Tag Archives: canned food

Lotsa lids locally

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A few months back it seemed like you could not find canning lids for love nor money. As it turned out, from what I’ve read, US made canning lids are basically made at only one or two facilities and then sold to the major canning suppliers to be rebranded. Much like how, I am told, there are only a half dozen outfits that actually make AR lowers for all the various brands you see out there.

I was tooling around in the supermarket the other day and, interestingly, there was no shortage of canning lids and other canning supplies. Did the supply chain get caught up? Did the ‘panic’ die down? Probably a combination of both. But much like the Great Primer Scare of the 90’s, it’s a good lesson of how something can go from plentiful to unobtainium in the blink of a news report.

I have no doubt people will populate the comments section with tales of how theyve reused canning lids dozens of times, or that they use the reusable brand of lids and have had barely a hiccup.

This may be true. But its not ideal. As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to jar lids for canning the first choice, by a large margin, are brand new US-made lids from a reputable manufacturer. And I don’t mind spending the money to do that. “But what will you do when you run out of lids?” Well, my first order of business is to have enough of them on hand that this sort of thing is pushed down the ranks of statistical likelihood. The same question could be asked about the guy with the reusable lids….what will you do when they finally get damaged or worn enough that they arent safe to use? Their response will, no doubt, be “that’ll take years”. Well, guess what, I’m buying an equivalent amount of years worth of lids.

I actually don’t can very much at all. Its only in the last year that I’ve started canning some of the meat purchases rather thatn tuck them in the freezer. Prior to that the only things I canned were the occasional gumbo or soup. However, there is an undeniable convenience to having jars of food ready-to-go when you’re hungry. Nothing to thaw and in a pinch you can always eat the room temperature contents without heating.

As Bidenflation continues to screw with food prices (Thanks Brandon!) it makes more sense to, when you find a good deal, capitalize on it and preserve it for that later day when its either unavailable or priced out of your range (either due to job loss or wild inflation). And to do that…lids.

If you’re that rare survivalist who isn’t knowledgeable or informed on the how-to’s of canning, or you’ve just been too intimidated by the process, you really should invest a few bucks and take a swing at it. It’s a marvelous way to preserve food long term without the expense of a freeze dryer or the liability of a blackout-vulnerable freezer.

Recommended reading: Ball Book on Canning

Recommended canner: Anything from All American

Those All-Americans, by the way, are not cheap but it is a buy-once-cry-once sort of thing. Yes, you can buy a Presto or Mirro cheaper but the sheer ruggedness of the AA, and its gasketless design, will pay dividends down the road.

But you know what? Even if you don’t can, pick up a buncha lids because its one of those rare consumer products like matches and .22 rimfire that are cheap to buy, cheap to store, and have virtually no real adequate substitutes that you can make at home.

CostCo canned beef…from pre-Trump days

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On todays episode of “Will It Digest” we have some of the Kirkland canned roast beef from CostCo. As far as canned meats go, I’m a big fan of this stuff and recommend it highly. Todays test subject was ‘Best By’ back when MAGA hats were just being introduced:

So…’Best By’ was six years ago. Shall we crack it open and see what happens? Well, the first thing that happens is that no matter what it is..beef, chicken, turkey, whatever…it always smells like cat food the minute you pierce that can. But, I know from experience that once you put the heat to the meat the smells start changing drastically.

Looks unappetizing, smells worse, but….as we bring it to temperature, the fats melt and mix with the meat, and after about ten minutes…..

Dumped it back in the pan with some spices, grabed some onion, cilantro, taco sauce, sour cream, outta the fridge, and…..

The point of this post isn’t to point out my half-assed attempts at cooking. But rather that some canned goods, especially a low-acid product like meat, kept in the classic ‘cool, dry place’, can be quite satisfactory long after the ‘Best By’ date. Ok, sure, it’s early and I really should wait eight hours and then make this post, but I’ve done this sort of thing before and I can tell you with empirical first-hand evidence that quality canned meats (meaning not something from some cannery in Samoa or Venezuela) can be useful a number of years after the date stamped on them.

And as far as the CostCo brand goes, if you have it in stock at your local CostCo (because it does tend to come and go) it is very much an excellent choice for stocking up. I normally find canned meats a bit repulsive, but I have to admit that once you get this thing in a pan and get some heat under it, it’s quite good.

The return of canning supplies

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A trip to WinCo this evening shows that, at least at this location, the supply of canning jar lids and related materials has returned to normal. (Or, I suppose, normal-ish.)

Much like how the Great Primer Scare of the ’90s turned many of us into primer hoarders, this recent experience in being unable to locate canning lids has made me quite certain that my future plans include keeping several hundred lids on hand at all times. You know….just in case.

