Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Page 4 of 4 < 1 2 3 4
Topic Options
#264725 - 10/31/13 03:06 AM Re: Canned Meat Products - where do you draw the line? [Re: hikermor]
benjammin Offline
Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
Glass is more popular because it is cheaper/more common equipment and material and has a far more widespread knowledgebase for the household. There are home canning possibilities with metal cans and retort bags, but it will be a lot more expensive.

You can store glass jars in earthquake country securely if you take suitable measures. I live in Anchorage and have over 360 jars in stock right now. They are on shelves with wooden rails, packed in fairly snug, and the only way they will get destroyed is if the house comes down.
_________________________
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

Top
#264728 - 10/31/13 11:51 AM Re: Canned Meat Products - where do you draw the line? [Re: MDinana]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
Originally Posted By: MDinana
Originally Posted By: benjammin
First, you don't need to pre-cook the chicken, you can raw pack it and process it, and the process time in the canner is the same, so the overall process time is greatly reduced.

Assuming half a chicken per quart (unboned), or 1/4 chicken per pint (unboned), 3 chickens would do a short load in a canner. My canners will each do 6 quarts at a time, roughly two hours in the canner (15 minutes to get it up to pressure, 90 minutes at pressure, 15 minutes to let it come back down to ambient pressure). Figure half an hour prep (cutting up the chickens, stuffing the jars, putting on the lids, etc). So you could do 6 quarts in an evening easily.

But it's really a matter of priorities, and it sounds like your schedule is too full to mess around with it, so probably better for you to just buy what you need at the store and forego the trouble. If all you have is an hour or two a month, that's not going to work. It won't be as healthy for you or your family, but that isn't always the most important thing.

Thanks. If I lived somewhere more remote, I'd definitely be into canning, jelly/jams, etc. Especially someplace where the supply line can be cut off relatively easily.

If it only takes 2-3 hours, it might be feasible, eventually. Once my kid is a bit more self sufficient, a weekend "mommy & me" date at the park could give me the time I need. Now to get the wife on board ...

Besides chicken, I assume all meats could be done, correct? Not that I'd like to smash a sirloin into a jar, but things like turkey, ham, etc? I'm thinking holiday leftovers.


You don't have to live remote. Start with something simpler than meat so you can use a less expensive canner rather than a pressure canner. We took a trip one fall to a farm a bit out of town and picked pumpkins and apples. Came home and canned applesauce. Don't wait for a someone take the kid to the park day, my kids liked using the apple peeler/corer/slicer and munched on the peels afterward. We picked three different kinds of apples so we made three batches of different flavored applesauce. Its real simple, you basically, peel and slice into small chunks then put in a pan and cook and blend until its a sauce then put in a little bit of lemon juice and can. You can add cinnamon to make another flavor. Some people add sugar but its not necessary.
Start with something the kids will enjoy then they will want to help and do more.

Top
#264768 - 11/02/13 03:25 PM Re: Canned Meat Products - where do you draw the line? [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
Brangdon Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/12/04
Posts: 1204
Loc: Nottingham, UK
Originally Posted By: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor
There is Canned Corned beef (mostly originates from Brazil), quality and taste can vary from something thats inedible to something that is acceptable even in a Sandwich with pricing that can vary from £1.50 to £3.00 a can in the UK.
I found I preferred Princes canned corned beef to fresh. I keep a dozen or so 200g tins of it, that get eaten in sandwiches with Branston Pickle. (Larger tins wouldn't get all eaten.)

Quote:
Then there are canned hams and chicken.
Tinned cured ham is something I've been getting into over the last few months. I've settled on Princes premium brand, which I like in sandwiches with beetroot. Lesser quality isn't nice enough for me.

Quote:
Cost is important factor when bulk stocking a larder for preparedness,
Buy what you eat and eat what you buy. If you can buy in bulk that should save money, but I wouldn't go for cheaper food because it's "only for survival". The tinned meat I buy has a long enough shelf life that it all gets eaten during normal times.
_________________________
Quality is addictive.

Top
#264771 - 11/02/13 07:15 PM Re: Canned Meat Products - where do you draw the line? [Re: Brangdon]
benjammin Offline
Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
It is for this reason I prefer to can my own. You can't find canned wieners in the grocery. Vienna sausages are not a substitute. Likewise plain ground beef is not available anywhere, and the foil pouched seasoned ground meat I've found has an awful taste. My own corned beef hash recipe is far superior to anything commercially canned, and affords me the opportunity to adulterate it as I see fit, whether with diced green chile, or mushroom, or what have you. Of course I could add these things at the time of consumption, but only if they are handy at the time.

But I also have a stock of commercially canned meats, simply because more is better, and I am not altogether that picky about what I consume. Canned Spam is tasty enough, as is most tuna fish, which is something I do not home can, as I have no cheap source for the raw product here.

Of course, here in the colonies, er, territories, uh, states, we have all this wonderful wild game, and you won't find that in any store. Wild caught canned sockeye salmon is rare and expensive, so when I put up 30 pints at a cost of about $4 a pint by my tally, I was quite pleased. Likewise with the moose meat and caribou I've enjoyed. I suspect a good stag would fare as well in the canner.
_________________________
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

Top
Page 4 of 4 < 1 2 3 4



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, chaosmagnet, cliff 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 456 Guests and 71 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
What did you do today to prepare?
by dougwalkabout
03/27/24 11:21 PM
Zippo Butane Inserts
by dougwalkabout
03/27/24 11:11 PM
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.