My oldest son, Bill, called last night and told me he had an “extra” deer for me. David and I have been hunting, but so far all we’ve seen have been does and fawns. Call me a fool, but I won’t shoot a mom with babies; they need her if the winter is bad, in order to survive. They haven’t learned the ropes yet. We’ll get a dry doe or a young buck. We aren’t trophy hunters and I prefer a tender, large deer to huge antlers any day. I love the hunt, especially this year, where the days have been above freezing and beautiful. I love the canning and eating. But I DO hate the killing. (Remember that I can’t cut the head off a chicken?)

But between hunts, I’m helping get ready for winter. I cleaned out the chicken coop and put the shavings on the flower beds, am pulling tomato cages and hoses from the big garden, and am splitting cedar kindling for the stoves. Will has been working on logs for the second part of our new hayloft, putting the bulldozer back together, and working out details for the stairway to the new loft. It’ll be much better than a ladder for us “older” folk! We not only plan for today but for ten or twenty years down the line.

Readers’ Questions:

Canning peach pie filling

I canned peach pie filling using a recipe I got off of Canning USA. It called for cornstarch. I heated the peach filling thoroughly and then water bathed them for 30 minutes. They seem to be OK. What do you think?

Can you give us your version of a good, safe canned recipe for peach pie filling?

G. Koskinen
Celina, Texas

We canned peach and other fruit pie filling for years, using cornstarch. Now there’s Clear Jel, a refined cornstarch product that is recommended instead. Plain cornstarch seems to thicken more and there is concern that the center of the jars might not heat thoroughly enough for safe processing. Personally, I wouldn’t toss my pie filling. But I would use Clear Jel in the future…just to be safest. Here is a recipe using Clear Jel, which is available in many health food stores and markets in Amish and Mennonite communities, or sometimes at your local extension office:

6 quarts, sliced, peeled peaches
7 cups sugar
2 cups + 3 Tbsp. Clear Jel
5 1/4 cups cold water
1 3/4 cups bottled lemon juice

For fresh peaches, place 6 cups at a time in a gallon of boiling water and boil for 1 minute to heat thoroughly. Drain and place in covered container to keep warm. Do remaining batches. Combine recipe water, sugar, Clear Jel in large kettle. Bring to a boil and stir until it thickens. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute more, stirring to prevent scorching. Add peaches gently and stir well. Continue to simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pack immediately into jars, leaving 1″ of headspace. Process for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. If you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet consult your canning book for directions on increasing your processing time, if necessary. — Jackie

Making a living in a new community

My husband and I are planning on purchasing land and moving to another part of the state where there seems to be a nice self-reliant community. Organic farms, dairies, herb farms, and naturopathic doctors abound. I’m trying to think of a way that I can contribute to that kind of community and hopefully bring in a little extra income. I’ve been thinking about what I’ll do for the past few weeks, and finally I asked myself, what would Jackie Clay do? I know this isn’t exactly your area of expertise, but I wondered, for a self-sufficient woman such as yourself, is there ever a service you wish existed that you would gladly pay for just to make life on your homestead a little easier? Perhaps not now since you’ve got your routines more or less down, but maybe when you first started? Or something that you wish you had time to learn that would save you time and or money on your homestead but you just keep putting off because you’re too busy with all of your responsibilities? I find you to be an extremely reliable and delightful source for information on many things I am up to lately, I thought it couldn’t hurt to see what you had to say about this.

Erika Fey
Milwaukie, Oregon

The one thing I can think of right off the bat is a nice, cheerful, dependable person to help with “grunt work” on the homestead, whether it be fencing, gardening, painting buildings, carpentry, barn cleaning, helping with elder care, etc. Wow, what a bonus. Especially if it was at a reasonable rate. For instance, I had to have help with Mom after she got out of the nursing home after a bout with pneumonia weakened her. We were paying $30 an hour for someone to bathe, dress, and help care for her! (I was kind of “force fed” that service by helpful social workers.) Luckily she got strong enough that the help was no longer needed.

