Q and A: Dry canning, trimming rabbits nails, and canning pumpkin butter

Dry canning

Have you ever dry canned? I was given an article from another magazine about dry canning and it works great for the dry goods (pasta, flour, beans, cornmeal,etc.) that you buy in bulk. Fill clean jars with whatever product you have. Put on a baking sheet in a preheated 200 degree oven and leave for one hour. Take out one jar at a time and place on a towel covered area. Screw the band down tight. Wait for it to cool and seal. You can do as few or as many as your oven will hold at one time. Sure saves space in the refrigerator or freezer

Cindy Hertel
Hodges, South Carolina

No, I haven’t. I saw that article, too. If you only have a little dry food to store up, you could certainly give it a try; it will kill bug eggs in your food. (Canning jar manufacturers say that dry canning can break jars, that they’re not meant for dry canning. I used to oven can my nutmeats until they came out with that one. I never had breakage but switched to pressure canning them, instead.) I freeze any of my dry foods that may have moth eggs, such as home-raised corn meal, wheat flour, etc. Then I just store it in airtight, large containers. I don’t have a freezer so I do my freezing in the winter, out on the deck! Once the food has been frozen for a week, no more bug problems possible. I’d say if you want to dry can your foods, go ahead and see how it works out for you. For me, it takes too many jars to hold the amount of food I store. — Jackie

Trimming rabbits nails and canning pumpkin butter

We got some rabbits from my brother, who was running low on time to spend with them. We keep them as pets, but the “garden gold” is a major bonus! My problem is one of the males will not let me trim his nails. The others clearly do not like it, but let me do it. This filthy bugger growled and bit me! Do you have any advice?

Also I recently saw a recipe in a magazine for pumpkin butter. There was no added sugar and it said the end product could be processed in a water bath. I was under the impression that pumpkin had to be pressure canned. What would you do?

Magi Clark
Entiat, Washington

Have someone hold your buck securely by the skin on the nape of his neck. Use gloves, as even then some rabbits will struggle and kick suddenly. After a time or two, he should relax with the procedure. He probably will never become “easy,” but you can get the job done without shedding blood. Be sure you don’t clip his nails too short If you hurt him, he’ll become even worse to handle.

Like canned pumpkin and squash puree, it is now not recommended that we can ANY pumpkin butter, regardless of the method used. No matter how much sugar we add, we are not assured of killing/inhibiting pathogens. It is better to use it soon after making it or freeze the excess. — Jackie