Meat has a grain. Don’t get confused and think I’m putting proteins in the grain group here. Meat is obviously not a grain, but meat has a grain like wood does. The grain is the direction the fibers of meat run. Generally the grain runs parallel to the bone, however frequently the grain goes a […]
Home Canning Meat–Bottled Meat
Bottled meat is one of my favorite ways to preserve game meat. You can also bottle non-game meats like beef, pork, chicken, and even fish. It takes a long time to make it (mostly processing time in the canner), but when you need to use it, it is already cooked and ready to throw in […]
Cuttin’ Up Elk
Well, got the elk to the house last night (already quartered) and put it all in big coolers with ice outside on the north side of the house so it would stay cold. Turned out a pretty cool day so I’m not concerned about it going bad out there. Started in on it this morning–had […]
Bottled Butter
Also see Bottled Butter Part 2 here. Update 11/24: word from our local extension agent that bottling butter is not safe due to it not getting hot enough to kill botulism . . . guess I won’t be doing more unless I figure out another way to do it or find out otherwise. We got […]
Really Old Nasty MRE’s
I had a couple of MRE’s that were about 20 years old and needed to go so I did the noble and generous thing and shared them with some friends. MRE means Meal Ready to Eat and they were designed for the military. You used to be able to get them singly at army surplus […]
How to Gut a Trout
Over at a friend’s house for bottling butter today and she had a couple of trout she’d been given that were at least 2 days old in her refrigerator. Now, 2 day old trout is okay, but these had not been gutted when they were caught so weren’t any good, but we had a little […]
Easy Jerky from Elk or Deer/Venison
I pulled meat out of the freezer that had been cut for jerky and frozen to dry later. One package of elk was from 2001–a bit old after spending almost 7 years in the freezer–the outside layers were freezer burned pretty bad, but there was some good meat still on the inside of the pack. […]
Canning Tools
If you’re going to can your own food, you’ll need some tools. Don’t worry, the list isn’t long and I’ll put in pictures also so you know what you’re looking for. First a canner. High acid foods like fruits, jams/jellies and tomatoes can be bottled in a Water Bath Canner or Boiling Water Canner (both […]
More Apples . . . Apple Pie Filling
I had some more apples and thought I’d try making canned apple pie filling. I’ve never done this before, so I got online and looked up recipes and here’s the one I ended up using: 10 Cups Water 4 1/2 Cups Sugar 1 Cup Cornstarch 2 tsp. Cinnamon 1/4 tsp Nutmeg 1 tsp. Salt 2 […]
Dehydrator
A dehydrator is a fantastic tool for food preservation. I have used mine to dry green beans, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, apples, apricots, strawberries, herbs, actually anything that gets in my way when the dehydrator is out has the chance of being tossed in the dehydrator and dried. I have only owned one dehydrator–it is an […]