Q and A: Rancid pecans and raising meat

Rancid pecans

I was making some Christmas candy and found a 2# bag of pecans on the shelf that I bought last year this time. I opened them to use them up but they are slightly rancid. Do you know of any way to freshen them up or will I have to throw them out. Hate to because they are so expensive. What’s the best way to store nuts long term so this won’t happen again?

Adell Struble
Aledo, Illinois

I can up all my nutmeats. It works perfectly and they never get rancid. I’ve got some pecans my friend Juanita and I canned down in New Mexico, twelve years ago, and they’re still perfect. (Pressure canned dry, toasted at 5 pounds pressure for 10 minutes.)

Once the nuts get rancid, they can’t be restored. BUT they can be used for stronger tasting foods, such as chocolate (brownies, fudge, etc.). If they are barely rancid, they can also be used in cookies. I prefer to can ’em and not worry about just how rancid a bag is! — Jackie

Raising meat

My husband and I just recently bought a 100 acre farm. We want to make it into a hobby farm but feed us also. We want to purchase one cow for the beef. My questions are: is it okay to raise just one cow? How long do we raise it for? What age should we buy it at? We will also be buying to pigs for eating also. We currently have 7 chickens and 1 rooster that have been laying eggs since they were 3 months of age. Someone told me I was doing something right with them so maybe I’ll have great luck with a cow and 2 pigs.

Joanne

Yes, you can raise one steer for beef. (Steer, not cow; cows are female and are usually used for breeding, raising calves and/or milking.) Most folks buy a calf between 3 days old and three months old to raise for beef. At two months old, calves are usually off the bottle and weaned…but cost more than when they were babies. But then, it costs about $70 a 50 pound bag for powdered milk replacer, too. It takes a bag of milk replacer to raise one calf to weaning, and baby calves are more tender and can become sick with diarrhea (scours) quite easily. If you can, I’d advise getting a weaned calf. It doesn’t matter much what breed. Most young calves are dairy breeds, usually black and white Holsteins, the most common dairy breed in the country. Jersey calves are cheap, but it does take awhile longer to get them up to butchering weight of about 1,000 pounds. The meat is just as good, regardless of breed. It usually takes about 18 months to raise a calf to butchering weight, again, depending on breed and care.

Pigs are a good investment for meat, as a spring weaned pig will be ready to butcher in the early winter, weighing about 250 pounds. And they eat a lot of waste garden produce, weeds, scraps, etc. too.

With larger animals, like steers and pigs, just make sure that you have adequate fencing. It is NO fun to chase down runaway critters! You’ll love your animals and the meat they provide. — Jackie