Anyone canning? What pressure cooker do you use?

[BjornM]

I'm getting into canning and could use some advice. Will mostly be veggies such as potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes. But also beef, and stews.

What pressure cooker do you use? Tasty recipes?

 

[JBoffgrid2022]

You might not be getting a reply because the question isn't relating to solar. If you were wondering about the best pressure cooker to use with an off grid solar system, you might get better results ?

 

[BjornM]

You might not be getting a reply because the question isn't relating to solar. If you were wondering about the best pressure cooker to use with an off grid solar system, you might get better results ?

That's why I posted in the "Chit Chat Zone (Non-Solar Discussion)" forum. ;-)

But perhaps folks here aren't much into canning. I would have thought so though, because off-grid and prepping and a rural lifestyle usually go hand in hand.

 

[OffGridForGood]

It does for sure,
Only thing is, I have no idea, because my spouse does that part. I do the planting, weeding, harvesting part. It is a division of labour thing! I swear!

 

[johnnysolar]

I'm getting into canning and could use some advice. Will mostly be veggies such as potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes. But also beef, and stews.

What pressure cooker do you use? Tasty recipes?

I don't have canning advice but if you can stop by "tractor supply" they carry a fancy dehydrator (freez dryer?). It's between 2 to 3 k USD but it's similar to your topic of making food long lasting.

 

[OffGridForGood]

I don't have canning advice but if you can stop by "tractor supply" they carry a fancy dehydrator (freez dryer?). It's between 2 to 3 k USD but it's similar to your topic of making food long lasting.

Kind of doubt any "tractor supply" in Sweden! LOL. but regular dehydrators are widely available.
But we have been eyeing up a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer for our place, pricy thou.

 

[BjornM]

I don't have canning advice but if you can stop by "tractor supply" they carry a fancy dehydrator (freez dryer?). It's between 2 to 3 k USD but it's similar to your topic of making food long lasting.

I've looked at freeze dryers before but they are out of my price range right now. Maybe in the future. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Bob B]

Kind of doubt any "tractor supply" in Sweden! LOL. but regular dehydrators are widely available.
But we have been eyeing up a Havest Right Freeze Dryer for our place, pricy thou.

I've been watching freeze drying YouTube video's, and REALLY like the technology. Seriously considering it.

If you go to watch videos, scan past all the ones trying to make money on freeze dried candy and look for the serious preppers .... Some are doing a very scientific approach to tracking weight loss so they know how much water to rehydrate.

 

[OffGridForGood]

I've been watching freeze drying YouTube video's, and REALLY like the technology. Seriously considering it.

If you go to watch videos, scan past all the ones trying to make money on freeze dried candy and look for the serious preppers .... Some are doing a very scientific approach to tracking weight loss so they know how much water to rehydrate.

Yeah, you're right about that, lots of get rich quick YT vids on these, but the serious ones are out there if you look a bit deeper.
Our thinking is the high-power consumption for the FD would be during summer when we often have excess, or will have once I get some more PV installed. But the really good equipment is super expensive, gotta have dreams I guess.
We run a regular dehydrator for things like apple/ strawberry/banana slices, grapes while these are 'in season' (low cost) and occasionally peach-slices. Some of the garden veggies can be cubed and run through (carrots, turnip) but you have to cut them thin enough in one dimension to dry properly and to reduce the time it takes.
I will ask my spouse about the pressure cooker, she is the expert when it comes to food, I mostly just do the eating part, and wash up after.

 

[Dagoth Ur Does Solar]

Not canning yet, but milling our own grain into flour has been great. Modern grain mills often have other attachments to do things like make butter from nuts, mill corn, beans, etc.

Grain also keeps for ages if you properly store it. Honestly, if I were serious about prepping for a long-term SHTF/apocalypse/whatever scenario, grains would probably make up a huge portion of the food stores. Plus, if you have heirloom grains you could always just plant some to grow your own (not sure if it would work with mass-produced factory-farmed grains).

We try to be realistic and store enough food to make it through a food shortage/natural disaster scenario. For SHTF, well, that's what all the ammunition is for...

Tasty recipes?

We made some freezer jellies (i.e. not shelf stable because we didn't properly can them) with wild scuppernongs from the property. They're basically wild muscadines/grapes that are regional in the US. Delicious, like grape jelly you'd buy in a store, but with a little extra flavor unique to scuppernongs.

Would be interesting if we cultivate enough of them to try properly canning them for long term storage- that would probably be the first project to do.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Okay the expert tells me:
There are two types of pressure cookers out there on the market, simple ones that don't cost too much but get the job done, and more advanced 'techie' ones that have digital display, will communicate with your I-phone and all that.
She tells me - for a typical home, just get a simple "Insta-Pot" (really that is what she says it is called) - these will do stew and soups as well as a good job on rice, don't cost too much and have controls that are easy to understand. Oh and they are easy to CLEAN (this part I knew).
She also suggests looking at 'slow-cooker, crock pot' types - these don't use pressure, just slow even heating and are super easy to use for "one pot meals" - she says.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

I have my first batch of pressure canned meat whittled down to only 547 pounds/pints of meat after eating on it for several years. Had over a thousand jars initially, turns out we don't eat as much meat as we thought we would.



