Inspiring Canning Stories

CHEFTALK

Inspiring canning stories

Retort, canning, jarring, bottling, name it as you like, we should add pouching to the list of words for retort don’t you think so.

Retort experiences are quite inspiring when you listen to what people have to say about their canning adventures. Many of them are already canning since childhood, you know that ‘my grandmothers recipe thing’ that you find when people talk about cooking their favorite dish, I found the same experiences when I was looking for retort tales.

From here

                              

To here

                            

Many of them were really very inspiring and I like to share a few of them. If you are inspired after this read, share your story here and inspire others to eat healthy homemade food made with their own retort produce.


Inspirational

In abundance 

I found this story of a lady who says that she has been canning for 45 years now and started when she was with her, now husband, in college, the budget was tight and behind their house was a yard with apple trees, she gathered the apples and made apple sauce and apple butter from it. Canning is work she says, but unlike house work it is very rewarding to have rows of jewels on the shelf that you can pull out in winter and have the taste of summer.

Her favorite canning memory was that her daughter once called her in the middle of the night and asked how to can peaches; because her husband loved the mother’s canned peaches to bits. She gave her the recipe and her daughter has been canning ever since.  

Juicy and Succulent

Another lady said that she loved canning tomatoes, crushed and stewed with onions and peppers. She makes salsa’s, pizza sauce, taco sauce, pickled jalapenos, dill and sweet pickles, soups and apple pie filling from their own green house and garden. She grows a lot of vegetables on their 1 acre land and says ‘Yes it’s a lot of work but I have so much fun doing it’.

Then I loved this comment, ‘A trip to the local farmers market is better than taking a vacation for me,’ working with the herbs and vegetables I bring home with me extends the sensory experience I brought with me from the market.   

‘I can fresh produce and control what ingredients go into my family’s food and that makes me feel good. The reason that I retort, is the sense of accomplishment I feel when I watch my shelves fill up with food that is not only safe and healthy but which is as nourishing to my senses as it is to my body’.  How true

One man said, ‘the amount of money we have saved by canning produce from our garden is hard to say, but it is a considerable sum for sure. It involves hard work but an enormous sense of pride and an incredible feeling of accomplishment and living.

I did not want to waste to excess produce from my garden and started canning for that reason, I can tell you now that there is nothing than to open a packet of your own produced retort in the middle of winter and smell your garden, said another contributor. 

Yes it may be harder work then going to the grocery store but knowing what is in my own produced retort, or maybe more importantly, what is not in it, justifies all the effort.

Homemade

He added that he makes tomato sauce, chili sauce and his own sausages that make to best hot dogs imaginable.

The last one: ‘Best thing is that we do it together, we clean, cut, cook, pack and process everything together, spending precious time together and enjoying every minute of it.

This couple’s favorite product were peanuts, wash them very well, boil for 5 minutes with salt and retort for 50 minutes under 11 LBS pressure.           Worth a try I would say.

   

My immediate assessment after reading some retort stories is the joy and feeling of accomplishment you get from making your own, if you do not have a garden, go to the local farmers market for more inspiration.

I found that some people manage to save up to $800.00 per year which is the icing on the cake.

Pouch retort is pretty cheap, clean, saves storage space and rewarding, go for it!!

www.vacupack.com  for USA and www.vacupack.ca for Canada 

By: Marinus Hoogendoorn

Emergency Water and Pouch Retort

CHEFTALK

Emergency Water and Pouch Retort

Are we talking water? What is there to talk about water you might say, well true, but water is our main source of survival. We use water for almost everything we do in our daily chores and you only find the importance of water when there is no water. You cannot wash your hands for example, an exercise we perform more often than you think.

The need of emergency water

There is a good chance that you do not have access to clean drinking water when a calamity occurs, something that happens more often than you think also and when it does we have a recipe for disaster. Disastrous news enters our lives every day through the many media services available to us. Floods, droughts, earthquakes, hurricanes and wars are scattered all over the world. One wonders if there is still a single safe corner left on this planet.

Being hit by a natural disaster is already a devastating experience on itself, no water during the aftermath of such catastrophes is a serious problem. In areas, prone to disasters, people are very often advised to store emergency drinking water in their homes, a gallon per person (and pets) per day is advised, preferable for two weeks.    

