Convenience and shelf life of home-canned goods

This was my last can of home-canned beef stew. (Time to do some more this winter, which is when I tend to can all my meats and "convenience" foods as there's no fresh produce competing for the canner and no problem heating the house up in November). I thought I'd use this opportunity to illustrate how nice it is to have home-canned foods besides veges and fruits in your pantry, as well as reassure that the safety and shelf-life of properly home-canned food is excellent.




Thank you to 1994buttons for mentioning this very important point: NEVER EVER eat from any jar where the lid is bulging. The contents are spoiled and not safe! Throw it out and make sure your pets cannot get to it either. Don't even give it to the chickens.




This was shot a few weeks ago, and we're all still here. ; )

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• home canning
• shelf life of food
• homesteading
• hobby farming
• self-sufficiency
• preparedness
• prepping
• preppers
• economic collapse

[JubeeBijou]

I started canning last summer, but only canned fruits and veggies. The Ball Book said for all low acid foods, we should boil for 10 minutes before eating it, as an added safety measure. Do you do this with meats too, and does it affect the quality after boiling it for 10 minutes? Thank you :)

[Michigansnowpony]

@JubeeBijou Okay, yes, it is always recommended to cook or heat home-canned meat up before eating it. That's what you should do. That said, I must confess I regularly open a can of my chicken up and make chicken salad with it or throw it on top of a salad right out of the jar, not to mention the occasional bite I take after opening up a jar when using it in a casserole. It's not what you *should* do, but here I am to tell about it.

[tammyzennith]

Hi, I am new to canning, do you cook the stew first or put everything raw into the can let the canning process cook it

[Michigansnowpony]

@tammyzennith With the stew, you "raw pack" it. That is, everything is put in raw and the canning process itself (75 minutes for pints, 90 for quarts) cooks it. A great, inexpensive book to help you get started is the Ball Blue Book of Canning. Many grocery stores will carry it during canning season, but if you can't find it, it's readily available on Amazon.  Good luck!!!

[survivaleveryday]

Your daughter was so cute 5 years

[Michigansnowpony]

@survivaleveryday Thanks -- she's a corker that one.

[Cytacon]

Also, freezers don't work very well without electricity.

[hunt1803]

I could almost smell that wonderful stew when you opened those jars....

My grandma got me hooked on home cooked beef stew, and canned pork, etc. It was so quick and easy.... and it makes you feel a lot better when you open the pantry and see those jars lined up...

As far as storability.... keep it in a dark place and make sure there is a good seal; it should still taste good many years down the road.

[thegbpackers284]

Hey! If don't want their share, I'll be right over!

[drdisks]

Yum. It looks amazing!

[HillbillyPrepperGals]

That looked just dang yummy! Gonna pass this on to a friend.

[dmgartist]

thanks so much michigansnow.i do trust your canning.i know the good stuff