We use an All American pressure canner. Fits 16 pint jars in it, or I think 8 quart jars. We can use it to "water bath" acidic vegetables but we haven't done any of that yet. So far, we've just used it to can meat and ghee.

Eating three year old jars of meat that we keep in a storage area that stays about 40-50F year round and is dark. So far no issues with the meat.

I would recommend if you get any of the fancier digital units that you research to make sure it's certified for canning meat. Some of those don't actually heat enough to get the meat up to the required temperature in the middle, so may not work.

In the spring we'll be moving our jars to our root cellar on the homestead where we keep our freeze dried food. I know the machines are expensive, but if you want to build a stash of food that will last a long time, they're amazing. We have three of them and they run around the clock. We have about ten years of food for the wife and me stored up between the FD'd food, canned meat, and 5 gallon buckets of dry goods.

If you are trying to future proof from food inflation I'd recommend storing dried goods (beans, rice, pasta, wheat berries, etc) because you can save a ton of calories quickly and affordably over a weekend. All it takes is some oxygen absorbers, mylar bags, and buckets. And you can store it wherever, it can freeze without issue. Pressure canning takes some hours to do though and you have to store it somewhere where it won't freeze. Freeze drying take a long time but it's the best. The end product is more nutritious than pressure canning, WAY lighter and easier to store a lot in a small place, and it can freeze without issue and generally lasts for 25 years (unless you're freeze drying something with fat content, then apparently the shelf life is closer to five years).

 

[AlaskanNoob]

I've been watching freeze drying YouTube video's, and REALLY like the technology. Seriously considering it.

If you go to watch videos, scan past all the ones trying to make money on freeze dried candy and look for the serious preppers .... Some are doing a very scientific approach to tracking weight loss so they know how much water to rehydrate.

I love freeze drying. At the homestead couple of days ago I just put some water to boil on the wood stove, then poured into a mylar bag of FD'd "taco bake" the wife made, and after a couple of minutes it was ready and tasted like it was just made even though it was a few years old.

We are planning a camper van build and because of freeze drying we're going to design it using just a tiny frig for keeping drinks cold and a small microwave. Because we'll just pack it with FD'd ready to eat meals and so there will be no reason for a full kitchen and cabinets, allowing us to make it more comfortable (more room for a couch and full bed).

 

[BjornM]

I have my first batch of pressure canned meat whittled down to only 547 pounds/pints of meat after eating on it for several years. Had over a thousand jars initially, turns out we don't eat as much meat as we thought we would.

View attachment 186182

We use an All American pressure canner. Fits 16 pint jars in it, or I think 8 quart jars. We can use it to "water bath" acidic vegetables but we haven't done any of that yet. So far, we've just used it to can meat and ghee.

Eating three year old jars of meat that we keep in a storage area that stays about 40-50F year round and is dark. So far no issues with the meat.

I would recommend if you get any of the fancier digital units that you research to make sure it's certified for canning meat. Some of those don't actually heat enough to get the meat up to the required temperature in the middle, so may not work.

In the spring we'll be moving our jars to our root cellar on the homestead where we keep our freeze dried food. I know the machines are expensive, but if you want to build a stash of food that will last a long time, they're amazing. We have three of them and they run around the clock. We have about ten years of food for the wife and me stored up between the FD'd food, canned meat, and 5 gallon buckets of dry goods.

If you are trying to future proof from food inflation I'd recommend storing dried goods (beans, rice, pasta, wheat berries, etc) because you can save a ton of calories quickly and affordably over a weekend. All it takes is some oxygen absorbers, mylar bags, and buckets. And you can store it wherever, it can freeze without issue. Pressure canning takes some hours to do though and you have to store it somewhere where it won't freeze. Freeze drying take a long time but it's the best. The end product is more nutritious than pressure canning, WAY lighter and easier to store a lot in a small place, and it can freeze without issue and generally lasts for 25 years (unless you're freeze drying something with fat content, then apparently the shelf life is closer to five years).

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I've looked the All American canners and they look like they are the best. I don't want anything fancy, but I'm willing to pay extra for something that lasts.

The way you describe freeze drying makes me really wanna try it. Will study some more and try to find a good but not too expensive unit.

What kind of food can you freeze dry? Is there something that doesn't work so well?

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I've looked the All American canners and they look like they are the best. I don't want anything fancy, but I'm willing to pay extra for something that lasts.

The way you describe freeze drying makes me really wanna try it. Will study some more and try to find a good but not too expensive unit.

What kind of food can you freeze dry? Is there something that doesn't work so well?

You can freeze dry most anything with the exception of chocolate, butter, honey, jellies, mayo, peanut butter, or anything high in fat (bacon).

