Thursday, March 26, 2015

consuming to invest 10


CONSUMING TO INVEST 10

Canning Goods

Canning foods may or may not be ideal for you.  If you envision a relatively benign decline, canning allows bulk shopping and a self-reliance off the grid.  If you envision a complete Malthusian Dark Ages as the oil supply craps out, canning is too dependent on modern manufacturing.  Even if you get the re-useable lids and the gasket-less canner, the glass jars will NEVER be duplicated on a cottage industry level and without a precisely joined jar and lid you can’t properly seal air out.  There absolutely needs to be a replacement of the refrigerator to protect meat in the future.  Drying would be ideal but meat is the one thing that method does poorly ( preserving for weeks, usually, or months at the most,  rather than years as canning does ).  If canning is not in your future, research the old timey-as in pre-Industrial- meat preservation methods.  If canning is something you think is viable, there is no time like the present to commence preserving your meats ( I’d advise drying everything else, both to save on costs and to reduce storage space ).  The whole “we have a bomb in the kitchen” danger myth is largely a result of old wives tales, too many lawyers roaming the countryside hungry, and probably a little hysteria from the Boston Marathon false flag event thrown in for good measure ( a pressure cooker or canner was supposedly used as a bomb.  I’d advise buying with cash and NOT using a customer rewards card for both the canner and the jars and other supplies if possible.  Not that you can stay off a Honky Mo-Fo Terrorist List, as breathing the rarified air of our betters on Capital Hill is itself a crime along with everything else, but you should try anyway ).

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For all intents and purposes, if you just follow the paragraph or two in the Ball Jar instruction book ( or similar ) on safety, canning should be much safer than driving on any macadam  roadway.  You make sure the safety valve is clear, and time the process to assure completion, then check the seal.  And not much more.  Now, once again, saving money here is a bit difficult and a bit of a stretch.  But it is still more than a mere Bean And Bullet Buy that traditional prepping preaches.  In the long run, not having a freezer will save a little more money than what the canning uses.  If you take into account that grid kilowatt hours have easily doubled in cost in the last ten years, it isn’t a stretch to see in the near future where even the most energy efficient electrical appliances are going to be beyond the average ( declining purchasing power ) persons ability to run.  Then canning really pays off as it allows you to still buy bulk meat, or shoot it, and preserve it cheaper ( a caveat- make sure you either have plenty of stored propane or make sure you can use wood to pressure can, in the event of natural gas disruptions ). 

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If you are lucky enough that you haven’t bought a freezer yet, just that cost alone saved will pay for your canner and plenty of jars/lids.  And the savings from not running the freezer buys you another case of them every month.  Yes, chump change.  But you are learning to de-couple and even if it doesn’t save a lot, it is still something.  The fastest way into severe debt and bondage is to take the attitude, “well, we are broke this month so a little luxury won’t hurt”.  And the fastest way to get independent is by worrying about every single penny saved ( watch the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves ).  I know, I’ve lived both lifestyles.  And penny pinching wins hands down.  Even now, no debt and no bills except the grocers and the bike shop, being able to save over half my income, I still sweat over those pennies.  I NEVER want to go back to the alternative.  A buck here, a buck there, it does indeed add up ( of course, pinching pennies and staying in debt is the worst possible combination-don’t do that ).

END
 
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24 comments:

  1. I've never canned James. But it appears that when using the oven method, you need up to 225 degrees to sterilize the canning jars. If one can get by yielding these temperatures with a solar oven, this is definitely worthy of consideration. And according to a quick search, the solar ovens can obtain temperatures of up to 325 degrees. This limits one to sunny days, but a small price to pay when grid power is costly or unavailable down the road.

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    1. Soon folks will be counting their BTU like I count my pennies

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    2. You can water bath can on a wood cook stove. Your great grandma did it all the time.

      Pressure canning is a little more finicky on wanting a steady temperature so save your propane for that.

      The nice thing about pressure canning meat is it is pretty much ready to eat straight from the jar and it stores for years. I know they say to bring it to a boil for 10 minutes or so but my kids love eating canned venison and beef cold on crackers.

      One way to save money is to buy dried beans and then can them up yourself. The cost of canned beans is so high that compared to bulk dried beans, lids and fuel that you come out money ahead.

