Last fall I tried some Tattler reusable canning lids. I canned jam, tomatoes, and salsa with them. The Tattler company has been making these lids since 1976. They are two pieces–a plastic lid and a rubber gasket. You’ll need the metal rings that came with your jars or you can buy some extras on the Tattler site if you’re short on rings. The lids are BPA free and made in the USA. Tattler has them available for wide mouth and regular jars. The upfront cost of $7.00-$8.00 per dozen is, of course, more than the metal lids, but with regular re-use they pay for themselves pretty quickly.

Canning with the reusable lids is similar to using regular metal lids with the exception of having to loosen the ring just a bit before canning to allow the jar to vent and then tighten it after your jars are done processing. (For a full tutorial on using them, you can check my review of the lids on my blog.)

By the time this fall had rolled around, I had a number of lids from jars we had opened, and more canning to do, so all the reusable lids got used again without any problems with seal fails. Also, all the jars from last fall that used the reusable lids that we hadn’t opened are still sealed up fine. Sweet. Needless to say, I’ve stocked up on a bunch of these lids.

Last year's tomatoes canned with Tattler Reusable Canning Lids

Now, if you’re canning something to go into your county or state fair, or if you are planning on giving your canned goods away as gifts, use regular lids. When I did the salsa this year, I used some regular lids and some reusable lids thinking I would be sharing some for Christmas. However, sweet husband has since informed me he’s not parting with his salsa, so I guess I could have used all reusable lids!

Salsa--the white lids are the reusable ones

If you do a lot of canning and want to continue in a grid down situation without stocking a crazy amount of metal lids, the Tattler reusable lids are the lids for you. If you don’t do a lot of canning, these lids could also make a great barter item or even a great Christmas gift for that canner or preparedness nut on your list. After my year of testing, I’d say these are definitely a product worth checking out.

This book also stood out to me, because I often wonder *how* my family managed to get enough food to live.  My mom’s side of the family was that oft-discussed “hearty pioneer stock”.  However I have noticed that while many farmed to live, I have a long history of blacksmiths and military.  There is no hiding that this must be because I inherited a really lousy black-thumb, they took up other trades because of this family curse. I’m one of those people who has to work really hard to make part of his garden succeed.  I enjoy blaming my heritage on this, as it cannot be some failing of my own, right?  So I felt driven to read this book, and find out how they managed to live, despite my inability to grow enough of the right foods in the wasteland of Utah.

Quick Summary:

Audience: Frustrated gardeners, those looking for more season to grow, people who feel they need to change their gardening to be more useful.

Target Location: The author speaks heavily about his experiences in the mountain west/high desert regions (specifically Utah valley). Skills discussed will make farming there much easier, and everywhere else is just easy :)

Mormons Only? No, not even close. This is mentioned specifically because of the historical hardships they encountered when arriving in Utah, and attempting to farm in what was considered a barren land. The author relies on some old family journals for historical information to help understand why certain farming techniques work, and why we shouldnt’ have forgotten them.

The Full Review:

Forgotten Skills is an encouraging read, introducing people of the mountain west to the fact that they can grow food year-round, even in our crazy climate.  The author relies heavily on pioneer journals (mostly from his family) in order to reference specific practices for growing and preserving food that are completely foreign to most people today.  Granted, experienced readers of this blog might be familiar with many specific concepts, such as: non-hybrid seeds, canning, etc; the author goes into extra depth about how these practices were used to simply stay alive in not so distant years.  Beyond some more recently popular topics, there is great encouragement into practices that can be used by people with even small yards to produce and store food year-round by simply changing certain practices in your gardening.

This book in not designed however as a be-all reference. At only 145 pages, with many great photos, you wont’ find a book that teaches every single thing you need to be independent.  However it introduces a good number of important practices, provides basic reasoning as to why it was an important skill, and provides some modern usage examples. It makes sure you know enough about what the skill is, and gives you what you need to find more information if you want. Example: After a great discussion about seed hybridization practices, and their effects, he also spends time explaining how seed banks work and how you can participate in one to get useful seeds in your garden.

