Boots and Roots

Today’s post will be short and sweet, because honestly, canning isn’t something I am an expert at, or even know very well!! I am still learning this one, right alongside y’all!! It’s not a skill that translates to backpacking, so it’s not one I particularly cared to learn much about until we moved to a farm, and I found myself with an abundance of chicken carcasses I didn’t want to waste.

I canned applesauce once. It was really good. I bought all the water bath canning stuff when my oldest son was an infant, thinking I would can his baby food. Turns out it was easier to just make it as I went, rather than making it in bulk. And I can chicken stock all the time. But applesauce and chicken stock require 2 very different methods. Applesauce, jelly, and other such items can be canned in a water bath canner, which can be as basic as using a stock pot. Most of the items I can are chicken stock, beans, and leftover chili or pasta sauce–all of which require a pressure CANNER, not a pressure COOKER, like your Instant Pot. For pressure canning, here’s a tutorial (part 1) (part 2).

There are much better teachers than me out there–on basically every topic I’ve covered so far. But just like I’m teaching y’all some basic skills, I have skills to learn as well. I can just about can chicken stock in my sleep. Everything else? I’m reading and re-reading directions a million times, and obsessively watching both the clock, and the pressure gauge on my canner the whole time. It is NOT a process I have down yet!! BUT, it is an important skill to have for when things go sideways!

Here is my favorite “how to can everything and not kill your family with botulism or blow up your kitchen” resource. It’s normally $200, but she is currently offering this course for $47, but I don’t know for how long. If you want to learn how to can food WELL, and SAFELY, this is the course for you.

Here’s another favorite resource from an urban homesteader who does a lot of YouTube videos and makes you feel like her friend just by the way she speaks. And here are example recipes for water bath-canned dijon mustard (meaning, canned in a stock pot on your stove), and water bath-canned cranberries, just to give you an idea of how simple the process really is.

Now, if you have a pressure canner already that you haven’t used yet–maybe it’s been passed down to you by your grandma, or you bought one once with the intention of learning how to use it, but you took 1 look at it, and put it away out of fear of blowing something up–NOW is the time to get comfortable with it!! Yes, it’s scary-looking. Yes, there is a learning curve. Yes, I’m still mildly afraid of mine. And yes, it can be loud and scary, spewing steam all over the place. But I promise you, just follow the directions, and you, your family, and your kitchen will be ok! I’m living proof. I put a hole in the kitchen ceiling while trying to make butter once. With my Nutribullet. Long story. Maybe that’ll be another post. Or maybe not, hahahaha!! BUT, no holes in ceilings from the pressure cooker! So if I can do it, I promise you, you can too!!

That’s it, that’s all I have this week!! Let’s learn together!! And good luck–may the odds be ever in your favor!