I don’t enjoy canning. I have better things to do with my time than stand around and babysit what is basically a potential boiler explosion for 70 minutes. I dont dislike canning, but, dang it, I’ve got better things to do.

However..I do enjoy eating. And I’m a huge fan of saving money and not starving to death. So….canning.

And that canning requires one critical component: jar lids.

So, I havent inventoried them but I should be sitting somewhere near a thousand or so lids at the moment. At one pint of canned meat or other food per day, that would be about three years of canned food. Of course, keeping a thousand pint jars on hand is unlikely but I do have a hundred or so, which should, I think, see me though most tough times.

But the lids…..like primers they are the one critical and expendable component that bottlenecks the whole process if you can’t find them.

Glad to see theyre back in stock. For now.

SafeCrate

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You know, if I were the president of a country that is in the midst of record inflation, shortages of basic foods and medicines, simmering with political and racial division, and on the verge of civil unrest….I’d probably be pushing for disarming the populace too. It’s about protecting themselves, not kids.
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Was up at Murdoch’s the other day looking for a 15-gallon blueĀ  barrel to store another 100# of wheat in, when I noticed that they had a rather extensive amount of canning supplies on the shelf. Unsurprisingly, no lids. But, I did see these:

“SafeCrate” protective containers for canning jars. I’ve seen similar products but hadn’t seen them available locally before. Oddly, I figured some Made In China product would be all over Amazon. Nope. Didn’t see them there. Looks like the only online offering is off their website.

Regardless, this seemed like something I may have to pick up a few of. Once you go through the hassle and headache of canning a bunch of stuff, the last thing you want is unprotected jars rattling against each other as you transport them in an empty copier paper box.

Canning stuff

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I have all the things necessary for home canning, and I do occasionally engage in the practice. I don’t do it often because I don’t really have much need to…after all, I can always buy commercially canned vegetables and meats at pretty much any grocery. However, just because I can do something today doesn’t mean I’ll be able to do it tomorrow. Also, sometimes I cook stuff that I rather like (bunker gumbo ) and like to have some of it sitting on the shelf for a quick meal.Ā  And, of course, when the wheels really fly off civilization and the electricity becomes a pleasant memory, I’ll have a whole freezerfull of meat that needs to suddenly be repackaged in a shelf stable manner. Canning lets me do that. And, if you’re the type with a big garden and good hunting skills, canning lets you put a lot of food away at very reasonable prices.

Anyway, I was in the local independent supermarket getting my lunch at work the other day and as I walked by the aisle where they keep the home canning stuff I saw these:

A couple cases of wide-mouth lids. And not that cheap Chinese-made crap that has been showing up on the market:

Seriously…if you’re willing to purchase this crap because it’s $2 cheaper than Ball or Kerr, you deserve the problems that are going to come from these things. From what I’ve read they don’t seal well, don’t hold seal well, are spotty in the application of adhesive, and tend to buckle. Sure, their availability may be better than Ball or Kerr, but if you have to throw away the food, or make three attempts to get a good seal, or worst of all, go into your pantry six months from now and find a jar of what looks like vomit, was it really worth the ‘savings’?

Being a good survivalist, I spoke to a few LMI and asked if they needed any lids. Why not? If the world is going to sink into another World War or Great Depression then I want those people to have every advantage possible. Short version: I want a world with more of them and less of everyone else. Brutal, but true.

One person mentioned that they hadn’t ‘gotten into’ canning yet. Picked a hell of a time to start, I told him. He said he was waiting for a course at the continuing education facility to be offered. Dude, it ain’t rocket science and time may 9or may not) be of the essence. So, for those of you who haven’t experienced the joy of filling your kitchen with heat and steam, here’s youre shopping list:

Information…don’t start a trip without a map. There are plenty of good books on the subject, the one I use and recommend is:

Read it, read it again, and then flip through it another time. Nothing magical about canning…anyone can do it. But spoiled food is dangerous ‘food’ and you really want to pay attention to what you’re doing,. It’s no different than reloading ammo in that regard…it isn’t difficult, but you do want to pay attention.

I like the pressure canning, which is necessary to can meat or any food that contains meat (sauces, stews, etc.). This is gonna be the most expensive part of the process. Just resign yourself to spending the money and know that this thing will literally last you the rest of your life. It doesn’t use a gasket so if you’re concerned about replacement part availability, this is a great choice. I use this particular model:

Yes, not cheap. But I’ve had mine for a long time and haven’t had a lick of trouble from it. This particular package comes with tools that you’ll want….lid lifter, jar lifter, spatula, food funnel, etc.Ā  One-stop shopping. But this baby will let you can everything and in large quantities. Its big and heavy, so no glasstop ranges for this monster.