Major Topics:

Here is a list of some of the major topics covered that should get the interest of our readers:

• Seeds
• Extending the harvest
• Perennial food plants
• Trees
• Cellaring
• Long Keeping Foods
• Early Veggies
• Pioneer Yeast
• Modern Ideas the Pioneers Would Have Appreciated
• Eggs
• Chickens
• Forgotten Recipes

• Some currants–doesn’t matter how many
• Sugar
• A couple of pots (to cook the berries and the jelly–you really could use the same pot)
• Strainer and/or cheesecloth/jelly bag for juicing the currants

That’s all.

To can it you’ll need jars, lids, rings, and a water bath canner.

First, pick and wash your currants.  I removed the stems, some people don’t.  If you don’t, you’ll need to skip the smashing step and go straight to the pot.

After your currants are washed, you can smash them or not.  In my brain I get more juice out of them if I smash them than if I leave them whole, so I smash them.  You can use a potato masher or run them through the pulse chop on your food processor.  I’m all for quick, so I chopped them.

Then, put the chopped currants in a pot and heat them up.  You can add just a little water if you want to thin it up a bit, but you don’t want to add too much.  If you didn’t take the stems off your currants, you’ll have whole currants plus stems in the pot heating up.

After the currants have cooked for a bit, it’s time to juice them.  You’ll need 3-4 layers of cheese cloth or a jelly bag or a tight strainer.  I didn’t have any cheesecloth handy, so I made a jelly bag from some not-so-tight weave muslin I had.  I’ll be re-making the bag to fit over my strainer and end in a point instead of a square bottom, but this one worked for this time.

Pour or scoop the cooked currants into your cheesecloth and suspend the bundle over a pot. Get creative here. I usually tie the bundle to a long dowel, but couldn’t find one this time. Prop it up on chairs or buckets–whatever you have around–and let it drip. If you want really clear jelly, don’t squeeze the bag. If you want a little more volume and don’t mind if your jelly is “cloudy”, squeeze the bag to get as much juice out as you can. I usually go for volume. Okay, I always go for volume. If you’re submitting your jelly to the state fair, go for clarity.

Once you have your juice, discard the pulp left in the cheesecloth and measure the juice. (You can stop here for the night and put the juice in the fridge and start again the next day or the day after that if it happens to be way past your bedtime by the time the currants have juiced.)

Now you’ve measured your juice, put it in a pot with an equal amount of sugar. So 2 cups of juice and 2 cups of sugar or 7 1/2 cups of juice and 7 1/2 cups of sugar. Easy, right? You don’t need to add pectin because currants already have enough pectin in them to gel.

Get your water bath canner set up with water in it and start heating it up so it will be ready to can the jelly when it’s done boiling. Put your lids in a little pot and warm them up also.

Bring the jelly to a boil and then let it boil for 15 minutes. If you want to test it before canning it, put a little on a plate and stick it in the fridge to cool off. See if it sets up. It shouldn’t have any problem, but if it doesn’t set up, boil it a little longer and test it again.

When you’re ready to can it, ladle the hot jelly into your clean hot jars, wipe the rims and apply the lids. Put them in the canner and process 10 minutes.

Pull them out and let them cool and voila! Super easy currant jelly to use on bread, breakfasts, meat, and whatever else you can dream up. Enjoy!

Well, over on her own blog, my wife made a comment about something she’s learned this year.  Go check out what she’s learned on the difference between liquid and powdered pectin.

And boy has she been using that a lot this year.  I’ve been grabbing pictures to post up here, hopefully I can get to it soon.

Typical Farmer's Market Offerings

Now that the weather has warmed up, I am revisiting a post I started back in the deep winter of January.

Farmer’s Markets are a great way to find locally produced fruits, vegetables, meats and other products. These markets are often the only way to find heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables that our forefathers took for granted. You will also generally find more variety if you are looking for Organic or hormone/pesticide free food.

The produce varieties in your local supermarket have been selected not for taste or nutrition, but based on what varieties ship well, resist bruising and those that finish ripening off the plant. Local food on the other hand can be picked at their peak as the time from farm to table is much shorter than those foods shipped from several states away.

Another benefit to frequenting your local farmer’s market is that you are supporting your local businesses. Each dollar you spend supports a local business rather than supporting a larger corporation whose headquarters are often in another state.

