Dealing with the high cost of food - canning meats

[NJLiberty]

watch hunting become more popular.

i think people need to be challenged..and I find it amazing to see how adaptable they really can be.

same with the gas crunch.. good things will come out it.

we have all been a bit spoiled and lazy..now its time to get out and do some real living and remember what it takes to survive..hell, some may even enjoy it!

its called self-sufficiency...and BTW having a good circle of friends will be invaluable as well.

Kola

You are right on all counts Kola, especially about the circle of friends. That is true even in the best of times.

I trade canned foods with people all the time here. I'll send them relishes and jellies and they send me pickles and different things, that way none of us has to have or do everything ourselves. When I bake bread I usually send a loaf over to the landlord. When his mother in law makes her Filipino specialties some always finds its way to my house. My house is almost a full fledged bakery at Thanksgiving time. We bake pies for five or six households and in return we end up with the excess "free" turkeys they don't have the need for, some of which we keep, and some we pass along to those needier than ourselves. During bow season, friends hunt on our property and in return we usually get a share of the venison.

One of my friends is a good mechanic. I can handle the routine stuff, oil changes, brakes, etc. but there are some things better left to him. He never charges me a dime, but always finds a prime rib roast waiting for him. He doesn't cook well, so for him it is worth so much more than the money would, and it costs me a lot less to prepare the meal for him than it would for me to pay a garage. This same gentleman raises ducks for eggs, and brings us some down periodically.

It is a shame that with the advent of electronic entertainment that so many people have lost those close circles of friends. Granted, the internet is a wonderful place to meet people with common interests, share information and such, but truth be told that if one of you really needed my help I would be hard pressed to help you from here. That's one of the things I look forward to most in moving to NH is getting to meet some of you and being involved in the community up there.

I agree with you Kola, a little adversity is going to be a good thing for a lot of people. They need to wake up and realize how fortunate they have been, and learn just how fat and lazy a society we have become. I was very fortunate, my grandmother and aunts all believed that you should know how to do almost everything you may ever need to do. From an early age we were taught to cook and preserve foods, how to clean things without store bought cleaners, how to locate and identify wild foods, etc. They grew up in a different time. My grandmother was born on a self-sufficient farm, and my aunts and such were there all the time as kids. I was really the first member of the extended family to not have the farm available to me (it was sold the year I was born.) There are too many people in this country who have never raised their own food, have no idea where it comes from aside from the market, and wouldn't know how to feed themselves if there ever was an emergency. It is a shame really. The necessary skills really aren't that hard to learn. It is a shame that so many of them have been lost to most people.

George

[kola]

I would strongly recommend you get your hands on a copy of Ball's Blue Book

Someone suggested this to Pat years ago, but, he misunderstood and bought the Blue Balls Book

ROFL!

That has to be your best line yet Lloyd!

Kola

[NJLiberty]

I would strongly recommend you get your hands on a copy of Ball's Blue Book

Someone suggested this to Pat years ago, but, he misunderstood and bought the Blue Balls Book

Well done sir!

[porcupine kate]

Well this week's trip to the local market was a real shocker. 93% hamburger was up to $5.49 per pound! Since when did ground up scraps become a precious commodity? Needless to say I didn't buy any. I bought a chuck roast for much less, took it home and ground it myself. Now I can't tell you what the fat content is on that, obviously wouldn't qualify as 93% lean, but it tastes a lot better than generic hamburger and cost less than half of what they were charging. Grinders are inexpensive on their own, and most stand mixers have a grinder attachment available. The only investment after that is your time. Besides, it is rather nice knowing what is in your hamburger meat.

Not sure where you're shopping, but I usually pay anywhere from $1.69-$2.19 a pound for hamburger. If I am making burgers, I buy ground chuck. I have a friend in the meat industry and he recommends chuck for the best flavored burgers. If chuck roast is on sale, I just ask the store to grind it for me.....they will if you ask.