While now I have a helping partner, Will, on the homestead to help with “grunt work” around the place, it would have been nice to have someone come a couple of days a week to help out while things were hectic.

You’ll have to search your talents and likes for things you could offer. Everyone has them and it just takes a little creativity to get going. — Jackie

Making candles

I don’t know if you would think that this falls under the self reliance category or not, but I have a question on candles. Every time I go to make candles in a glass container the middle always sinks in. At first I thought that it was because I was cooling it off too quickly so I tried to cool it down slowly, but still does the same thing. Any advise on this?

Alissa Ray
Morganfield, Kentucky

I used to make candles to sell at art and craft fairs. This dip is called a well and as your candle cools and the well forms, simply reheat wax from the same batch and fill in the well. With less wax that is hot, it will make a nice flat surface. — Jackie

Canning olives

How do you re-can olives? We got a real good deal on some gallon cans, and want to put them in 1/2 pint jars.

Daryl Kaufman
Seymour, Missouri

I got a bunch of #10 cans of sliced black olives given to me by dear friends and I searched for two days to find canning directions! I finally did from the University of California. I canned up a can of them and they turned out great with no softening at all. I drained the olives and brought the brine up to a boil, then packed the olives into hot half pint jars, poured the boiling brine over them and processed them for 90 minutes at 11 pounds pressure. This is for pints or half pints. If you live at an altitude of 1,000 feet or lower, you can use the standard 10 pounds, as I live at 1,500 feet and need to boost my pressure up a bit to compensate for a little higher altitude. — Jackie

Corn relish

I just got the special on your new book with the older Recession-Proof Your Pantry book, and figured I’d start with the older one first. There’s a recipe in there for a corn relish that I can’t wait to try, but our fresh corn is all gone for the season, so I plan to try it with frozen whole kernels from the store. Think it’ll work?

Howard Tuckey
Lisle, New York

Yes, you can certainly make corn relish from frozen corn from the store, but of course it won’t be as good as when you use fresh corn from your garden! Enjoy it. — Jackie

Canning ground meat

I was watching a video on line where a guy canned ground beef/venison. He did a raw pack and processed it for 75 minutes at 10 lb pressure. I decided to try it his way with my venison. I opened a can and it was still reddish on the inside, like it was raw. Is it safe to use or do I have extra dog food?

Thomas Boyd
Mountain City, Tennessee

Canning ground meat this way is not recommended, especially if it is not heated first in open canning jars placed in a roasting pan containing the jars of meat and water to evenly distribute the heat. The meat needs to reach 170 degrees in the center of the jars BEFORE the lids are put on and the jars placed in the pressure canner. While your meat MAY be okay, I, personally, would be leery of it. If you have just canned it, I would open the jars and freeze the meat. (If you freeze it in the jars, the expansion of the jars with only 1″ of headroom, may crack the jars.) The same if you use it for dog food, which would be a shame. Next time, why don’t you lightly brown your meat or make meatballs out of it, then can it in broth. You’ll be much safer and have a nicer end product. — Jackie

Because I’m not much help (usually), I’ve been putting screen around the trunks of all our fruit trees to keep voles, mice, and rabbits from girdling them in the winter. So far I’ve done more than thirty trees. Wow, I didn’t realize we had so many. Not complaining, though.

I also tarped the pile of hay in our new hay loft. Just in case. We’ll be getting more square bales of hay and a few of straw too, but for now, I wanted to be extra careful of our hay; a little moisture and it begins to mold real quick.

And we finished stacking the wood shed part of the storage barn. So far, we have 11 cords of dry, split wood on pallets in there. It looks SO great. We’ve also got two cords in the unheated enclosed porch next to the greenhouse, so we can bring in wood for the stoves, even when it’s night, raining, or snowing and nasty outdoors. What a great feeling!

No, we aren’t ready for winter yet, but we’re getting so much closer to being ready. The big truck’s snowplow is all fixed up and next to the storage building, ready to hook up, and we’ve been moving stuff out of the way in order to plow when we need to. This time of the year you never know when a foot of that white stuff might drop on our parade.