If you enjoy bargaining or bartering, you’ll likely not be able to exercise those hobbies at your local MegaMart, but most vendors at a farmer’s market readily accept other mediums of exchange than your Federal Reserve notes and are generally willing to reduce their price a bit based on how much or what you are buying. Once you develop a relationship with vendor by frequenting their booth for a few months, you’ll often find that their prices have gotten even better for you.

Another great thing about Farmers Markets is that they are very family oriented. You will often find fun entertainment from local bands or performers, usually a bluegrass band or small country group. Farmers Markets are often held at parks where kids can run and play and enjoy some fresh food for lunch. Many of the vendors will hand your kids a piece of fruit or other food to munch on while you’re visiting their booth.

Once you’ve stocked up on loads of local, fresh food, you can easily add them to your longer term food storage. Look at our Adding to your long term supply using dehydration post from January for some great ideas on adding fresh foods to your storage by dehydrating or canning them.

If you aren’t sure where your nearest Farmer’s market is, you are in luck, the following Utah.gov site lists all the Farmer’s Markets registered in Utah. Most run from May through October or November so you’ll need to plan on stocking up during that time frame.

Find the market nearest you, give it a try and let us know what you think!

These videos have changed the way I think about dehydrating food at home. Many of the tips about using oxygen absorbers, buying buckets, etc. are useful for other types of food storage as well.

Give them a thorough watching, take notes and let us know what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We were able to get everything we wanted except wheat which they were out of until the first of the year. I will be going back in a few weeks to finish off that part of the order. I did learn exactly how much will fit in a 4Runner, although I had more than the traditional blind-spot to worry about on the drive home. For this round, I canned rice, sugar, pinto beans, black beans, white beans, potato flakes, dry milk, dried onions, apple slices, and both quick and regular oats.

The nice thing about the Home Storage Centers is that they have everything you need to complete the project including the cans, lids, oxygen absorbers, and boxes. They even had a temporary clip that you can use on the bag that holds the oxygen absorbers since they cannot be exposed to the air for longer then ten minutes or so or they will go bad.

Dry-pack canning is really very simple—you fill the can up, drop in an oxygen absorber (except for sugar), put the lid on, seal it, and then label the can so you know what’s inside—but I learned a few things that helped me get more efficient after the first day. Instead of repeating each of those steps for each can, it is much easier to do thirty cans or so in a batch. Set up a long table next to where you have the canner mounted and then set up thirty or so empty cans. You can then open one of the bulk bags and pour across the cans filling them all in turn, without bending over or having to pick the bags up and setting them down again and again.

You’ll then want to tap the cans on the table good and hard several times to get the food to settle, topping off as needed until the can contains is much as possible. I learned that with most items, if I fill the can until the contents are heaped above the rim and to the point of overflowing, they will usually settle down nearly perfect, leaving just enough room for the oxygen absorber and the lid. A few of the lighter items like flour and milk really compact though and you’ll need a cup of some sort to scoop extra and top off the cans. For the items such as apple slices, onions, and potatoes that come in a box, I found scooping the contents out with a plastic pitcher to be the most effect method.

I didn’t bother with labels for the cans and boxes, even though you can get them for free with your purchase from the Home Storage Center; I simply wrote on the cans with a black Sharpie. I then loaded the cans into cardboard boxes that I also purchased there six at a time and labeled the box as well. Obviously the more hands you have the faster the work goes but it is something that can easily be done solo. The only real possible obstacle I can see for some would be lifting and transporting the twenty-five pound bags. If you can get your hands on a canner, I would definitely recommend this approach.

So much does this cost? Was it worth the effort to can it myself? Using the price sheet, let’s break it down.

Equipment
436 cans @ $0.40/each = $136.08
436 lids @ $0.11/each = $35.64
436 oxygen absorber @ $0.07/each = $22.68
72 cardboard boxes @ $0.56/each = $33.04

Food
3 bags oats, regular @ $10.40/each = $31.20
3 bags oats, quick @ $10.40/each = $31.20
25 bags wheat @ $6.05/each = $151.25
15 bags rice @ $15.90/each = $238.50
12 bags sugar @ $10.50/each = $126.00
4 bags pinto beans @ $12.65/each = $50.60
5 bags pinto beans @ $14.35/each = $71.75
3 bags white beans @ $14.35/each = $43.05
3 bags potato flakes @ $28.05/each = $84.15
5 bags dry milk @ $44.45/each = $222.25
1 box dried onions @ $69.15/each = $69.15
1 box apple slices @ $64.95/each = $64.95

