Canning: Ham, raw pack

Ham is LOW ACID and must be pressure canned. Be safe and Be sanitary.

Ham was on sale this week $1.27 /lb. Still not as good as the sale prices on major holidays but not bad at all. Truthfully it was one of the few edible items worth buying this week.






I selected the bigger of the two (10 lbs) and decided I wanted to try something a little different.











I dug my cutters out of the drawer and found one that fit the inside of the 1 pint wide mouth. I wanted to do sliced rounds a little short of an inch. Since they shrink a bit after canning I figure a round would be good on a biscuit or under a poached egg for eggs benedict.







First I washed the canner, the utensils, the lids and caps and washed the jars and filled them with hot water.











Next I filled the canner to the 2nd water line and added a splash of vinegar.












Next you line up your utensils and rack with towel on it. Some people just lay a big towel on the counter - that is fine too.
















Then I rest the jars in the water and turn it to medium and cover (not close) the lid.












While the water is reaching temperature I start trimming the ham. I did NOT cook the ham this is simply my preference because I feel the pressure canning process is sufficient enough. I take care to cut out the rounds where I can and trim off as much fat and gristle as I can.







I cut the bottomout first to determine where the bone is.












I broke the ham down into 3 different ways:
sliced rounds - sandwhiches
long slices - stirfry or sautes
chunks - salads, fried rice or with crackers

This cut did not have much waste. It was just a small cereal bowl full of waste. I reserved the skin and bone for broth.

Once the meat is prepared start the broth.


I just covered the meaty part of the bone with filtered water and added a touch of pepper a few slivers of onion and a stalk of celery. I let that boil hard for at least 20 minutes









Once the broth looked like it had reached a good colorful level I started removing the jars from the canner. And poured it onto the lids and caps.


Then I lined up the hot empty jars on the towel.






I started with the sliced rounds, then moved to the slices and then finally the chunks. I did it in this order because if there is additional space you can use the chunks to fill them.

Meats should go to the 1 inch mark.

Once filled I put a pinch of red hot chili flakes and parsley on the top of each pile. That is for both color and flavor.



I slowly ladled broth onto each bottle 1 ladle at a time.












The sliced rounds are very snug. So I used a narrow chopstick to move the meat and burp the bubbles. You will have to lift it slightly to get the air out from in between the rounds.









The sliced ham and chopped ham could be burped with a mini spatula. Once you have burped it make sure that you cover it with liquid to the 1 inch mark.










Due to the fat content I made sure to wipe it THRICE rinsing the towel every 2nd bottle.












Use the magnetic lifter to pick up the lids. Line it up with the mouth of the jar.












I hold the lid down while i put on the cap.
Tighten it finger-tight.












Carefully place them in the canner.













Close the lid centering the arrows.
Turn the heat to high.













Once the nipple pops vent for 10 minutes.













After venting pop the weight on - if you use a gauged pressure canner just wait for your pressure to hit 11 (or whatever is suggested for your residential altitude) and start timing

Pints: 75 minutes
Quarts: 90 minutes






Start the timer from the point it starts JIGGLING/DANCING. I leave my stove on high heat, but some people turn it down just enough to maintain the jiggle. I don't, I won't play Russian roulette with food poisoning yanno?

Once the time is up turn off the heat and wait for the nipple to deflate. Do not touch the weight (jiggler). Do not touch the nipple. Be patient you will know once it stops.

Be careful, it's super hot!

I know I overcooked mine a bit because I fell asleep while it was venting. But it didn't dry out - The next morning I removed the caps and scrubbed down the lids and bottles. I must admit these are some of the better seals I've had.

Canning Ham made me very nervous and I was watching it and listening for strange noises but they came out all right.

10 lbs made a tightly stuffed 8 pints.

Once everything is dry I label everything and date it. I even put ham rounds, ham sliced, ham chunks - so if I have to send Mr.Man to the food room then he will know what to get!

It's just easier that way.

I will do the 8 pound ham tomorrow as well as some ham broth for soups.

Keep it Poppin' Keep it Choppin!

Carrots and Potatoes - Canned

Last night while I was waiting for the meatloaf and chicken to can I went through the fridge cleaning stuff up and throwing stuff away. I noticed I had 3lbs of carrots sitting in there. I guess I bought too much for the jardiniere and it was only 50 cents for the bag maybe even less.

I certainly didn't want it to go to waste. I also had 5 lbs of potatoes that had gone on sale for 90 cents. The pressure canner time for carrots is 25 minutes and the pressure canner time for whole small potatoes is 30 minutes. I figure since I ran the potatoes through the slicer 25 minutes is completely safe. This is my OWN calculation - proceed at your own caution. I just don't like "empty" space in the canner - so if I can find something to can that are the same times or approximate times I go for it.