After that, its time for lids, jars, and bands. Most any hardware store (during normal times) will have them. You can’t have too many. Jars are reusable as long as they aren’t chipped at the mouth. Bands are reusable. Lids are not. Yes, some people reuse them. I don’t. Food poisoning is not worth trying to save $1 by reusing a lid or two. I don’t have the time to investigate every brand out there so I usually just stick to Ball as my first choice and then Kerr. Lots of people ‘inherit’ jars from grandma or some great aunt’s estate…thats fine but inspect them thoroughly for chips or damage.

All this stuff will fit in a large plastic tote that can sit on your basement shelving when you’re not using the canner. Find a great deal on meat? Can it. Neighbors had a bumper crop of tomatoes or something? Can ’em. Made a huge batch of vegetable beef soup and want the convenience of just heat-n-eat out of a jar? Fire up the canner.

As I said, I don’t do much gardening these days but I do hunt for bargains on meat. And when I do find a deal on meat canning it saves me freezer space, is convenient, and allows me to store a good bit of animal protein against whatever is coming. And if nothing happens? Well, it’ll still taste just fine and I’ll have saved a buncha cash.

Return of the CostCo canned beef

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I had been lamenting CostCo no longer carrying the Kirkland Roast Beef for a while now. There was a brief reprieve of sorts when they started carrying another brand of canned roast beef, which was pretty good, but even that brand seems to no longer be available in-store.

Today, while on my regularly schedules Co visits I happened across this:

It appears that, for whatever reason, my local CostCo has the Kirkland Roast Beef again. Hmm. No idea how long they’ll be carrying it but I made a point to pick some up. Here’s the interesting thing..I canned some beef the other week so i have the numbers fresh in my head: the meat I got at the CostCo meat counter was $6.99/#. These four cans are 12 oz each, which is three pounds. Since the cost is $18, thats about $6 per pound. What this means is that even without factoring in the cost of jars, lids, processing time and fuel, this product appears to be a better value than DIY. Granted, you may use a different cut, or a different type of animal, but for the most part it appears this is a case of it not being cheaper to do it yourself. And there’s the durability and storage ‘footprint’ of the cans versus the glass jars.

I actually kinda like the canning process and enjoy taking advantage of the infrequent sale on beef to get my costs down further but this is an excellent supplemental or turn-key choice for getting some dead animal flesh tucked away for the mid-term.

Can do

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One of the things like about pressure cooking something is that it takes the toughest hunk of meat and turns it into -cut-it-with-a-fork tenderness. Pressure is also how you can meat. So, if you can meat you are going to , de facto, turn whatever meat you are canning into nice, tender chunks.

I went ahead and bought a tray of stew meat from CostCo the other day to experiment on. First off, I’m never doing that again. It would have been about a buck a pound cheaper to have bought the base meat and cut it up myself.

However, the results were rather nice. I had two jars that did not seal properly so I’m using those over the next few days and I’m pleased with the results. I had browned the meat rather thoroughly before canning and I snuck a chunk or two for my own immediate consumption. And it was…tough. Chewy. Not exactly what you would call tender. After the canning process, however….perfect.

So, I guess I’ll keep my eyes open for deals on roasts or other cuts that can easily be cut up into pint-jar-sized bits for stew, stir fry, and the like.

By the by, I used my supermegaawesome All American Canner. Bought it new years ago and in has never given me a lick of trouble. And it holds a lot of jars. Yeah, you can pay a lot less and get the Presto or something similar. And it’ll work. But for capacity, quality, and long-term, the gasket-less AA is the way to go. Pay once, cry once, and then go can all the things.

Speaking of, as you know, canning lids are a bit hard to find these days (or they were, anyway).And while canning lids should be something you have in, literally, case quantities, don’t overlook the fact that those jars don’t last forever. If the rim gets nicked? Can’t use. And they do break. While they are obviously quite reusable, and a bit bulky to store, you really do need hundreds of them. If you canned something in a one-pint jar…which is not a huge amount of food…you’d need 365 of those jars for just one year. And thats assuming no jars get nicked, broken, or otherwise damaged. On the bright side, the jars store well – stick ’em in a cabinet and forget about them.

I like commercially canned meats for long term storage simply for convenience and durability…I’m more comfortable throwing a ‘tin can’ of meat into a pack and running out the door than a glass jar. But thats an expensive way to live and for a static location that has good storage space, why not use the glass jars?

And for those of you with no canning experience…it isn’t rocket science. The technology was developed for Napoleon’s armies so that means it’s so simple a Frenchman can do it. Go get the big Ball book of canning and give it a read.