That’s $293.2 for supplies and $1184.05 for food and a combined total of $1477.25. We roughly purchased for 3.5 adults for one year. Let’s compare that with off the shelf options. Emergency Essentials has three packages: Ultimate, Premium, and Traditional costing $2,399.95, $1,549.95, and $799.95 respectively for a single adult year supply. While the each of these contains significantly more variety (dehydrated fruits and vegatables, drink mixes, pancake mix, etc), you can see that there is significant savings in doing the packaging yourself. Even if we go with Emergency Essentials basic package, it works out to be $11.11 per can whereas mine was $3.30 per can. How much did you spend on Christmas this year? Sure, I’d rather be eating the gourmet meal found in Emergency Essential’s Ultimate package, but this does show that there is no excuse for not having a year’s supply.

Stack of Cesta Básica's ready to be sold

One of the many things I learned while living there was about a product called the Cesta Básica (Basket of Basics).  This product is the lifeblood of many Brasilian families, making up the core of their grocery shopping.  What it is, is simple.  It is a package containing an assortment of basic food items, designed to meet the basic needs for a given amount of time.  Which products it contains, and how much would vary by store, but largely were the same.  This was an extremely common item for several reasons.  The first of which is the basic brasileiro’s diet, which starts with beans and rice, and almost anything else is extra.  Which type of beans was largely a regional choice as the default, but alternative ‘versions’ of the packages could easily be found if you preferred another regions flavor.

Background

The Cesta Básica was so important, because it was priced to fit most Brasilians economic situation.  There was no paying for anything fancy here, it was the most simple, common means to meet the nutritional needs of a person.  In many areas, the “standard” kit is actually subsidized to help meet the needs of the poorer classes.

The concept of the Cesta is so built in to Brasilian society now, that you will often hear of it as part of wage negotiations.  As one friend quoted:

“How much do you earn?”
“Two minimum salaries and a cesta básica.”

The Cesta Básica is a fundamental part of Brasilian society, and an amazing resource for anybody interested in Preparedness, Food Storage, or just cooking a little more healthy.  By covering what it contains, and why it exists, I think we can come up with ideas for improving our storage.

Contents

Contents of an Example Brasilian Cesta Básica

I’ll start by reviewing some of the contents of a Brasilian kit, to get an idea of what would be in here. This example kit is a larger one, designed for a month of basic sustenance for a family.

• 10 kilos of Rice
• 5 kilos of Beans
• 4 Cans of Oil (standard vegetable oil, used heavily in Brasilian recipes)
• 10 Kilos of Sugar
• 2 Kilos Flour
• 1 Kilo Corn Flour
• 1 Kilo Fine Corn Flour (a native style)
• 2 cans sardines (often switched with other canned meats, such as Vienna Sausages)
• 1 can chocolate breakfast drink
• 1 Kilo Spagetti noodles
• 1 Kilo Macaroni noodles
• 1 Tomato Paste
• 2 Kilos of Salt
• 1 Kilo Coffee
• 1 Can … Jam, well, it’s actually candied Guava, very tasty stuff :)
• 5 Bars of washing soap

Once again, the contents are designed for a Brasilian diet, but they still expose us to several very important aspect of what is needed in a food supply.  Beans and rice make up the main part of their diet, and for good reasons.  They grow readily in Brasil, are very cheap to produce, they store extremely well, and combined, form a very powerful set of protiens, carbs, ammino acids, and complex nutrients.  The oil is a necessary element of many types of cooking, especially in using the varoius forms of flour provided in the kit.  Very little protein in the form of meat is provided, based on the cost, yet the kit is designed to be usable with any meat that is added via external purchases.  There is actually a rather high salt amount for most Americans, but given Brasilian cooking, and their temperatures, it actually is quite normal.

Translating

For me, sure, I could use that kit with good success, but my diet would change a bit.  I do know how to use it though.  What is most important is that you look to building up kits like this that fit a diet that you can a) enjoy b) actually cook with.

