To can or not to can

[jvfrugal]

Question,
I am trying to figure out why everyone would can vegetables from the garden and not just freeze them. I've always canned fruit and pickles etc. But never vegetables. Is it due to possibly losing power or what? Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

[rivahmom]

I can because of threat of power outages, lack of space in the freezer, and the longer shelf life of canned goods as opposed to frozen veggies.

[FloridaWyld]

I can veggies and jams because, well, I live in FL and it would only take a few hours without power for me to be tossing the entire contents of a freezer in the trash during the peak of summer.

Hurricanes are a great trial run with your preservation methods!

[CanNerd]

I 'can' for all the above reasons and I also freeze and dehydrate. Every resource is brought in to play for stockpiling.

Keep in mind too that many garden items just don't freeze well -- tomatoes, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, beets, zucchini, etc., but store well canned or dried.

[Anon001]

Being a bachelor, I can because I raise enough to reduce my grocery bill to less than $20 per month. A freezer won't hold enough for me.... lol... not only that but good ol' canned vegetables, meats, etc..... just taste better.... Take a jar of canned beef that has set in its own sauce for several months...heat it up and pour it over fresh made toasted bread! MMMMMm... But, I don't can all meats. I butcher my own animals and do freeze a lot of the meat but can it as well. Canned foods that remain sealed can last for several years. Frozen foods won't.

PaulNKS

[flourgirl]

Canned foods don't get freezer burned- and all of the above mentioned reasons. Also, it is quicker to open a jar then to try to thaw something out. We lost a whole freezer full of food a few years back because it died on us and we didn't check the freezer every day. I didn't notice it until I saw a puddle of water under the freezer.. not a good sign. My home canned tomato soup is great in a pinch when I want something quick and yummy. I never tried freezing tomato soup but I bet it wouldn't be the same.

[pcrowder]

JV:
I lost nearly an entire beef in the freezer when the circuit to it tripped. There was nothing else on the circuit (so we didn't know for almost 2 wks that it had quit), and it was our "remote" freezer (the largest capacity they make in a chest style) in the deep dark dungeon of the basement. (We stored the bulk of our food in, and then transferred it as needed to a smaller freezer upstairs). We lost well over $2,000.00 worth of food, and I swore I would NEVER let that happen again. So, I can 85% of our meats, with the only meat not being frozen are things like ribs, steaks, some roasts, leg of lamb, etc. The rest are all pressure canned up. I can all of the vegetables from our garden plus any I can find on sale at a deep discount at the store. I also can orange, grape, and tomato juice, butter, milk, and can "meals in a jar" like beef stew, chili, chicken stew, and split pea and other soups, plus this year I canned up 2 entire deer plus sausage patties. 2 years before we moved in out here (we are very rural), the entire area was out of power for TWO MONTHS due to an ice storm that took out all the power poles. Granted, we have a propane generator, but it is used to run the wells to water the livestock and the bare essentials on the farm, like the computers and heat lamps for livestock. I'd rather be able to grab a jar of food and heat it on the woodstove and be done with it, rather than be scrambling to try to keep the rapidly defrosting food frozen in the first place, and then have to figure out how to defrost it and then cook it w/out it spoiling. Also, "jarred" food is portable, if you should have to "bug out". Frozen isn't. We do have freezers, but I will never again trust them with my main food supplies.

[pcrowder]

flourgirl - would you mind sharing your canned tomato soup recipe? ;D

[readra21]

pcrowder
I am an avid bowhunter, and we are blessed every year with a boutiful harvest of elk bear and venison, thank God we have not had a freezer go out (knock on wood) but we do get an occasional freezer burned steak
I want to know because we are butchering our 1st cow on the 19th and I do not want to even risk the loss of a single pound of meat as well as getting ready for the fall hunt)

Thanks!

[MrGreenJeans]

I can bean,s corn, mater,s cuke,s pickle corn. If it,s not eaten it,s canned, sold or traded and a lot of the time i give away a lot of it. If it,s someone who cannot raise it on their own i don,t have a problem sharing. But you have those who want to bum a mess of this or that and are just lazy. This peeeooos! me to no end. The one thing i,am trying this year is canning meat. Haven,t went there yet.

[readra21]

I am trying to find recipes for canning my wild game, not too many folks do it to my knowledge.
I will keep looking

[CanNerd]

It can be found in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, Page 59. It's done the same as other meat.