Readers’ Questions:

Kohlrabi

I am looking for kohlrabi recipes. I never knew they would get so big!

Kathy Vilseck
Coldwater, Mississippi

Neither did I. But then we usually eat them up when they are a lot smaller! I use them for a lot of different recipes. One of my favorites is to slice them raw into sticks and serve them with a dip. We really like them that way — nice and crispy sweet. I steam or boil them diced then serve with a cream or cheese sauce, use them in stews, casseroles, and any other mixed dishes; they fit into everything so nicely. I even grate raw ones into my salad and coleslaw. Such a versatile vegetable! — Jackie

Pantry inventory

I am currently wondering how to catalog all the stored goods in the pantry and root cellar. How do you do this? Do you keep a list of what you put up each year and then cross one off when you use a jar? Or just go take a look on the shelves to see what’s left? Or is there some other way to keep track? If there is a nice, simple way to do this, I’m sure you thought of it long ago. Please tell me your method.

Sandy Stone
Central Minnesota

No, I don’t keep track of things in my pantry. I probably should, but just don’t have the time. What I do is to keep things arranged in sections: beans, carrots, fruits, ham, chicken, etc. Then when I add new stuff, I move the old jars to the side and add the new food to the rear, sliding the older jars to the front to be used first…kind of like a kid’s puzzle. I do the same when I add new dry goods, like flour and sugar to a plastic garbage can they are stored in. That takes a little more work, but I don’t add new bags too often and in that way I keep the new foods down lower, using the older up first.

For my canned goods, I just look on the shelves and mentally keep track of what I have there…especially when I’m planning a garden. That way I am sure to plant plenty of the food I’m running lowest in…say sweet corn, carrots, or rutabagas.

Eventually, I would like to keep a little notebook down there and mark down how many jars of whatever I have, but my life will have to slow down a lot to have that much extra time! — Jackie

Breeding goats

I read your blog about Thor, your Boer buck, and was wondering why you would breed a meat-type goat with a dairy goat? My instincts tell me that there might be a decrease in your milk yields with the offspring as they are no longer pure dairy goats. He is a magnificent looking animal and I hope you have much success. How does one go about determining how to improve a herd?

Deborah Motylnski
Brecksville, Ohio

Although Boers are “meat” goats, I’ve seen many who came from real milkers. My old buck, Rocky, had a mother who I SAW milked and she gave two quarts at an afternoon milking. She also had a great udder…and I used to show dairy goats! The reason I am crossing my dairy goats with Boers (from good milkers) is that many dairy goats have light bone and not a whole lot of body substance. Therefore they don’t make kids with much meat and they don’t seem to have the subsistence to milk and survive for a long time.

I’ve had great success by crossing Boer with my Nubians. I still get the flashy colors, gorgeous ears, and lots of milk. But the resultant offspring have heavy bone and a large barrel (for eating more roughage and turning it into milk), as well as heavier shoulders, neck, and rump, where the meat is if you want to eat your extra wethers.

Rocky is a tall, great looking buck, but a little light in the rear. We bought Thor because he is from good milking lines and has a great, very thick rear and shoulder. He IS shorter than Rocky. So we figure that between the two…breeding Rocky’s daughters with Thor and Thor’s daughter (that we also bought) with Rocky, we just might get great offspring.

To improve your herd, always look at them with an impartial eye. Is your doe’s udder too long and dangly? Does she have weak legs? Could she give more milk than she does or milk strongly for a longer time? Breed your does to a buck who either has the traits your doe lacks or has a mother and female siblings who do. You’ll never get the perfect goat, but the harder you try to breed in better traits, the better your overall herd will be. — Jackie

Canning apple pie filling

I am going to can apple pie like grandma used to do. Since she is passed on, I am not sure of the time to process in the canner. I am thinking 15 min. at 10 pounds. How does that sound?