One of the main reasons I make this post is to understand the concept of dividing out much of your bulk storage items into usable quantities, that are grouped together for a given timeline.  You should be looking at this and realizing that you can use buckets, boxes, or other storage containers of weekly or monthly supplies.  These then become easy to rotate as part of your standard diet keeping your food fresh, and natural.

If you refer to our recent post on Mylar Bagging, you’ll have an even better way of setting up kits such as these.  you can easily take large amounts of bulk items and create bags of specific quantities for your needs, and your chosen term.  I really like 1-week supply boxes (or 5 gallon buckets).  They are of a size easily carried, they easily fit under a bed, or in a closet, and are quick to pack.

Kit Ideas

Some possible contents for kits in your house:

• Rice
• Beans
• Wheat
• Flour
• Corn Meal
• Yeast
• Potato Flakes
• Pasta
• Canned Veggies
• Canned Meat (Tuna, Salmon, Beef, Chicken, Spam)
• Tomato Products (Sauce, Paste, etc)
• Powdered Milk
• Crackers
• Salt
• Spices/herbs
• Peanut Butter
• Jelly
• Buillion
• Powdered gravy, or other mixes

What you need to remember is to always start the kit with the real basics.  Think of actually from-scratch cooking, covering basic dietary needs. Don’t think about lots of packaged, pre-made foods.  You can make kits with some of those, but always remember to think of those as luxuries, or extensions to the basics.  By doing this, you will be automatically creating kits that will be more stable on the shelf for long-term storage, they will be more nutritious for you overall, and you will probably save a huge amount of money in creating these meals.

By choosing your packaging well, it becomes very easy to stack boxes of these kits in out of the way places for long term storage, or in a pantry for quicker rotation.  Just remember to keep a good label on with a date so you know when you should have this box rotated.  Then you can feel the great comfort that comes to you when you can look at a stack of boxes and just count the number of weeks that you have covered.  If you are keeping these kits in your regular storage you will have no fear that their quality is top notch, and that your family will have no problems eating what they contain.

Brasilians base their diet on this pattern for good reasons.  It works because it is nutritious, it is inexpensive, and it does cover their needs.

And besides, what a great Preparedness Christmas Present for families you know!

Into This:

Mylar Bags are made of a polyester film laminated to aluminum foil creating a very strong material that creates a barrier from oxygen and moisture and creates a higher puncture resistance than any metallized polyester material. The greatest advantage of storing bulk food in Mylar Bags is that instead of having to open a 50 pound bag of rice, wheat, beans or whatever, you’re able to open a more manageable and usable sized container. While it may take several weeks or months to use up a 50 pound bag of food, a 5-8 pound bag will be used much quicker, providing less chance of spoilage, insect infestation and waste.

The other popular option is of course, #10 cans, which provide the same benefits but in a more impervious container that is slightly more expensive than Mylar Bags. The advantage of Mylar over cans is that Mylar Bags do not have a fixed shape and can be stored more easily. Cost-wise, a #10 can will run you about $ .42 whereas a Mylar Bag will run you about $.31.

To store food in a Mylar Bag is a very simple and quick process. It requires a Mylar Bag Sealer which, if you live in Utah, can be borrowed for free from many of the LDS Canneries. Actually, it doesn’t ‘require’ a sealer, you can seal them with an iron if you need to, but it isn’t as efficient or accurate. It also requires you to purchase a few supplies (which you can also get from the LDS Canneries): empty Mylar Bags, oxygen absorbers and optionally you can get free pre-printed labels for most storage foods from the canneries as well. Once you have all your supplies, you’re ready to start sealing! I’m sure that every person who has done this has their own recommended procedure. I’m going to present this the way that works well for me and provide tips I’ve learned – which by no means is “THE” way to do it – if you have found other, more efficient methods please leave a comment, I’d love to learn from you!

1st Tip: pouring from flimsy bags (such as the ones rice often comes in) into a Mylar Bag is challenging and results in a lot of spillage (sturdy bags like sugar comes in aren’t much of an issue)

Our solution is to pour several bags into a clean bin.

We then use a plastic pitcher to scoop out the proper volume to fill a bag. We determined the volume by filling a bag about 3/4 full – you have to leave some head-room in the bag and you don’t want to overfill it. Once we knew how much should be in a bag, we dumped it into a jug and marked off the height with marker. Our determination was that anywhere within an inch of the top of a water pitcher (like the one pictured) was about the right amount.

