WHAT ARE YOU CANNING TODAY?

[waretrop]

@frustratedearthmother Yes, I have tweaked it to suit our taste and It is delish and oh so cheap....I will never eat it out again...

Next I will finish the bacon I have frozen then on to beef dishes....Must clean out my freezers. I have 4 or 5 of them and would like to get us back down to 2, 1 for meat and 1 for veggies....

 

[lcertuche]

I am trying to get away from freezing so much and leaning to canning and dehydrating. It doesn't cost as much for long term storage this way. We only have the one big freezer.

 

[tortoise]

Same here Icertuche! We had a freezer fail last month. It was only coincidence I went out to bring in some meat from that freezer. We didn't lose any, but there was a year's worth of meat in there so it could have been a huge loss.

 

[Britesea]

That's why I hate to freeze food now. I've lost thousands of dollars' worth of food over the years. I have 2 small freezers now- and one of them was my mother's and I had to clear it out of her house when she died. Once I get my freeze dryer working, I plan to get it down to one again. (Yes, I haven't gotten it working yet. The spot I had chosen for it turned out to not work because the vacuum pump will only fit on one side; the wrong side, of course. I've been really lazy about clearing more space)

 

[chefsdreams]

as a chef, allow me to suggest that if you are inviting a chef over to comment on his cooking, you first hide the knives!
how you cook your onions is a very particular thing. good luck.
your soup does look pretty yummy tho.

 

[tortoise]

Britesea, would you please post a thread about your freeze drier when you have it going? DH and I want one but they're SO expensive!

 

[lcertuche]

I too lost a freezer full of food. It's a crushing blow when you realize how much money is lost.

 

[NH Homesteader]

One day last year I heard a thud from the freezer. It had been bumped and turned up, and there was ice on the side that melted enough to fall. Nothing was lost, though. Ever since then I check every few days to make sure all's well and frozen! We usually have a whole pig, 15 or so chickens and 5+ turkeys in there (not to mention veggies), so it would be a major issue to lose that.

 

[sumi]

I don't have a proper freezer at the moment, but I really, really want one! I have a small fridge-freezer combo in this house and barely enough space for 2 chickens side by side.

Back in S.A. we had a chest freezer and I got a tip some years ago, to fill any empty space in there with (plastic) bottles of water. Those froze solid and stayed frozen during our frequent power outages (Look up Eskom load shedding) and since it takes less electricity and effort to keep a block of ice frozen than to freeze thin air, the freezer used less electricity in the long run too.

 

[Mini Horses]

Yep, jugs of frozen water help freezer AND are useful -- we discussed on saving money thread, also.

I have a "small" chest freezer now, plus the dble door in kitchen. The small frig on back porch is for extra eggs & milk. Just a small inside door freezer --old unit-- but I needed to get eggs & milk out of my kitchen one to have any room for my own use.

The small chest works great until I have to load it with butchered animals. I have considered another but, believe I would go back to upright as I feel it is easier to see what is IN THERE...and use it.
Only me here, hope to use more canning this year. Thinking some type of racks/baskets for more use in freezer I have, beyond the two baskets at top.