      If you can, grab granny' s old canning jars. The old jars have a lot thicker glass and are built to last a couple of generations. Yeah, you lose some every once in a while. I can approximately 400 - 500 jars a year and break 2-3 jars. So your loss should be under 1% a year.

      I've read that the pioneers canned around 1,000 quarts a year. This would give you around a quart a day (each) of veges, fruit and meat. So stockpile 1,500 jars and you would be good to go.

      The tin disposal lids can be reused. You just have to watch it and I do not recommend doing it unless you are in an emergency situation.

      If I was reusing my metal lids. I would save the lids from my Apple cider and jam (which I just hot pack and that's it -- no further canning) and use those a second time on my fruit and spaghetti sauce which I water bath can. I would take those lids and recycle them a third time on my meat, beans and vegetable which are pressure canned.

      The reason why is sometimes the rubber gasket gets a little 'funky' after being exposed to the fat in the meat. So disposable lids used to can meat, I would just throw away.

      I do have a stockpile of the reusable Tattler lids but I haven't used them yet. I have heard good things but I have no personal experience.

      The Ball Canning Book cost around $7 at Wal-Mart and even has pictures with step by step instructions. It will have everything you need to know to safely can food.

      Idaho Homesteader

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    3. Damn. I can't believe the whores cut back on the quality of canning jars. Is nothing sacred?

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  2. Good post. Heard an "expert" on the radio talking about how even England is working towards getting a way from the dollar and countries have stepped up recalling our debts. He's expecting runaway inflation here soon. If you don't have a lot of room in your budget you will be in trouble even if you keep your job.. We can hope for a couple more years but don't hold your breath. About the only way that might happen is if the Democrats maneuver to keep things afloat to try to get another Dem in the oval orifice.

    I like the idea of drying food. Have a good supply of screens and consider building a solar powered dehydrator. If you are in a really wet humid climate that may not work as well though.

    As far as meat, I have a large upright freezer that is an energy hog. A smaller non frost free one uses a lot less power and a frost free you can add insulation to the top and sides. I'm still working on some solar to power it but I know that could be problematic in the future as well. Smaller livestock that reproduces quicker is an idea. Chickens, rabbits, miniature goats, means you could pretty well butcher as needed. Maybe even pot belly pigs? They are food in a lot of countries.

    The hair looks awesome Lord Bison.

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    1. Nightshift the democrats don't want the white house in 2016. They know what is going to happen .

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    2. Guinee pigs can get by well with scraps and foraging. They don't do well in hot weather and if left to roam will be lost to predation. Otherwise a good source of protein in small units, commonly used for subsistence in SA.

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    3. Gary, are you sure the Dems ( or, the Repubs for that matter ) are intelligent enough to actually realize that? Okay, every year that goes by the fault lines build up more pressure, the odds of kicking the can again go down drastically, but aren't all politicians Growth Paradigm Keynsians anyway? Do they have a clue?

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  3. Canning should be reserved for large animals only ( beef venison, pork ). Large animals traditionally are butchered once freezing weather sets in and hung froze an eaten till spring. What was left was canned. yard chickens were killed as needed laying hens were cooped for eggs and more yard chickens . Food and diet was dependent on the season .To can 240 jars is 30 canner loads .That much work ,wood or propane will make you choose wisely. Here in the south its dried peas beans corn bread and turnip or collard greens .Easy to grow and dry, the greens can be grown 10 months a year.

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    1. Canning is a lot of work. That is why I love growing crops that can be root cellared easily.

      Idaho Homesteader

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  4. Well...........

    Jim I am proud of you!

    Just read your "March 20 Too Seriously"

    EXCELLENT FUC**** WORK!!!

    Deserving of a reward! (I'll think of something, promise)

    Anyway................do any of your readers possess intelligence in sufficient quantities to understand the importance of that post?????

    YKW
    MM

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    1. As you are usually my toughest critic, I'm humbled. Thank you. And, as a general rule, any regular minion by definition is more intelligent than the average Joe. Not because I spew more intelligent analyses but because I try to get at the reality of the future. Smarter people try to wear clearer goggles viewing life.

