Recanning ketchup
A friend gave us a 28.5lb box of Heinz Vol-Pak Tomato Ketchup. Can I re-can in glass pints and water bath for 10 minutes?
Shannon Hollins
Yelm, Washington
Yes, you can definitely re-can the ketchup. Just pour it into a large pot and slowly bring it to a boil. Then ladle out into your pint jars, leaving ½ inch of headspace. But you will need to process your pints for 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. Be sure to start counting your time AFTER the canner begins to boil after the hot jars of ketchup have been added to the canner. — Jackie
Canning chicken
We plan to order 100 chicks to butcher later this spring. This will be our 3rd batch. After exhausting ourselves hand plucking the first batch, we built a whiz-bang chicken plucker. What a life saver! This year we are investing in a commercial scalder. We will do them in 2 or 3 batches as we are blessed to have several helpers. Here’s my question. My son wants to cook and pressure can his on the same day as we butcher but I wasn’t sure if that was okay or do they need to “rest” in the frig for a couple days first. I have always let mine rest then bagged them up and stuck them in the freezer, canning them when I had more time. I told him I would ask Jackie.
Adell Struble
Aledo, Illinois
I have done my chickens right after butchering and also after letting them chill for 24 hours (letting ME rest, too!). Canning them right after butchering is fine if your son wants to do his this way. I’ve always been too tired after butchering day to do it, though. But I’m older than your son! The reason you need to let your butchered chickens chill for 24 hours is to let their muscles relax after rigor sets in. This makes them more tender to eat. Canning also makes them more tender so it’s his choice, really.
We want to build a chicken plucker after seeing our friends’ plucker that they built. I don’t mind plucking chickens but the plucker really speeds things up! — Jackie