Before you start preparing everything

Peel wash and chop carrots.
3 lbs raw = 5 pints canned
soak in water

Peel and chop potatoes.
8 lbs raw = 8 pints
rinse and soak in water

I actually prepped all this the night before while waiting for the meat and chicken to can and left it out overnight. As long as they are submerged below water they will keep their color.

Wash your pressure canner and lid.













Wash jars,lids, caps and set aside.













add vinegar while water goes to 2nd fill line. Set hot water filled jars in canner and put on burner. Set to high heat.











Set out tools making sure it's all clean.













Remove jars from heat.













Pour water onto lids.













Set jars aside













Start water boiling. 8 pints takes a lot of boiling water so make sure you boil a lot.












Drain the Carrots.
Leave the Potatoes in water.












Pack to the 1 inch mark.
I tapped the bottom of the jars on my palm to get the vegetables to really settle. It worked really well rather than tapping it on the counter.










Fill the jars and tap them to get a good pack.













I like to add 1 tsp of salt.
Some people say oh the iodine is bad for you - uh yeah tell that to the people at Fukushima.











Fill with hot water.
I did mine a bit past the 1 inch mark.
Then run the non metal spatula around the edges to remove any bubbles.

Pressure can for 25 minutes at 10lbs pressure after the nipple pops and you vent it for 7 minutes.






I really like how these came out. I really also use canned potatoes - it's quick for flash frying into eggs when I make breakfast.

Happy prepping!

How to make Picadillo from Preps...aka "FAVORITE"

My one brother always said "Just make favorite." We always just called it "favorite" I actually went through my Filipino Cookbooks and found that it is actually called Picadillo which means to mince or chop. Everyone makes this differently. I find the older the person cooking it the rawer the beef and potatoes are. This is the way that we like it here.

I tell you what I made this almost everyday for a 12 yr old, 9 yr old, 6 year old that I babysat for a few weeks and they ate it like they had been starved for 3 weeks! The middle one was even having it for breakfast.

Ingredients:

1 pints ground beef (canned)
5 potatoes diced
1/2 large onion
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp red chili flake
1 tsp basil or parsley
4 jalapeno (optional)
1 bell pepper (red or green)
1 cup peas and carrots (frozen or rehydrated)
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp oil


Dice potatoes and put in hot fryer or begin pan frying them. I do this so it's quicker to eat.

Start your rice. Start warming cast iron pan.

Mince garlic and onion and throw into pan.
Add Oil, red chili flake and basil.
Saute and Mix around.



While herbs are cooking mince the bellpepper and pop the beef open. Separate liquid from beef and reserve in separate bowl. Set out peas and carrots.










Keep it Moving and Add Beef.













Add Soy Sauce.

If you drink Fischer beer save the bottles they pop and seal! Perfect for reuse with Asian Sauces.

Keep it Moving...and Move heat to Medium High or High if you can handle it.





Add Potatoes
Add Peas and Carrots
Add Bellpepper
Add Jalapeno

Saute Saute Saute!








Add 2 squirts of ketchup or 6 oz of tomato sauce.












Serve over Rice with a side of...

MEATLOAF...that's in my next blog!

August Haul...About half way.

Back in the saddle from being overseas last month. I've been home about 3 weeks and it feels good to be back and preppin.

Pork tenderloin was only 1.76/lb. This one piece made approximately 4 pints. I like pulled pork sandwiches so I put this up. I know some of you are not fans of pork but we are. End of conversation.





93% lean was only 1.96 a lb from Fry's market as well. In other areas they might be known as Kroger's. We bought 3 chubs which is 6 lbs. 6 lbs made about 8 pints. Truth be told the biggest chunk of our canned proteins is chicken and lean ground. Lean ground is super flexible recipe wise or even as is for dirty rice.

Once Mr. Man returns with my camera I will be doing recipes on various canned meats including spam, canned ham and the like.



Here is the finished result from canning the pork and chicken.












Seedless grapes were only 77cents a lb and Rainier (THE BEST) cherries were only $1.99 a lb from the usual $5/lb. I am seriously considering canning cherries but I need a cherry pitter. The last time I dehydrated cherries my fingers were blue for a week from removing the pits.








Carrots: 50 cents/bag
Bellpepper: 4/$1
Bolillo Rolls: 5/$1











Half and Half organic salad: $1 each
Cauliflower $.50 cents each
Various Revlon makeup: 99 cents.

Now I know what you are saying makeup? When I see nice neutral colors in good brands like Revlon or L'oreal for less than a dollar - I put them up because even during the War women will trade for cosmetics. Believe that.





The vegetables above made this jardiniere. I really like jardiniere. Sometimes I'll even chop it up and put it in sandwiches instead of pickles.

Mr. Man is a bit heavy handed with the herbs but they tasted really good in the end. With him there are no mistakes in the kitchen - just new recipes. HAHAHA.