Viki Mowatt
Everett, Washington

Grandma probably used corn starch or flour to thicken her apple pie filling. Neither is recommended today, as both can make so dense a product that the heat can not reach the center of the jar, making safe processing unsure. Now it is recommended that you use a refined corn starch product, Clear Jel, which is safe to use in canning. To use this as a pie filling, use 1/4 cup Clear Jel to 6 quarts sliced apples, spices, 3/4 cup bottled lemon juice, 5 1/2 cups sugar, 5 cups apple juice, 2 1/2 cups cold water.

Peel the apples, slice them and drop in water containing ascorbic acid (powdered vitamin C) to prevent browning. Place 6 cups at a time in a gallon of boiling water in a large pot. Bring to boiling and boil 1 minute. Drain but cover in a bowl to keep warm. Repeat with other apple slices. Combine sugar, Clear Jel, apple juice, and water in large kettle. Bring to boil and boil until thickens, stirring to keep from scorching. Add lemon juice and boil 1 minute, stirring to keep from scorching. Add drained apple slices and immediately fill hot jars with mixture, leaving 1″ of headspace. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes (pints and quarts). If you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet, consult your canning book for directions on adjusting your time, if necessary.)

You’ll like your apple pie filling in a jar. — Jackie

Canning chicken gravy

I made way too much home made chicken gravy. It’s good and I will freeze it if that’s the only thing to do but, I was wondering if canning is an option. The gravy isn’t too thick, just a little flour and a lot of good broth. What do you think?

Liz Davey
Brighton, Michigan

The thickness of a gravy is the key to safe canning. If in doubt, add a little more broth to make it a light gravy, then thicken it upon use. — Jackie

This year we will be breeding our new milker this year, Fawn, and one of the triplet does, Jewel, first. That way we’ll have an experienced doe and a new mom kidding around the same time and we won’t have to break in two new milkers at once. It goes smoother that way for everyone concerned. It’s an exciting time, as we are planning for those great spring babies!

We’ve got the breeding pen built and Will’s welding up a gate for it, so we’ll soon be moving Thor up out of the goat pasture. He’s such an awesome buck that it’ll be neat having him up where we can see him more.

Readers’ Questions:

Applesauce

I made 2 batches of applesauce last night, the second batch was fine but the first batch did something I have never seen before. I made 7 pints in regular mouth jars. Everything the same as I always do, they looked fine after processing but as they sat they seemed to separate leaving a layer of what looks like sugar syrup in the bottom of the jar and the applesauce on top. I only used about 1/3 cup sugar for the whole batch. 4 of the jars are sealed tight and the headspace is the same, but 3 of the jars the sauce is touching the underside of the lid. The seals seem tight but there is definitely applesauce inside the rims as when I tried to unscrew them they were sticky and tight. Any suggestions to prevent this happening again? Is this still OK to eat?

Michelle
Southwest Harbor, Maine

Is it possible that you processed that batch a little too long? Sometimes this causes “boil-out” of applesauce and could have resulted in the applesauce absorbing a little liquid from the kettle. That would be my guess here…and that’s all it is. But as long as the jars are sealed, the applesauce is fine to eat, but I would use it first, before the “normal” ones because the acid fruit could cause the underside of the lids to begin rusting after awhile. — Jackie

Cleaning water tanks

The water supply for my off grid home is an underground spring collected in two 2800 gallon tanks. I test the water a couple of times each year for bacteria and have never found any. My question is what is the best method for cleaning the tanks and how often do I need to do it?

Ken Bishop
Rancho Mirage, California

If your storage tanks are underground or otherwise out of the sunlight and there is no opening to the outside, save perhaps an overflow pipe, they shouldn’t need cleaning very often. If you can open one, use a flashlight and take a good look at the bottom and sides of the tank. As long as it looks clean and your tests come back negative, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you are getting sediment, algae, or a mineral coating on the tank sides, you can drain your tanks, one at a time. Open them up, use a new broom with a long handle and some diluted bleach in hot water (1/2 cup bleach to 5 gallons of water) to scrub out the tank. Then rinse it well, at least twice with clean water, pumping it out or otherwise keeping it from your house water lines, until the water and the tanks look and smell pristine. There are no “guidelines” for how often this should be done so we just have to rely on common sense on this one. — Jackie

Washing eggs

Should I wash my farm eggs before I put them in the fridge. Do you put your eggs in the fridge?

