (From fat 85); Fat 9g (Saturated 2g); Cholesterol 83mg; Sodium 788mg; Carbohydrates 0g (Dietary fiber 0g); Protein 30g.
Including Meats in Other Canned Mixes
When thinking about your pantry contents, don't forget to add a few canned dishes that contain both vegetables and meats. These complete meals in a jar not only taste better than convenience food you can buy in a store, but they're also fresher and definitely more healthy.
Canning a soup or stew gives you a little more breathing room for experimentation. Because you are canning based on the meat — the item that needs to be pressurized the longest — any other vegetable will be safely canned right along with it. When you are designing these soups and stews for your family, you can easily substitute vegetables or add more of another veggie that your family especially enjoys.
Following are some pointers:
When using strongly flavored vegetables, remember a little goes a long way. Strongly flavored veggies, like those in the Brassica family (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower, for example) tend to have an even more pronounced flavor after canning. If you are adding any of these vegetables, use a light touch. You can add cabbage to any soup you make, for example, but add only about half the amount you add of the other vegetables.
Leave out the noodles or rice when canning. Otherwise, your noodles end up overcooked and too soft. Rice seems to do fairly well; brown holds up better than white rice, but again it may become too soft for your family to enjoy.
Since you are going to bring the canned product to a boil for at least 15 minutes before eating, that's the perfect time to add your noodles or rice. The noodles can cook as the canned ingredients heat.
When you open a can of homemade soup or stew, you may find that it's thicker (in the case of the stew) or that the vegetables have gathered together at the bottom of the jar. This is harmless. After warming, it will thin and combine into the soup or stew you started out with. For recipes that combine meats and other ingredients, go to Chapter 12.
Chapter 12: Combining the Harvest: Soups, Sauces, and Beans
In This Chapter
Discovering the benefits of mixing your vegetables
Choosing a safe processing method
Loading your meals with flavor
Getting along with tomatoes
Mixing it up with beans
Recipes in This Chapter
Chicken Stock
Turkey Stock with Vegetables
Stewed Tomatoes with Celery
▶ Italian Style Tomatoes
Spaghetti Sauce with Meat
Baked Beans
Beans with Salt Pork
Not all canned foods are simply one ingredient. Canning combinations of foods gives you meals that are as fast and easy as store-bought heat-and-eat varieties. With a little bit of advanced planning during the growing season, you'll keep your shelves stocked with a variety of meals for people on the go. In this chapter, you get tips for combining high- and low-acid foods into savory soups, delectable sauces, or hearty one-pot meals. After your family gets a whiff of the aroma coming out of the kitchen, they'll think you've been slaving over the stove all day!
Whenever you combine low- and high-acid foods, as the recipes in this chapter do, always use pressure canning. For complete details on pressure canning, refer to Chapter 9.
The Lowdown on Canning Combined Foods
Pressure canning soups, sauces, and one-pot meals is the answer for healthy, quick meals without filling up your freezer. Pressure canning is a major timesaver in the long run: If you spend one day (or even a weekend) preparing soups, sauces, and other hearty meals, you can get a hot meal on the table in a flash and keep your freezer for ice cream and other treats!
But you have to think about more than which food combos go well together: You also have to know which processing method to use to safely preserve combined foods, which may contain both high- and low-acid foods.
Choosing a processing method
As we've mentioned elsewhere in this book, the only processing methods approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for safely home-canning food are
Water-bath canning: For canning high-acid foods (like fruit and tomatoes)
Pressure canning: For canning low-acid foods (including vegetables and meat) and for canning high- and low-acid foods combined.
Mixing low-acid foods and high-acid foods
Knowing that a pot of chili or spaghetti sauce contains both high-acid and low-acid foods (the chili contains tomatoes and vegetables, and the spaghetti sauce contains meat, tomatoes, and vegetables), how do you determine which method is right while still ensuring a safe product? Follow this rule:
Whenever you combine low- and high-acid foods, process the food as though it were low-acid: Use the pressure-canning method. For the same reason, whenever you include meat, fish, poultry, or seafood in your canned product, use pressure canning. Pressure canning, explained in detail in Chapter 9, is the only safe processing method to use when combining low-acid and high-acid foods. (For detailed instructions for pressure canning meat, fish, poultry, or seafood, refer to Chapter 11.)
Quite simply, adding low-acid foods to high-acids foods raises the acidity level of the food being processed
above 4.6 pH (see Chapter 3), and the higher the acidity number, the less acidic a food is.
Mixing like foods with like
When you mix like foods with like (high-acid foods with other high-acid foods, for example, or low-acid foods with other low-acid foods), you process them in the manner suggested for their acidity level. Two high-acid fruits can be processed in a water-bath canner, and two low-acid foods can be pressure canned together. Always follow a recipe and make no changes.
Tips for a successful meal
Obviously, the most important thing to know about processing combined products is to use the right processing method (as explained in the preceding section). Beyond that, there are other things you can do to ensure a successful product and a delicious (and easy) meal, explained in the following sections.
Cut all ingredients uniformly to ensure even heating
Make sure all your fruits, vegetables, and meat pieces are as even as possible, the same as you would for regular stove cooking.
Use the longest processing time given when combining foods
For example, the processing time for corn alone in a 1-quart jar is 1 hour 25 minutes. The processing time for lima beans alone in a 1-quart jar is 50 minutes. Therefore, the correct processing time for combining corn and lima beans in a 1-quart jar is 1 hour 25 minutes.
Follow the recipe exactly
Don't be tempted to add or adjust the ingredients in your recipe. Any variation changes the acidity level as well as the processing time (and sometimes the processing method) needed to destroy the microorganisms that cause botulism, the most serious form of food poisoning (refer to Chapter 3).
And always use the jar size recommended in your recipe. Some combination foods may be canned in either pints or quarts; other foods may be suited only for pints.