Most everything else can be freeze dried. All your vegetables, fruit, meat (so long as you trim the fat), eggs, coffee, even milk. Meat should be thin cut and fat should be trimmed. Pasta and rice also although you'd only want to do that for ready to eat meals that have those ingredients since those can be dry stored.

This guy does a great job showing what can be freeze dried.

If the money for the machines is an issue, I'd recommend buy a brand new one (or multiple if you're trying to build a stash quick) and run them non-stop for a year (so you'll need a deep freezer to store the food and have it ready). The pumps may well fail around the one year point (in my experience) and the warranty should allow you to get new pumps. Then I would sell the units with brand new replaced pumps.

We have had to replace at least five pumps over the last several years with our units, but maybe that's because we got the oil-free versions. People who use the oil pumps seem to have less issues.

I saw the food writing on the wall a few years ago so that's why we went all in building a stash. We've now got a very comfortable margin of food stored in our root cellar which buys us a lot of time as we build a greenhouse and start hunting. We'll get most of our meat from salmon each year where we're at, moose, and grouse and we'll start raising chickens for eggs and we'll expand our growing (just been growing potatoes so far). But if we have a bad year or the learning curve is too steep, it's nice having a decade of freeze dried food and buckets of dried goods while we get it all figured out. And as people begin to figure out the increasing food challenges and supply chain issues, it will be tougher to get jars and canners and such as those things become more scarce. So I personally would recommend making food prep a priority. Just the money we have saved on inflation from when we started has made it a great investment.

And when we're too old to plant and harvest, we should still be able to manage boiling water and adding it to a mylar bag.

 

[BjornM]

You can freeze dry most anything with the exception of chocolate, butter, honey, jellies, mayo, peanut butter, or anything high in fat (bacon).

Most everything else can be freeze dried. All your vegetables, fruit, meat (so long as you trim the fat), eggs, coffee, even milk. Meat should be thin cut and fat should be trimmed. Pasta and rice also although you'd only want to do that for ready to eat meals that have those ingredients since those can be dry stored.

This guy does a great job showing what can be freeze dried.

If the money for the machines is an issue, I'd recommend buy a brand new one (or multiple if you're trying to build a stash quick) and run them non-stop for a year (so you'll need a deep freezer to store the food and have it ready). The pumps may well fail around the one year point (in my experience) and the warranty should allow you to get new pumps. Then I would sell the units with brand new replaced pumps.

We have had to replace at least five pumps over the last several years with our units, but maybe that's because we got the oil-free versions. People who use the oil pumps seem to have less issues.

I saw the food writing on the wall a few years ago so that's why we went all in building a stash. We've now got a very comfortable margin of food stored in our root cellar which buys us a lot of time as we build a greenhouse and start hunting. We'll get most of our meat from salmon each year where we're at, moose, and grouse and we'll start raising chickens for eggs and we'll expand our growing (just been growing potatoes so far). But if we have a bad year or the learning curve is too steep, it's nice having a decade of freeze dried food and buckets of dried goods while we get it all figured out. And as people begin to figure out the increasing food challenges and supply chain issues, it will be tougher to get jars and canners and such as those things become more scarce. So I personally would recommend making food prep a priority. Just the money we have saved on inflation from when we started has made it a great investment.

And when we're too old to plant and harvest, we should still be able to manage boiling water and adding it to a mylar bag.

Good to know about the pumps.

I've only seen one brand of freeze dryers and that's Harvest Right. So I don't have much to compare with. Then some DIY freeze dryer experiments on YouTube. What brand do you use? And specific model you think is good?

I agree about building a stash. I'm not a prepper per se, but I like independence, and to eat what I produce. So with a freeze dryer I could be eating my own produce all year around, very appealing. Also perfect to use the dryer over the summer/fall when there is plenty of solar power available.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

Good to know about the pumps.

I've only seen one brand of freeze dryers and that's Harvest Right. So I don't have much to compare with. Then some DIY freeze dryer experiments on YouTube. What brand do you use? And specific model you think is good?

I agree about building a stash. I'm not a prepper per se, but I like independence, and to eat what I produce. So with a freeze dryer I could be eating my own produce all year around, very appealing. Also perfect to use the dryer over the summer/fall when there is plenty of solar power available.

We have three Harvest Right medium units. Thought being they'll be easier to sell if we need to. They have larger units as well that can do more at one time, but their really big one has trays that are likely too big for a normal dishwasher.

Agreed on using them in the summer when the solar is plenty, they use a ton of power. Only drawback to summer use is you have to keep them cool as they put off a lot of heat, so using them in a root cellar with good ventilation might be one way to do it, or just have them in open air.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

No photos (at cabin). But we use a 50 plus year old pressure canner my Mom had. It takes 8 of the quart size jars and comes with 4 different counter weights good for gas stoves, electric stoves, wood stoves, or a camp fire, fill it with jars apply heat.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

On my bucket list...some of the locals here make these huge pressure canners so they can batch process moose.

 

[BjornM]

On my bucket list...some of the locals here make these huge pressure canners so they can batch process moose.

Very cool. Need to build me one of those too.