Tammy. 
Beef is cheaper up here than New Jersey.  Pork is about the same as Virginia, chicken is more expensive than Virginia and Maryland.  Dairy products are cheaper here than the mid Atlantic region in general.  White eggs are more expansive up here and brown eggs are cheaper.  I terms of overall selection New Jersey has the widest variety of anywhere I have lived.

[John Edward Mercier]

Did you mean white eggs are more expensive? Or easier to find?
What is the difference between the two? I've eaten both and they taste about the same.

[porcupine kate]

White eggs are still less expensive them brown eggs.  The difference in cost is smaller here in NH.
I was paying between $.99 and a $1.29 for a dozen eggs in VA.  When I move here I noticed they are around 1.49 to 1.69 a dozen.  Most brown eggs in VA were over $2.00 a dozen.  Here they are a $1.69 a dozen.  These prices are for large eggs.  Eggs don't go on sale as frequently up here as they do in Va either.  I don't notice much of a taste difference between either store bought white or brown eggs.  Home grown free range eggs are a different story.  They taste much better.

[NJLiberty]

Just as a frame of reference, here are some prices from this week's circulars:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts - $3.99/lb
Chicken drumsticks or thighs - $1.49/lb
Split chicken breasts - $3.39/lb
Whole roasting chickens - $1.49/lb

93% ground beef - $5.49/lb
85% ground beef - $3.69/lb
Chuck steak - $2.69/lb
Stew meat - $2.79/lb

Center cut pork loin - $2.99/lb
Pork tenderloin - $6.99/lb
Pork chops - $3.89/lb

Butter - on sale for $3.00/lb, normally about $4.50/lb
Whole Milk - anywhere from $3.69-$3.99 per gallon

Eggs are hard to price, they vary widely between stores. Depending on where I am I can be anywhere from $1.69 to $2.29 per dozen large. The white eggs are most common here. Brown eggs command a premium here. For all practical purposes there is no difference between brown and white eggs. It depends on the breed of chicken that lays them. There is of course a huge difference between commercial eggs and home grown both in taste and nutrition.

George

[Pat McCotter]

I would strongly recommend you get your hands on a copy of Ball's Blue Book

Someone suggested this to Pat years ago, but, he misunderstood and bought the Blue Balls Book

Yes, that came to mind but leave it to you, Lloyd, to blab it all over the interweb!

[porcupine kate]

I'm so glad I don't live in NJ anymore.  There is no way I could afford to move back there if I were dumb enough to even consider it.
Kate

[NJLiberty]

I'm so glad I don't live in NJ anymore.  There is no way I could afford to move back there if I were dumb enough to even consider it.
Kate

If the thought ever crosses your mind let me know. I'll set you straight again 

[porcupine kate]

I will never ever ever move back to New Jersey. 
I don't know if this forum is big enough to list the reasons not to live in NJ.

[doobie]

After June I'll have a pretty nice kitchen and I do canning (I'm not an expert).  I'd be willing to host people for a canning lessons if anyone is interested.  I'm thinking of getting a second canner, but even if I don't someone could bring a second one and we could probably can 4 things in a 8 hours period and discuss other things while we wait.  If anyone is interested let me know and I'll try to come up with something.
I probably could easily host 6-10 people for this.

Let me know if you are interested.

Initial idea of how it works:

Come up with 2-4 recipes.  Divide the ingredients 'evenly' across the people coming.  Everyone gets an even share of the product.

[porcupine kate]

I'm very interested.  I have a pressure cooker, some large stock pots and canning jars.  I don't have lids for all of them.  I have never done canning but I started gathering tools for it a few months ago.

[Pat McCotter]

Pressure cookers and pressure canners are different animals. Canning meat will require a pressure canner.

[doobie]

Pressure cookers and pressure canners are different animals. Canning meat will require a pressure canner.

Very correct, you need a pressure canner that can do 10 PSI.  The way they function is you need to maintain a temperature of 240F for a sufficient amount of time to kill the nasties.  10 PSI is sufficient for increasing the temperature (boiling water only gets to 210F or so) through the fun use of physics!