Canning Season.

[Zana]

Was at two stores earlier this evening looking for jar rings and lids...none available. Going to have start calling around first before i hoof it again. Guess it's getting too late in the season now. Sighhhh. That might cut off my working on this stuff until I empty enough jars. LOL Oh well. Taking a break from canning this weekend....have to do some large scale baking for a fundraiser next week.....will probably be making about 25 + dozen cookies. Mostly ball cookies - stuff that goes fast.

[imp]

Well, another batch of burger, plain, in the canner, chicken thighs in the crock pot to par cook for the next round, then 1 more round of burger tomorrow to still be done.

I was surprised at the good quality of the burger from Aldi's, as I am always a bit suspicious of ground beef and the flavor, or lack of it. This was good and very beefy. There wasn't much fat rendered out, nor water; the little there was I put over Belle's kibble and made her quite happy, LOL!

edit:

Zana, Wal-mart has both jars, lids and rings, even tattlers, online. Shipping is free with a $35 dollar order here in the USA, maybe would work , even with a s/h in Canada?

[dmforcier]

This reminds me. My dad loved loose hamburger, and he made good stuff - beefy. His secret ingredient? As the meat was browning up, a half cup or so of nice strong tea into the skillet. I have no idea why this might have worked, but it did.

[imp]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

This reminds me. My dad loved loose hamburger, and he made good stuff - beefy. His secret ingredient? As the meat was browning up, a half cup or so of nice strong tea into the skillet. I have no idea why this might have worked, but it did.

Thanks for the tip. Just regular Lipton's type tea or???

[AlittleSalt]

DM, I knew a lady back in early 1980s who used coffee in just about everything she cooked. I never thought of using tea like that. One thing she made that was wonderful tasting was coffee divinity. Back then, I liked anything that was extra sweet. Sorry about it having nothing to do with canning, but what you wrote reminded me of her.

[dmforcier]

Yes, just Liptons. That's all we knew about. (Maybe Tetley.)

I use coffee in my Boston baked beans and sometimes in my sauces. Iced coffee was more likely as a summer drink than iced tea, and coffee ice cream was the National Dessert of Rhode Island. (In west Texas, they never heard of it. Talk about culture shock.)

[taboule]

Ground coffee is used as an ingredient in many rubs, especially for pork. In the right proportion you can barely pick it out in the taste, adds a nice smokiness to meats.

I'm thinking this may be my next hobby: smoking foods, another old preservation method.

[Zana]

Originally Posted by imp

Zana, Wal-mart has both jars, lids and rings, even tattlers, online. Shipping is free with a $35 dollar order here in the USA, maybe would work , even with a s/h in Canada?

Thanks for the tip, IMP. I'll check to see whether Walmart has what I need locally first. And then go for ordering online options. Still have to check out local Canadian Tire stores too (which I can pre-check stock online and order for pick up).

But in the mean time I'm in the middle of making dough....cookie doughs.

[Worth1]

How have you been doing Zana?

Coming to a kitchen near you.
Steam Punk Pressure Cooker/Canner.
As soon as my phone charges up.

Worth

[Worth1]

Okay here is the long drawn out explanation as to what I have done, the reason for it and the reason for the way I did it.
First I didn't like the idea of not having a pressure gauge it was driving me nuts.
The reason I did it the way I did was because I didn't want to drill and tap into a vintage pressure cooker and ruin the antiquity of it be it what ever it is.
The down fall of the way I did it is there is only one presser port to go to both the weight gauge and the gauge.
The other way by drilling a new hole and installing a gauge would have given me two options in case one of them stopped up to see what was going on.
Not a big deal because I didn't have one anyway and I do have a high pressure blow plug.
Next you cant just install what I did without modifying the pipe.
It needs to have holes or slots cut into the bottom of the pipe so it cant stop up from just one hole.
That is for safety and the reason you see them.
I chose slots cut with a small slotting file four of them to be exact.
I was worried the gauge would flutter from the action of the weight gauge but there is enough volume in the pipe and fittings to overcome this and it is rock steady.
In the next post you will see the rather entertaining contraption.
It may very well be the only one in existence.
Worth

[Worth1]

Here it is the Steam Punk pressure cooker canner.
All fittings as NSF food safe
Worth
IMG_20171104_35200.jpg

IMG_20171104_10722.jpg

[Zana]

Originally Posted by Worth1

How have you been doing Zana?

Coming to a kitchen near you.
Steam Punk Pressure Cooker/Canner.
As soon as my phone charges up.

Worth

Surviving canning season...now going into Christmas baking season.

[dmforcier]

I often wondered what those slots were for.

Nice contraption. Aren't you worried that one good whack could break it? or worse, the lid?

[Worth1]

Here is an example of too much heat for the canner and the high pressure test after two leaks were fixed.
After the heat was reduced the weight gauge works below the 15 pound mark not above it.
Proof as to just how junky these new gauges are.
Worth
IMG_20171104_1453.jpg

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

I often wondered what those slots were for.

Nice contraption. Aren't you worried that one good whack could break it? or worse, the lid?

Not in the least, to me they are a delicate instrument and to be treated as such.
If the pipe were to break off in the lid I would just fix it.
Two ways to do this, an ease out, if that doesn't work drill to the correct pipe tap size and re tap.
In this case 1/8th 27 threads per inch 21/64th bit you dont need the taper reamer for stuff this thin.
With vessels like this the pipe always breaks not the vessel.

Worth