Once you’ve put food in the Mylar Bag you should add an Oxygen Absorber. This packet (see below in the bag) will absorb oxygen left in the bag which helps promote freshness and prevent infestation.

NOTE: DO NOT use oxygen absorbers in sugar! (I’ve heard it will turn the sugar into a solid rock)

Fold the top of the bag over the side to get as much air out as possible (especially if you aren’t using an absorber) before sealing it.

Hold the bag closed, ensuring that the top is even, and insert it into the sealer. The sealer we were using has a foot pedal that closes the sealer and heat seals it. A heat seal requires 6 seconds of heat application.

2nd Tip: If you are storing flour or another type of very loose or sloppy product, you must make sure that the area that the heat (seal) will be applied is clean. Leaving food product in the seal area can result in a bad or failed seal.

During the 6 seconds that the seal is being made is an excellent time to stick the label on the center of the bag.

After 6 seconds, our sealer drops the bag – and it’s ready to be put into a transport bin (see picture at top).

Tip #3: Make sure you write the date (even if it’s just “Nov 08″) on the label! Your label should tell you what product is inside and the date it was packaged. You might think you’ll just ‘know’ that info, but believe me, you won’t!

That’s it! While the entire job can be done by one person, it is much easier to have a couple people helping so you can assembly line the entire process. Today’s project was to bag about 1500 pounds worth of food and we were finished in about 2 hours.

We go over some atypical storage techniques you can use with Mylar Bags in this follow up post and review several comments in this final post in the series.

Do you have any other hints or tips for those storing in Mylar Bags? If so, please share it in a comment! We will be doing a follow up post discussing the best tips, tricks, stories and ideas we receive on Mylar Bag storage. If you have any further questions about storing in Mylar Bags, please feel free to ask in the comments.

Here’s the simple description for bottling chicken: cut it up into 1 inch square chunks, put 1/2 tsp salt in bottom of bottles, put chicken in bottles, pressure cook it for 90 minutes.  That’s it, super easy!

But, that’s too short of a blog post so here is the photo essay of how to can or bottle chicken.  Incidentally, I’ve been told that you follow the same procedure to bottle beef, venison, elk, any meat.

To start with, we bought 80 pounds of raw skinless boneless chicken breasts from a great sale at Macey’s – at $1.19/pound.  Fortunately for me, I have lots of kids who can help out, makes a big job happen quickly.

Here we are cleaning fat off the chicken and cutting up the breasts:

The meat needs to be cut into about 1 inch square chunks:

Here is what 80 pounds of chicken looks like all ready to be bottled (notice the quart jar for perspective):

The next step is to put 1/2 teaspoon of salt in the bottom of the jar (you can add whatever seasoning you like) then fill the jar with chicken to about 1 inch below the top and load them into the pressure cooker:

Heat up the cookers on high until they start rocking, then back off the heat until you get 3 rocks a minute, in the mountain region cook at 15 pounds of pressure.  Maintain 3 rocks/minute for 90 minutes (time starts after first rock).

After 90 minutes of cooking, turn off the heat and let the cookers sit for 30 minutes – DO NOT open them before hand, they’ll blow up!  After 30 minutes, remove the rocker, if it hisses you still have pressure – WAIT until it doesn’t hiss!

We averaged 2 pounds of chicken per bottle giving us 40 bottles:

Notice in the picture that there is liquid in the jars – that’s broth baby!  You don’t put any water in them at all, the cooking process fills the bottle up with juice.

After all our hard work we feasted on a bottle – it was delicious!  The fully cooked chicken comes out of the bottles and falls apart and tastes wonderful.

So, let’s calculate.  For about $2.50 on sale, you can buy a small tuna size can of chicken that weighs 10 ounces.  We’ve got about 32 ounces in each jar, giving us a little more than 3 cans in each jar.  That puts an equivalent value of $7.50 on each jar and we got 40 jars worth.  That gives us $300.00 equivalent value of chicken – and it costs us $110.00 – $80 for the chicken and $30 for the jars.  So we saved about $190.00 and ended up with a lot of chicken for storage!

Next up for us is to do this with hamburger.  I have about 80 boxes of hamburger helper in storage – my goal is to have a bottle of already cooked hamburger to go with each box.

- Phil801