Canning chicken stock
I was canning some chicken stock last night. After the recommended processing time in the pressure canner, I let the steam go down to normal and started removing the jars, pints. Two of the jars immediately popped down to ping a seal, but after a few seconds would pop back up, then in a few seconds would pop down. I also noticed every time it popped up, bubbles would release. I’m assuming this was air rushing in. This cycle of pinging went on for probably 20 minutes, they eventually sealed, but I’m uneasy about them. They are in the fridge for now, but is this normal and safe?
Casey Eaves
Hallwood, Virginia
I wouldn’t say it’s “normal,” but it is fairly common and nothing to worry about if the jars end up properly sealed. It’s possible that you had some excessive pressure (pressure going over recommended pressure, then down again) during processing. That sometimes happens with me when I get distracted during canning because of a phone call or some other event. I wouldn’t worry about your sealed jars. — Jackie
Canning celery
This isn’t really a question, but I wanted to tell you thanks! I was looking through your book and found your recipe for potato soup and decided to give it a try. I noticed you had said to add 1/2 pint of celery, and I did not know you could can celery. I don’t ever get much celery because it usually goes bad before I can use it all, so canning it up would be very handy. I actually stopped at the store today and picked up two stalks — used a bit for the soup today and the rest are in the canner as I type this!
Just a suggestion, if you ever re-do your canning book, perhaps you could put in about how many jars each recipe makes. Keep in mind there’s lots of dummies out there (like me!) and simple information like that is helpful for us.
Donnie McIlwain
Lowman, New York
The reason I didn’t put how many jars each canning recipe would make is that there are a whole lot of variables; many recipes you might get say 5 pints of a certain food, but by using juicier fruit or tomato varieties, you may end up with 8 pints…or maybe only 4. But several readers have requested this and we may include it in the next printing, if the “powers that be” agree. An index is also definitely planned. Thanks for your input! And I’m glad you’re canning celery. It’s SO handy! — Jackie
Hi,
I am wondering how I would go about just canning celery alone in pint jars?
Thanks so much
Anyone can download an index for Jackie’s book “Growing and Canning Your Own Food” at
http://www.awrittenword.com/JackieClayCookbookIndex.pdf Just print it out and tuck it in the back of the book.
I am a professional indexer and created this index for my own use. I’m happy to share, because without an index, Jackie’s marvelous book is really difficult to use.
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