Pam
Bigfork, Montana

I wash my eggs only if they’re in need. Clean ones go right into the carton and into the fridge. I try not to use detergent unless they won’t come clean as it removes the protective coating naturally on eggs. But I want my eggs clean, too. So if they are soiled, I use a nylon scrubby pad and a bit of dish detergent, if necessary. If you keep clean shavings or straw in your nest boxes and clean bedding on the coop floor, you’ll have more clean eggs that don’t need washing. — Jackie

Canning Oscar Mayer wieners in tomato sauce

Years ago we had wonderful canned Oscar Mayer wieners with a tomato sauce. These were great for cub scout cook outs. I’ve checked and they don’t exist anymore. I’ve also looked for recipes for canning wieners and can’t find any. Is it possible to do at home?

Don Wood
College Station, Texas

Yes, you can home can your own wieners in tomato sauce. The only trouble I’ve had canning hot dogs is that they swell a lot during processing. The taste is okay, though and maybe they wouldn’t in sauce. Just make your tomato sauce and slice your wieners, adding them to it. Leave 1 inch of headspace and process pints for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. Be sure to take into consideration any altitude adjustment necessary if you live over 1,000 feet; consult your canning book. I’d use wide mouth jars for ease of dumping out the canned food. — Jackie

Besides that, our local store, Zup’s, had a special again on whole, boneless pork loin (raised in the U.S!) for $1.39 a pound. So I got two, cut them each in half, poured on half a pint of sweet Italian salad dressing (olive oil, sugar, water, minced garlic, chopped sweet peppers, and spices) and roasted them, uncovered. We ate some for dinner, then I added about two quarts of water, covered the roaster, and simmered it the next day. Then I cut up the meat, poured on the liquid, and canned it up. Oh my gosh it was good! We ate a jar tonight, just to see, and WOW. I can’t wait till they have more on sale.

While I’ve been canning like mad, Will and David got busy and laid down the lumber tarps that Will’s been collecting all summer. They are very heavy material, similar to Typar roof covering, and free at the local lumber yard where we shop…when the dump doesn’t have what we need! I thought I could afford sheet metal for the roof this fall, but the shingles on our house’s roof cost $1,000 more than we’d planned on (huge increase!), so the sheet metal went out the window till spring. Remember when we had to tarp our house roof the first winter we lived in it? No insulation. No shingles. Just tarps! But we survived and are now shingled. So we figure the storage barn can make it through till spring, too.

The tarping was a nasty job and dangerous too; plastic is very slippery! Luckily, Will and David were very, very careful to only step on the wood lath that holds the tarps in place against the wind, and to work very slowly. Now the highest part is done, with only the two “shed” roofs to go. And they are much, much lower and easier. Now if the weather will just cooperate! I think I hear winter breathing down our necks.

Readers’ Questions:

Apple cider

Our grand daughter LOVES apple cider. Now we can buy fresh apples, I was wondering if you have a recipe for it.

Teresa Roh
New Freedom, Pennsylvania

Apple cider is simply pressed fresh, unsweetened, unpasturized apple juice. The only “recipe” is the different apples that one uses in their cider. Some swear by this and that variety or mixes thereof. All you do is grind the apples and press out the juice. Unfortunately, you do need to use a cider press. Maybe a friend or relative may have one you could use. The grinding can be done, on a small scale, in a food processor and is done to make pressing easier and more successful. I remember when I was very young, going way out in the country to Yates’ Cider Mill where they pressed cider with an old-fashioned water mill press and you could take a cup and walk down the edge of the trough where the just-pressed cider was flowing and scoop up some to taste. Nothing was as good as that! We bought several glass gallon jugs to take home and enjoy during the fall. We usually stopped on the way home to gather fallen hickory and black walnuts too. I’ll never forget those wonderful outings! — Jackie

Short growing season

I live in Lolo, Montana just south of Missoula. Thank you for all of the quite informative articles on gardening and homestead life. My small garden did well this year, the tomatoes, pole beans, and zucchini were extremely prolific, with the exception of the corn becoming mutant and the melons not growing. My peas were devoured through the fence by the local mule deer. I will plant them in a different location next year. I was wondering if you had any recommendations on which varieties of heirloom corn and melons do well here with our short growing season? I also plan to give the three sisters growing method a try next year. I had good results growing Kentucky Wonder pole beans and zucchini at the base of a newly planted apple tree.

