Canning While You've Got It!

Last Friday I started canning the ground beef and petite sirloin steaks I was able to get at a decent price. A decent price - not a great price. But beef prices are climbing at a level I don't like. Chicken prices should have risen after those floods a few months ago - but chicken only takes 3 months or so to get to kill level beef takes a lot longer.

But I'm doing what I can. har har.




We really love beef and salmon. I really got very lucky last week when I accidentally found 15.4 oz salmon at 99 cents with an expiration of 06/2016. That is just unheard of.

Between the cost of the Beef and the cost of the Canning Jars - I don't know which is worse. Goodwill, Craigslist and garage sales are all dry sources for jars now - and even the lid prices are going up.


15 pints of beef is better than none.

I tested the atlas mason jars that the tomato sauce came in - they worked our really well. I have to admit that I've been steadily using pint jars because I think a quart of anything is almost too much...lifting a loaded quart feels heavy.









4 quarts potatoes
5 pints potatoes
4 pints carrots

so a total of 32 pints of canned goods, a few loaves of bread, 2 pans lasagna, breakfast lunch and snacks - all in 30 hours. What a maniac I am - but I just wanted to get it out of the way.

So on Sunday I could just study and make caramel popcorn.



Last night I did can some fresh pineapple. I tested a recipe I made to see if it was good - I like the results. So the next time pineapple is on sale I will do it again. I basically took the insides of the pineapple that you usually toss and boiled it into the simple syrup to get a better flavor.

3 small pineapples will make you 7 pints. Actually they ate one already so that's under 40 cents a pint for a well stuffed jar.

If anyone hadn't noticed the pineapple is over 1.59 for the small can of generic - Dole is even more because they use a pineapple that is harvested closer to ripe for better scent and taste. So I am happy to make this.

I dunno about you guys but I like pineapple upside down cupcakes.

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!