The Can-o-phobic's Corner

[kimnkell]

If a ferment goes bad, I think you can tell by the odor before you eat it - right?

I'm not afraid of canning. Just haven't felt the need to yet. I don't know shy, but the thought of canned meat makes me . I wouldn't mind having a better way to preserve stock though. Right now I freeze alot of stuff. Not exactly SS if the power goes out. We do have a generator for that purpose and it'll work as long we have fuel to run it.

Canning is a great way to preserve meat. I love it! When I find ground beef on sale I will buy alot of it and fry it up and put it in jars pour boiling water over it and process it in the pressure canner. I just used my last jar this week from what I had canned back in the winter. Time to find another big sale. Canning has saved us lots of money on groceries and gas for that matter. That way I always have something in pantry quick to eat. Heck, makes me wanna go can something...lol..

Now this is exactly why I have never felt a huge need to buy a pressure canner. I am sure that a jar of already cooked, and then boiled again, and then heated again before serving, ground beef crumbles are useful in certain circumstances - I can imagine that there are many kid-friendly meals that could use this quite well. But, well, I don't have kids, and I married a foreigner with different taste memories from his childhood, and I can't think of a single thing that I cook that would incorporate this sort of meat. Not to disparage anyone else who does this, but this would be a waste of meat, money, shelf space, jars, etc. for me. Just goes to show that we are all different, doesn't it?

I couldn't live without my pressure canner. Ground beef is just one example. My kids like hamburger helper so I can use it in that sometimes, It's a flash to make taco's, Great for sloppy joes too. I use it alot. I find it alot easier to have it ready to add to a meal rather than to have to lug a frozen pack of hamburger out of the freezer and unthaw it and then fry it and make taco's or whatever out of it. I also can all my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has saved us alot of money on grocery bills by doing this. I have put a jar of shredded turkey in the crockpot add some barbecue sauce and we have barbecue turkey for a fast dinner along with some homemade rolls of course. I just love doing this.
But that's right, different strokes for different folks. What works for some don't work for others.

 

[ORChick]

"I couldn't live without my pressure canner. Ground beef is just one example. My kids like hamburger helper so I can use it in that sometimes, It's a flash to make taco's, Great for sloppy joes too. I use it alot. I find it alot easier to have it ready to add to a meal rather than to have to lug a frozen pack of hamburger out of the freezer and unthaw it and then fry it and make taco's or whatever out of it. I also can all my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving and Christmas. It has saved us alot of money on grocery bills by doing this. I have put a jar of shredded turkey in the crockpot add some barbecue sauce and we have barbecue turkey for a fast dinner along with some homemade rolls of course. I just love doing this.
But that's right, different strokes for different folks. What works for some don't work for others."

- Kimnkell, those dishes sound very tasty, and I'm sure having the meat on hand and already cooked is a great stress reliever. But, like I said, they wouldn't work in this house . However there are probably a few things that I do that wouldn't go over well in yours . Thats why I find this forum so valuable; a lot of people are tossing their ideas out for the rest of us to pick up, or not - and we all gain from it.

 

[Beekissed]

When I think of the eating habits we have formed and then visit other people's homes and see theirs, I am always amazed.

I, myself, wouldn't go to the trouble of grinding meat only then to can it also....we just chop ours into large bite sized pieces and can it that way. Ground meat is frozen here, as it only takes a few minutes to brown hamburger.

Our salads are even different than other people's salads and we hardly ever have meals that involve more than one or two pans/dishes. Other people look at me like I have 3 eyes when I eat one of my salads in front of them....and then they invariably must have a taste!

It really is a diverse world...and thank God for it!

 

[ORChick]

When I think of the eating habits we have formed and then visit other people's homes and see theirs, I am always amazed.

I, myself, wouldn't go to the trouble of grinding meat only then to can it also....we just chop ours into large bite sized pieces and can it that way. Ground meat is frozen here, as it only takes a few minutes to brown hamburger.

Our salads are even different than other people's salads and we hardly ever have meals that involve more than one or two pans/dishes. Other people look at me like I have 3 eyes when I eat one of my salads in front of them....and then they invariably must have a taste!

It really is a diverse world...and thank God for it!

Now I'm curious - and I'm sure I'm not the only one! Will you elaborate on your salads, please?

 

[Beekissed]

Well...you would have to try it to see how it tastes before you judge it....

We usually use romaine lettuce, green peppers, celery, onions, and broccoli and dice them fine enough to fit on a large spoon.

I add a little pasta, drained tuna, olive oil, hot pepper flakes, garlic salt, black pepper and other seasonings and parmesan cheese.

I use diluted red wine vinegar(if you use full strength it will burn out your gullet!) but the others use ACV, also somewhat diluted. Anyhoo...I add this vinegar until it is even with the salad amount in the bowl and its more like a salad soup than a salad.

My mouth is watering just typing it...it really is the bomb! It is eaten with plenty of the vinegar/olive oil in each spoonful until the salad and liquid is finished at the same time.

This is a whole meal for us. Its crunchy, spicey, tangy and filling...and its good for you! My boys have to have one each time I fix one for myself and it has become a family fave here.

 

[ORChick]

That sounds really good, though I might want to cut back on the vinegar a bit . I'll have to try it though just to see. I certainly like all the ingredients. Maybe a single portion size - DH would never be happy with the vinegar; he is a sweet guy - emphasis on the SWEET. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Beekissed]

I just cut up all the salad ingredients and keep it in a ziploc bag in the fridge and get my individual serving out when I need it and add the pasta, spices and other things. My mother doesn't eat hers that way but still eats the salad base.

My boys wait until I'm making a bowl of it for myself and then beg me to make them one because they can't "make it as good as you, Mom" which translates into "I'm too lazy to go through all those steps to make a salad."

 

[Wifezilla]

Just made some crystalized ginger. No canner required. No asplosions

 

[Wildsky]

I need to look into the hot water bath thing a bit... I'd be happy to be able to can just a few things, veggies - it would make me feel pretty darn happy!

 

[TanksHill]

Wildsky, you can do fruit, tomatoes, salsa lots of stuff with the water bath. I prefer to freeze my veggies.

I'm canning chicken stock as we speak. Which translates to "I will be stuck in the kitchen for 20 min".

See ya!!

gina