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  5. _LIDS_ for canning? Wax was what my great granny used, at least if the food was fairly shelf stable anyways (jams and such high acid and high sugar foods). We would have it two and three years after being put up in the cellar no problem. The wax was about an inch or two thick so less fit in the jar. I don't know exactly how she used it when canning, I was far too young when she passed away. Obviously wax is less pest resistant and I remember she always checked the edge of the wax for cracks, and threw out about one can in 10 or so for what ever reason.
    My guess is lids just have to keep the air out, and wax did that for great granny, There is no reason other such things couldn't work.
    Now there is no good replacement that I can think of for the glass jars, but treated well they should last a good long time until chipped or broken (generations could be possible).
    Canning can be used for dry foods as well, without heat the rubber seal can still keep out the air and moisture in most cases. I just fill the bigger jars with grain or beans, drop in an O2 absorber, and screw back on the lid the jar came with. I consider it making use of the space the extra jars take up and getting back up dried foods storage, though I imagine the right sized jars could also fit well down a PVC pipe, for easy durable dried food storage if you want a good way to cache.

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    1. But you can stockpile a heck of a lot more lids than wax the same amount of money. And I can't imagine you'll run into much, out and about. Just saying.

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    2. When canning, I've only seen wax used for jams. On the jars I have seen, the wax was only about 1/4 inch thick. The wax is reusable. Many times a string was laid in the wax when it was still liquid. The string helped when pulling up the wax seal.

      Of course, cheese wax is also used in preserving. However, there is a difference between canning wax and cheese wax. Canning wax is paraffin, usually white and sold in small rectangular wafers. Cheese wax is a softer wax. You can buy it in colors. I've seen red and black. It is usually sold as a brick.

      I store both. Most of my jam wax has been found at second hand stores or yard sales. Folks basically are giving it away when granny dies. My cheese wax was bought online from a cheese making company. I bought a couple of bricks that are the size of a Costco sheet cake.

      I have had good luck just storing Tillamook medium cheddar cheese in it's shrink wrapped store packaging in my root cellar for over 12 months. Temperatures range from 33° to 55°F.

      Idaho Homesteader

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    3. True about the quantity of lids vs. wax that is easily storable (and I think it was the paraffin based on what I recall). But wax is something you can pick up in the PODA after all the lids have been used up- as long as someone is raising bees somewhere there will be wax (and honey as a sweetener).
      Dry wheat and honey supposedly found in pharaohs tombs was still good in wax and clay sealed urns thousands of years later. So wax is not to be overlooked in the PODA.

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    4. That is my bad-thinking only of petroleum based.

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  6. I think the point with Wax is that you can reuse it over and over (just like w/ candles) whereas the canning jar lids are DESIGNED to wear out.
    When i was a kid, we did quite a bit of canning, and wax was the preferred "Sustainable" method. The only real problem is that you need a lot of wax, and the wax will not stop predators such as mice, etc, so you have to place the jars in another rodent-proof structure...

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  7. Tattler lids are EXCELLENT. The only trouble with them is that you can't give or trade those jars, because people are generally too lazy/stupid to get your glass and fancy Tattlers back to you (throw away as they are accustomed). One-time use lids and rings are just that, you Chipped rim jars are not good with Tattler or one-time metal lids.

    pdxr13

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  8. "Tattler lids are EXCELLENT."

    Good to know; never hear of them until now.

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  9. Oh great coiffed one,

    Let's pretend you lived in an area where fish and other aquatic creatures are more abundant than your land variety of edible fauna. From what you know, would you say brining would be better than canning? Or when brining do you have to also create an air tight seal? Also, Im guessing this would work with some mmeat, examples being pickled pigs feet and pickled sausages. Is pickling different than brining?

    ~SumDude

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    1. I thought pickling was vinegar? I have a book on non-canning, non-freezing preservation from some dudes old-timey French farmers, and it is a great book. Can't remember the name though, and the details are hazy as I read it 2 to 3 years ago. I'll try to dig it back up.

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    2. Thanks for the fix on the correct terminology, food preservation Im not all up to snuff with the terms. Pickling with vinegar would make sense as I think back to how that stuff smelled.

      ~SumDude

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