Rotating your food is the biggest challenge that a family working on preparedness can face. I have been guilty of not rotating and loosing viability of my food. Tsk tsk tsk I should know better. For me buying, canning and drying food became a hobby which lead to hoarding behavior. I have a large cache of food put away but I rarely eat any of it.
I read about a canner who only cans 2 jars of something the first time she can. Example is soup. When she tries a new recipe instead of making 2 gallons of it she makes enough for dinner and 3 jars to be canned. The family tries it out at dinner and then in the next month they also try the canned soup. Tastes can change with canning and some soups can better than others. If the soup is a success with the family then more can be made on a larger scale and canned up and put away. I love this idea because the food is being tested and eaten rather than canned and put away for some Days to Come event.
Now I hear you say, "but what a waste to only can 3 jars". Use the remaining space to can dry beans. Just fill the jar (same size jar as you are canning the soup in) with dry beans half way to the top. Fill with water leaving 1 1/2 inch head space and can along with the soup. A pint will be 75 minutes and a quart will be 90 minutes. Beans come out all cooked and ready to eat or to be added to another dish. We all have dry beans around and wouldn't it be nice to have your own beans canned instead of having to store up store bought beans in cans? So much cheaper too.
Let me know if you have any other ideas on rotation other than the obvious of dating every thing and incorporating it in your food shopping list.
19 comments:
I have a small canner that only does 4 pints or 3 quarts. I still waste stuff. They look good online or in the book but then we don't know how to use it. Like the sweet pickled carrots--haven't EVEN tasted them. Don't know what to use a pickled carrot for :(
Abby! So good to see you posting, I've missed you!
That's a very good idea about the canning a new recipe on a small scale first to make sure everyone likes it. Even if it's not a total thumbs up when the processed batch is sampled, it might be able to be tweaked for the next batch.
Just beans and water? Do you add any seasonings or flavorings and, if you do, does that change the processing time? Another good idea...
: )
Becky....am wondering if you have just a pressure cooker and not a pressure canner. I have not heard of one that small. You must use a pressure canner to do low acid foods. the pickled carrots would be a high acid food and would need only to be canned in a hot water bath. If you have questions email me.
HossBoss.....you are always the sweetest thing and so welcoming! As to canning dry beans, you can season them lightly and it won't affect the time because you are doing 75 or 90 depending on what size jar you are using and pressure canning. I guess I was not clear about it being a pressure canning job.
Abby The Frugal Fraulein
I also encounter this problem especially if you have kids around the house. They have certain favorite foods that they simply want to eat almost EVERYDAY!
Good idea about rotating. My husband is good about eating my canned chili beans, etc. I refuse to pay the current prices for a 10 - 15 oz can of beans at the store and he'll eat beans nearly every day.
Regarding kids favorites... when mine were young they wouldn't eat my canned peaches. Now my daughter's in 1100 miles away and craves my canned peaches and cabbage soup.
This is a good idea and very timely as this is my first season to start canning. Thanks!
hay i ran into this have you seen it http://www.stilltasty.com
doesn't the beans expand causing the jars to break
While reading this post it reminded me of the latest episode of perennial plate- these guys have buckets of food preserved in a cave! http://www.theperennialplate.com/episodes/2011/07/episode-61-brothers
Love the idea about the beans!!
The beans don't break the jars because you fill the jar half way and the rest with water. As the beans cook they expand and soak up the water.
@becky3086: I used my pickled carrots IN my canned beans since I didn't seem to eat them on their own. It was better than just adding carrot coins.
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Canning beans to fill the canner is a superb idea. Often times I will be a jar or two short of a full load because the crop doesn't always mature at the same rate. Thanks!
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It seems like such an obvious thing to do, but know of so many people who do not regularly rotate food and then have to throw it out. A tip that I use is to rotate as the pantry is restocked.
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Love to this idea. I've only used my canner once this year due to lack of confidence and recipes I actually want to mess with. I also make beans by the bagful and freeze them, though it causes thawing problems.
If I do this, I'll have single-servings of half-cooked bean soup that aren't taking up freezer space, and a bit more confidence for next season. (I really doubt the beans would get the right texture if I put vinegar in the jar or didn't heat them in acid later.)
Such good ideas!
I love the beans idea.
We always think about cooking beans at the last minute, but haven't soaked them yet. This would solve that problem.
Thanks a lot!
Margaret
ps check out my new blog
http://twointhenestmama.blogspot.com/
I'm posting about my canning adventures, among other things.
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