John Wilson
Lolo, Montana

Unfortunately, there isn’t a good heirloom sweet corn that works in short season climates. There IS an open pollinated sweet corn of more recent development, that usually matures in your area. That’s True Gold, and is available through many seed catalogs. I’ve had good luck with Bear Island Chippewa “Indian corn,” which is a flint hard corn of beautiful colors that I grow for cornmeal. Even with our summer with no summer, we got “hard corn.” Bear Island Chippewa is available through Seed Dreams, P.O. Box 106, Port Townsend, WA 98368, gowantoseed@yahoo.com

For a non-heirloom “hard corn,” we grew Painted Mountain this year. It came in just before Bear Island Chippewa and is available through many different companies.

For heirloom melons, we’ve had good luck with Blacktail Mountain and Orangeglo watermelons and Canoe Creek Colossal and Minnesota Midget muskmelons both in Montana and here in Minnesota. These are available through Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. — Jackie

Meat canning

For ready-to-eat meat, why do you say to lightly brown, cook the meat before canning? Don’t you have to cook the meat thoroughly before canning? Or does the canning, pressurizing process itself further cook the meat? This may be too much of a “novice” question for your readership!

Marc Irby
Sherwood, Oregon

There is NEVER, NEVER such a thing as a “too novice question!” Not with me, there isn’t. No, you don’t have to cook the meat thoroughly before canning. You can, or you can just cook it enough to heat it thoroughly. Or you can pack it raw, too. You’re right. During the canning process, the meat is totally cooked and tenderized, too. I cook the meat, either just lightly browning it or entirely, as when I roast a whole pork loin or two for a meal, then canning, instead of packing it raw, simply because it packs and looks nicer in the jars. You can find more information about canning meat in an article I wrote for Issue #105, titled “You can safely and easily can your own meat.” — Jackie

Canning cheese

I noticed in one article concerning canning cheese that the time listed for water bath canning was 40 minutes and another article said 25 minutes. The processing time listed for cheddar cheese sauce in the can was 30 minutes. Could you clarify this for me? Our altitude is 4265 feet. Also, is the time the same for pints and half pints?

Dea Bombarger
Clovis, New Mexico

As canning cheese is a sort of “outlaw” process, with no “expert” guidelines, we just sort of fumbled our way through times. I started out with 25 minutes with half pints as I first did it with tomatoes, years ago. But then I went longer, for safety, as tomatoes also increased in time, to 40 minutes. Now I’m processing cheeses in pints and half pints for 60 minutes in a boiling water bath canner, just to be extra sure, as that’s what we do milk, although cheese is much more acid a product. — Jackie

Understanding seeds, planting in shade, and cucumbers

My first question is on seeds. I would like to know what seed companies you prefer. You discuss the seed catalogs you get but I find most are online catalogs and I like hard copies.

Kevin
Jesup, Georgia

Nearly all the companies that I deal with have hard copy catalogs. Just ask them. I, too, prefer a paper catalog so I can make notes, shop, shop, and shop. I also read the heck out of my catalogs, looking for information on different varieties so I can choose new ones to try that would do well here. Many good seed catalogs, such as Fedco, Baker Creek, and Johnny’s Seeds, have a ton of information, just like you want to find.

Hybrid seeds are crossbred varieties, developed by companies, that have certain desirable traits. They have been bred to be always the same. But their seeds, should you save them, will not breed true. That is they will not necessarily reproduce the same traits as the mother plant had. They WILL produce plants that will bear, if saved and planted. But they will NOT be exactly like the mother plant…sometimes very far from it.