When water is our survival during the Apocalypse, how does water survive when it is stored for a long period of time?



The trouble of safe water storing 

Good, but Porous 

Then there is the advice to replace that water every six months, not to store water near to pesticides or gasoline, store in a cool place with a constant temperature and a few more advices that are pretty troublesome. Emergency water is not something everyone wakes- up with in the morning.

Water stored in badly sanitized containers may still be alright after a year or so but the containers may develop molds, another problem you are not looking forward to.  

When you finally have the emergency water woes in order and under control, it is time to think about some more fun things in life, a weekend hiking or camping with the family for instance. Again the water topic pops up. No shops in the woods, trees and thirst in abundance. Now, size becomes an issue, your backpack is only that big. Huge bottles of water are out of the question, small bottles then? To store and carry many of them is also a bit uncomfortable.

The solution

Here is an interesting solution to all these water problems, retort water in small convenient packets. Expensive? Yes, when you buy them, No when you make them.

An 8 oz pouch holds 16 oz of water. Retort at 10 LBS pressure for 30 minutes.

An 4 oz pouch holds 8 oz of water. Retort at 10 LBS pressure for 30 minutes.

For more info on the right sizes of pouches that fit your vacuum sealer, go to:   

www.vacupack.com  for USA and www.vacupack.ca for Canada 

Pouch Retort

The Convenience
These pouches are easy to store in your backpack, they last for years and can therefore be made any time convenient. Retort pouches are not porous so you can store them anywhere you have space, there is no need to replace them every six months also. Forget about installing an air conditioner and a heather in your garage to maintain a fairly constant temperature.  

The Money Catch

Now here is the ‘homemade water in retort pouches’ catch.

Store bought they cost around $2.00 for a 4 oz to 6 oz pouch.

Homemade they cost less than $0.50 cents. Great cost saving! And you make good use of your retort canner and vacuum sealer

All reason the more to go for pouch retort when it comes to emergency or convenient safe drinking water on camping trips.

No scientific data  from the FDA is available on home canning, the information and retort times given are guidelines and not authorized data.

PMG holds no responsibility for misuse of information provided and is void of any liability.
Home canning is at your own risk.

By: Marinus Hoogendoorn   

  

Discover the best Methods and Retort Time Tables for Home Retort in Pouches

 CHEFTALK

Discover the best methods for home retort in pouches

The best time of the year to start your retort activities is here. Products are in abundance and at its lowest prices. Time therefore to get started.

Several request for a chart of retort times for various products has prompted us to publish information about retort times for pouch retort.

Pouch retort has a significant advantage over retort in cans and jars for quality and convenience reasons. Pouch retort times are 10% to 25% higher than can or jar retort, moist content in finished pouch retort products have been proven to be 10% to 15% higher compared to can and jar retort. Overall quality and consumer acceptance of pouch retort products have been found to be of higher levels during sensory evaluation tests.

In addition are retort pouches environmental friendlier, take up less storage space and are easy to purchase compared to cans and jars. www.vacupack.com  for USA and www.vacupack.ca for Canada.

Starting the retort process

Storage Saver

Pre-preparing products for retort is the key to a good finished product. Ensure all working surfaces and utensils are clean. The products to be retorted must be as fresh as possible. When food is pre-cooked before the retort process ensure that is has cooled down preferably to refrigeration temperatures prior to retorting.

Ensure that sharp objects (bones) that may be present in food are removed or positioned such that they pose no danger to damaging the pouches.

Preparing your pressure canner

You will need 2 quarts of water in your pressure cooker for all retort products.

Pressure and retort times are important, pressure and times given below are meant for an altitude of 2000 ft or less, if you happen to live at an higher altitude you need to apply one (1) pound of pressure  for each additional 2000 ft. The cooking times remain the same!

Retort & Vacuum Sealing
The retort canning bags must be vacuum sealed before attempting to can.  The air evacuation keeps the bags from blowing out the side seams while canning.  A commercial chamber vacuum sealer with retort capability is required.  http://vacupack.com/commercial-vacuum-sealers-packers

Meat:

For all beef, poultry, pork, lamb, veal, venison, other game meat, (four legged or birds), offal’s (liver, heart, tongue) raw or pre-cooked (stews, boiled meats, sausages, cold cuts), follow the guide below: This is a personal guide, the official time and temperatures have not been published by the FDA. Can at your own risk. 