Bellpepper 4/$1
Plums 2lbs/.96 cents
Green Onion 3/$1
Cucumber 6/$99 cents
Jalapenos 4lbs/$1
Beef Roast $2.99/lb (very little fat)
Chicken Bouillon 99 cents

All this is for eating and prepping. Mostly for prepping lol.




Someone told me it is against federal law to put hormones in your chicken. So the label of no hormones is an enticement. However I will say that Chicken from Sprouts Market has the best texture, the best smell and the least fat of the chicken breasts that I buy around town.

Their Chicken (boneless skinless) are only $1.89/lb on sale. Other markets have it between $1.47-$1.67/lb. For the difference of approximately 30 cents I will pay for the higher quality.


Peaches were on sale the previous week 4lbs for $1 and last week at 3lbs for $1.

12 lbs was the first batch i bought $3
18 lbs was the 2nd batch i bought. $6

These were good both canned and fresh. And at those prices even if no one in the house did like them I would just put them up and trade them with someone in later days or even include them in Christmas tins with cookies.



12 lbs sliced made 3 pints plus 2 quarts plus 2 bottles of peach syrup.

I always withhold and can the syrup because fruit syrups are always good to mix with green tea or lemonade. And properly stored a syrup will not mold unless it is exposed to air.







18 lbs peaches quartered made only 7 quarts preserves and 2 quarts syrup. Unbelievable. I really thought it would take more than that. I will tell you this - I had to bust out the biggest pans I had to boil these for 1 minute and it was a pain. I would suggest you raw pack them and get the syrup super hot then boil water can them. It was a mess but a delicious mess.






I was running low on lemon and lime juice - so I popped by the 99 cent only. The lemon juice there is 25% juice and the lime is actually very good. I also stopped by Wally World for pure acetone (for my nails UH HUH) and the composition books were only 40 cents. In our preps we also include paper, pens, pencils, because those are simply things we cannot make and you may have to teach small children how to write or do math or science so it is good to have.




Here is confirmation that it's made int he USA and is good until June of next year - but truth be told it never lasts that long in this house.











Here is a close up of the chicken package













$1.89 a lb. It still can't be beat. What I don't understand is this temporary drop in prices on everything here in AZ. It's quite deceptive because I talk to people around the country and they are definitely not getting the same benefit as the prices we have here. I am taking advantage of it but since the fiasco with Wall Street I intend on buying even more this week to can and store.






8 lbs fresh makes about 8 pints canned. I am very cautious not to overstuff them coz I feel it is a waste of time when you lose a seal. We have used our chicken in various ways but that will be highlighted in another blog.









Always on the hunt. These brownie mixes were only 69 cents a piece at Albertsons. Yeah you heard me. So I bought all the ones they had left on the shelf. I buy the small boxes of baking soda for my cookies because I like the lift from a fresher box. I bought corn tortillas because I can't keep up with how much they eat around here. The pectin I got for $1 with my latest coupon. Now the Jars and lids...well that's another story.

Jars: 5 bucks a case and 99 cents a box of lids!


Here is a picture of the receipt for any disbelievers. This is what happened...the girl I always pick (Jess) to check out at Walmart knows that I price match and use coupons. She asked if the jars had any price matching. I said well,"you should just put them at $5 like the clearance at Fry's and the lids are normally 99 cents..." Well don't you know she did match it.

Click on the pick to enlarge.

Observe it says CASH. I try to pay cash for preps purchases so no one can dig around in my data. As for membership cards those are all dummy names and phone numbers.

The 25 lb sugar never goes on sale. However the price has held for the last 6 weeks at 13.78. This girl had the nerve to tell me that the 4lb bag was on sale for $3. Hahahaha. Ain't that something, I had to tell her that would make it about $18 for 25 lbs and that did me no good. Math folks.

Like I said - Mr. Man took off with the digi cam for the shotgun wedding so the other preps I was able to purchase so I will just put them on by the end of the month



Walgreen's is getting harder and harder to hustle.

Contact Solution: 8 bucks with instant $8 rebate
BPA free baby spoons: $1.09 clearance
Lindt Choco Truffles: $1.50 each
Aquafresh Whitening: $1.29 clearance
Johnson 500pc Q tips: $1.99

They have really tightened up on the use of the rebates. Before you could use the rebate on the next purchase which included separating your purchases and paying for the 2nd half of your items with the previous rebate. Now they no longer allow you to apply your rebate until the following day. So I'm going to have to break up my purchasing - I can't wait until the weather cools down so I can just ride my bike down there. I have no intention of wasting gas just to save a few bucks. In truth if you do it right they end up paying you 25 cents to a buck to take that stuff out the store.

Keep Preppin' Folks...It's getting bonkers out there!