Q and A: good meat grinder, canning turkey, and disabled chicken

Good meat grinder

Can you recommend a good hand-crank meat grinder?

Shellie Gades
Evansville, Minnesota

We have a #32 size bolt-down grinder that has ground plenty of meat successfully. They are available through many larger farm/ranch stores at this time of the year. I got mine years back at L & M Fleet Supply. Many larger stores are now carrying food-processing equipment, especially now, nearing hunting season. Lehman’s Hardware also carries this grinder. — Jackie

Canning turkey

I bought a 37# turkey almost two years ago (my wife was not impressed) and have decided to take it out of the freezer and can it up. This will be my first attempt at canning meat. I have the recipe one of my aunts uses and I am very anxious to do it. However, I have no idea how many jars I should get ready, I will be using quarts and pints. I will be doing hot pack and it looks like the recipe calls to fully cook the bird. My wife says she is “sketched out” by canned meats so hopefully this helps change her mind and if not I’ll have plenty of delicious turkey to eat.

Ben Michaud
Standish, Maine

It is very difficult to determine just how many jars we need while planning on canning. Some things we learn by experience. For instance, when my large turkey roaster is full of tomato puree, when it cooks down and I add spices, brown sugar, onions, and green peppers, I get about five quarts of spaghetti sauce. But when I can turkey and other things, it can vary greatly. My advice (and what I do) is to just have plenty of jars available and washed. Also have several appropriate-sized lids and rings on hand. As you begin to fill jars, you’ll get a better idea of how many you’ll end up needing. I usually pull the breast meat away and can most of that up in quart jars, in large pieces. This takes few jars. Then I dice up the rest and can up some in pints and most in half-pints as the small jars are very useful in mixed recipes. I also boil the bones and make broth, adding small pieces of meat, spices, and salt. I usually can this up in quarts to make soup. This, also, takes few jars, probably about five quarts.

Be sure to sniff and examine your two-year-old frozen turkey for freezer burn. After a year in the freezer, all meat is questionable and needs the sniff test. Also look for white dry patches on the skin, indicating freezer burn. The shrink-wrapped turkey is less apt to freezer burn than meat that is otherwise wrapped, so hopefully your turkey is fine.

I’m sorry your wife is less than enthusiastic about canned meat. It’s so good! Maybe canning up this bird will change her mind. — Jackie

Disabled chicken

Throughout the last 22 years of having chickens, once in a while a hen will walk around with her tail down. I’ve done the cooking oil enemas for possible “egg bound”. Then I notice over time that the hen’s legs get farther and farther apart. They don’t act sick. What’s going on with them? I’ve had this happen with a couple Bards and now with a Buff.

Sherrill Hawley
Mt. Angel, Oregon

Other than being egg bound, I really don’t know. It’s possible that she sustained a back injury due to a heavy rooster breeding her. Any readers have a better idea? — Jackie