CostCo canned meats again

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I do not like canned meats. It’s incredibly stupid, but my biggest objection is that when you open the can they all look and smell identical and are indistinguishable from cat food. But…when the apocalypse occurs it would be nice to have actual meat to eat that didnt come off the neighbor’s dog (or the neighbor).

I’ve blogged about the canned roast beef that CostCo used to carry and was quite pleased with it. Yeah, it looked and smelled horrible when you open the can but once you cook it up and get it on some rice it turns out to be pretty darned good.

Unfortunately, my local CostCo stopped carrying the Kirkland-brand roast beef several years ago, and although they recently started carrying a different brand it appears they are no longer carrying that one either. Supply chain issues, regional distribution agreements, sales numbers not supportive, whatever ther eason the end result is the dame – no canned beef.

Now, roast beef is one thing but corned beef is another. Personally I think corned beef or pastrami and swiss on rye is proof that the universe has room for luxuries. And canned corned beef, it seems, is never in short supply. Problem is, virtually all of it is imported. Most of the canned corned beef I’ve come across is from Brazil. Makes sense, Brazil is cattle country. But as far as I’m concerned it is also a Third World-ish environ that, honestly, I suspect might be a little fast-and-loose with it’s food safety.So..I avoid.

But, I was up at CostCo today and came across canned corned beef from Australia. Assuming they were sober at the cannery that day, I’d put more faith in Australian food safety observances than those of some South American venue. So, on a whim, I picked up these:

I’ll try it later in the week with some eggs. Probably should go for the full on guerrilla-gourmet experience and use the powdered eggs. Regardless, if it’s any good I’ll let you know. I need to try it soon because with CostCo’s history of dropping products unexpectedly they may be out of it by next week and I’ll never see more again.

Yes, beans and rice form a complete protein and lasts forever in storage. You konw what else forms a complete protein? Meat. I am not going through the apocalypse just to live in a future of textured vegetable protein and other fake meats. I mean, what would be the point?

Canned goods

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“The people have spoken…and they must be punished.” Ed Koch, on losing the mayoral election. Say what you will, the man was awesomely quotable.
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I was digging around in the canned food storage and found this:

A can of soup whose ‘Best By’ date was ten years ago. Whaddya think? Sure…why not.

And then, upon opening the can and pouring the contents into a saucepan I discovered ‘why not’.

Once heated and served, even a canned chicken soup should have a certain yellow or golden color to parts of it. And it should smell good. This was…not. Everything was uniformly gray and exuded no smell whatsoever. I have a hyperacute sense of smell, so when I tell you something did not smell like it should have, you can take that to the bank m’friend. Nope, I didn’t taste it. Can wasn’t bulged, nothing looked amiss other than the color, but between the newsprint-gray color and lack of smell I decided that I’m not taking a bullet for food storage data gathering.

So, if youre keeping track, 10+ years on canned soup might be a bit excessive. You have been warned.

Shelf Reliance

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Food rotation is one of those important things to keep in mind when storing food. Sure, a 15-gallon drum of rice will last virtually forever (if my Y2k stash is anything to go by), but it’s probably a good idea to rotate through whatever you store every few years.

When it comes to canned goods, there are zillions of can ‘rotation shelves’, ‘organizer shelves’, and other can distributors. I had a can organizer that I bought years ago when they were up at CostCo. It has served well for a number of years but, as of late, I’ve kinda ramped up the inventory of canned goods. This means I need to haveĀ  more cans positioned so that the oldest ones get used up first. So, it was time to expand on the modular can organizer.

First step, clear off a run of shelving:

Next step is to unbox these guys:

Grab a couple cans off the shelf to make sure the spacing is correct, and start assembling. The whole thing snaps together like Lego so…no muss, no fuss.

Finish assembly, slide into shelf, and start adding cans…oldest go in first:

I then ran a second row across the shelf next to it, but since it’s pretty much identical to this one there’s no point in documenting that.

Now, yeah, you can buy some cheaper units. And, if your even halfway talented with a saw and a hammer you can fab up something on your own. However, what I was after was modularity.This unit can be configured for variable width to accommodate different size cans, they can be linked together to form one long continuous run, and, very conveniently, they seamlessly integrated with the existing unit I had which was about 15 years old. So…very backwards compatible, which is nice.

You can order of Amazon if you’re so inclined.

Given how much I’m spending these days on beefing(!) up the food storage, the last thing I need is to waste money on cans of food getting shoved into a dark corner, being discovered years later, and having to be discarded because they should have been used up years earlier.

How’s your short- to mid-term food storage coming along? I’m feeling pretty good with what I have so far. I need to fine tune a few ‘luxury’ items I want but….starve to death? Not a chance. However, for practicality’s sake, it would be nice to take about half of this and move it to the Beta Site.