10-05-2024, 05:44 AM
This post was last modified 10-05-2024, 05:46 AM by FlyingClayDisk.
So the wife and I have been getting more into canning stuff. We've done water bath canning for a long time, and I had a pressure cooker for pressure canning, but it wasn't one of the fancy ones so I never really trusted it. Well, I finally broke down and bought the gold standard for canning, an American pressure canner. My future plans are to get into canning things like meats and fish and other low acid things which require pressure canning (water bath doesn't get hot enough). This weekend though, I'm just going to do some Salsa. I didn't realize it, but Salsa is actually pretty tricky to can because it's right on the borderline of 4.6 PH which is the decision point between water bath and pressure canning. Above 4.6 PH must be pressure canned, and below 4.6 PH can be safely water bath canned. Add altitude into the mix and things get even more complicated. We're at about 6,500 ft ASL, so I can't ignore altitude.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to putting up some decent Salsa. The Hatch chilies are in season right now, and those things ROCK, so I've got a bunch of super hot ones roasted up and ready to go. I'm looking forward to it! This way, I can have some delicious homemade Salsa this winter.
On a side note, about 10 years ago I canned some steak. It was the very first time I'd ever done it. I was downstairs the other day cleaning out some of our long expired store bought canned goods and came across my canned meat. I figured for sure it would be a death sentence to eat it, but on a lark I decided to check the seals and they were still all good. Soooo, I popped the lid on one to give it the smell test. Surprisingly, it smelled like I'd just taken it off the stove fresh. I was still too much of a skeerdy-cat to actually taste it due to it being so old, but I guess I did it right (amazingly). Gave me a little more confidence. Now, with the new canning setup, I can hopefully put up some beef and other stuff like spaghetti sauce with meat and some of my Rocky Mountain Madness competition chili. I can get (18) pint jars or (8) quart jars in the canner at a time, so I should be able to put up a decent amount of "vittles" for winter. Plus, we're looking at possibly retiring to Alaska, so I need to get my shit together when it comes to canning. All sorts of awesome stuff to can up there! I didn't know this, but you can actually can King Crab and Dungenous crab too.
Anyway, wish me luck. Maybe I can keep from blowin' the joint up!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to putting up some decent Salsa. The Hatch chilies are in season right now, and those things ROCK, so I've got a bunch of super hot ones roasted up and ready to go. I'm looking forward to it! This way, I can have some delicious homemade Salsa this winter.
On a side note, about 10 years ago I canned some steak. It was the very first time I'd ever done it. I was downstairs the other day cleaning out some of our long expired store bought canned goods and came across my canned meat. I figured for sure it would be a death sentence to eat it, but on a lark I decided to check the seals and they were still all good. Soooo, I popped the lid on one to give it the smell test. Surprisingly, it smelled like I'd just taken it off the stove fresh. I was still too much of a skeerdy-cat to actually taste it due to it being so old, but I guess I did it right (amazingly). Gave me a little more confidence. Now, with the new canning setup, I can hopefully put up some beef and other stuff like spaghetti sauce with meat and some of my Rocky Mountain Madness competition chili. I can get (18) pint jars or (8) quart jars in the canner at a time, so I should be able to put up a decent amount of "vittles" for winter. Plus, we're looking at possibly retiring to Alaska, so I need to get my shit together when it comes to canning. All sorts of awesome stuff to can up there! I didn't know this, but you can actually can King Crab and Dungenous crab too.
Anyway, wish me luck. Maybe I can keep from blowin' the joint up!