Meats can be pre-prepared seasoned or marinated before retort, ensure to allow cooling before retort.

Pressure Pounds:	½ pt< = (2 or 4 oz retort)	pint = (8 oz retort)	Quart = (16 oz retort)
Canner Pressure 10 LBS	65 min.	75 min.	90 min.

       

This pressure and timing guide ensures that you have reached a core temperature of 121 Celsius or 249.8 F at the coldest point inside the product as per the schematic picture below for the time period necessary to eliminate all contaminating bacteria including their spores.

           Solids only                               with liquid content

Seafood:

Retort times for different types of seafood vary even though the pressure remains consistent with meat retort at 10 Lbs.

Seafood can be seasoned and fried before retort to add extra flavor. Do not cook the product all the way through, the retort process takes care of that. Add sauce or other additives e.g. herbs and spices to the pouch to your liking. 

Pressure pounds:	½ pt< = (2 or 4 oz retort)	pint = (8 oz retort)	Quart = (16 oz retort)
Canner pressure 10 LBS
Clams and oysters	85 min	95 min	110 min
Crab meat	95 min	105 min	120 min
Fish (General)	100 min	110 min	125 min
Lobster	100 min	110 min	125 min
Salmon	110 mi	120 min	130 min
Shrimp (wet pack)	60 min	75 min	100 min
Shrimp (dry pack)	110 min	120min	130 min
Tuna	110 min	120 min	140 min

                                                   

Vegetables

Vegetable retort times vary quite significant based on the nature of the vegetable (hard, semi-hard or soft) the guide below is based on raw vegetables. Season before retort, salt serves as a preservative and flavor.

Pressure pounds:	½ pt< = (2 or 4 oz retort)	pint = (8 oz retort)	Quart = (16 oz retort)
Canner Pressure 10 LBS
Asparagus	20 min	25 min	55 min
Baked Beans	75 min	85 min	90 min
Beans, Lima	40 min	45 min	60 min
Beans, Snap	25 min	30 min	35 min
Beets, baby	30 min	35 min	55 min
Carrots, young	20 min	25 min	30 min
Corn, whole kernel	60 min	65 min	85 min
Corn on the cob	60 min	65 min	75 min
Eggplant	35 min	40 min	45 min
Greens, all kinds	60 min	60 min	70 min
Kohlrabi	30 min	35 min	40 min
Okra	25 min	30 min	45 min
Parsnip, turnips	30 min	30 min	35 min
Peas, green	30 min	30 min	N.A.
Peas, Black eyed	30 min	30 min	N.A.
Peppers, Pimento	10 min	10 min	N.A.
Pumpkin, smashed	75 min	75 min	90 min
Summer squash, Zucchini	20 min	35 min	40 min
Squash, winter (cubed)	50 min	55 min	90 min
Succotash	60 min	75 min	90 min
Sweet potatoes	75 min	90 min	90 min
Tomatoes	10 min	10 min	10 min

        

Fruits  

Use fruits that are on their peak of quality.

Do not use over ripe fruits and retort only as much as you can handle during the period of time you spent on canning.

Clean the fruits thoroughly by rinsing to remove any dirt and/or chemicals present on the fruits, dirt contains some of the bacteria that are very hard to kill. Do not soak fruits for a very long time as this result in loss of nutrients and flavor.

Except for berries, all regular fruits can be processed under a pressure of 5 LBS for 10 minutes.

Berries and blended fruits e.g apple sauce can be processed using 5 LBS for 8 minutes.   

Syrup may be added to the fruits and below is a guide how to balance sugar syrup.

Light syrup	2 cups sugar	4 cups water	yield    5 cups
Medium syrup	3 cups sugar	4 cups water	yield    5 ½  cups
Heavy syrup	3 ¾  cups sugar	4 cups water	yield    6 ½  cups

No scientific data from FDA or USDA is available on home canning and the above information is a guide only and no authorized data.  

PMG holds no responsibility for misuse of the information provided and is void of any liability. Home canning is at your own risk.

For PMG by: Marinus Hoogendoorn