On the other hand, open pollinated seeds are NOT deliberate crossbreeds and seeds from a mother plant that you save WILL be like that plant. Not all open pollinated seeds are “heirloom” seeds, though. Some have been recently developed by growers who want open pollinated new varieties. Cases in point are Painted Mountain and True Gold corns. Both are fairly recent developments, and both are open pollinated. You can save their seeds and be sure that the crop you plant next year will be very close to the crop you harvested your seed from this year.

Heirloom seeds are open pollinated seeds that have been passed down through several generations, often favorites of families or Native American tribes. They are usually very hardy, tasty, and often beautiful, to boot.

Organic seeds are grown without the use of any chemicals. You can have organic hybrids or organic open pollinated seeds; the seeds were harvested from crops grown without chemicals.

In hotter climates, garden plants often do very well in areas that receive half a day’s sunlight as they don’t become overheated. Give it a try in your yard and see how they do. I often experiment a whole lot and am usually very happy with the results!

It sounds like you planted a variety of cucumber such as Lemon, which is round and yellow instead of long and green. But sometimes stress and insufficient watering will give you strangely shaped cukes. Remember that cukes are largely moisture and need regular deep watering all during their growing season. — Jackie

Canning pickled eggs

I know how to water bath pickled eggs, but how long do I put them in a pressure canner? Wouldn’t a pressure canner be better?

Christopher Ubel
Wamego, Kansas

No. These are pickled eggs. You don’t pressure can pickled anything or it severely changes the texture of the food. As in YUCK! — Jackie

Using canned meat

I purchased your new book last month and love it- I have fallen in love (at 50) with canning and am working to learn to can all types of foods both to save money and to eat less “bought” foods.
One question, after reading about your canning pork loin and other meats found on sale, can you tell me a few ways you might use your canned meat for meals. We seem to mostly eat meat grilled, baked, fried or sauteed and I am not sure how meat packed in liquid will work for us. What else can I do with it other than just serving as meat with gravy over potatoes, noodles etc.

Judith Enke
Rolla, Missouri

It will work wonderfully! Tonight I boiled fresh garden vegetables; cabbage, onions, potatoes, and carrots. When they were tender, I drained them and poured the broth from a pint of my great pork loin on them and brought that to a simmer, covered. Then I added 2 Tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan, added the pork and gently sauteed that. When it was nicely hot, I added 2 Tbsp sweet Italian salad dressing and finished stirring the mix until it was beautifully glazed. Quick, easy, and all from the homestead. There were no leftovers!

I often roast canned meats with vegetables, adding the meat when the vegetables are about halfway tender and spreading barbecue sauce, jam (plum or cherry is great!), or a “cookable” salad dressing on first.

Or I pull the meat apart and add barbecue sauce for a great barbecue sandwich, using homemade buns.

Or I dice up the canned meat carefully (if it isn’t already) and add to a stir fry…sometimes with a Chinese-type glaze (orange, lemon, sesame, or whatever I feel like!) and serve with fried rice, made with the broth from the meat.

Or I’ll add the meat to vegetables and gravy or tomato sauce and make a great, hearty stew. As you see the possibilities are nearly endless. I DO love my canned meats and poultry! Get creative and you will too. I promise! — Jackie

Canning chicken pot pie

I make a dish I call chicken pot pie guts. It is cooked chicken chopped, carrots, peas, green beans, onion, cream corn, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, and chicken broth to thin sauce. I don’t make a pie but serve it with biscuits. Can this be canned with a pressure canner? I currently freeze it but am trying to get away from relying on the freezer.

Regina
Natchez, Mississippi

You can home can your pot pie recipe, but you need to use enough chicken broth to thin the recipe more than you would when you freeze it; more like a thinner tomato sauce. The reason is that thick, dense recipes may not heat sufficiently in the jar to ensure safe processing. When you use the recipe, simply dump it into a saucepan and use a little flour/butter roux with some milk added, then add that to your recipe to thicken it just before you use it. Simple, safe, and no more freezer! — Jackie