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| Canning dry goods | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 4 2011, 09:26 PM (1,374 Views) | |
| Raven | Sep 4 2011, 09:26 PM Post #1 |
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Our house has a mouse who has decided that our place has several amenities that he likes. Because of this, he has, like any typical welfare recipient, called upon any relative that he has ever had to brag about his fortune. Creatures being what they are can't help but feel entitled to share in his lottery winnings stating that his cousins uncle twice removed should share as he is now rich and they are entitled to a portion of what he has found. Now he has relatives literally coming out of the woodwork. These little bastards are spitting out kids by the litter and have NO fear from our three cats, who could care less that they are there. Because of our furry little freeloading friends I have had to through away container after container of barley, noodles etc because of chew holes and other telltale signs of looting. I picked up a box of noodles the other day and though sealed it was empty! The little darlin's had chewed a hole in the back and carried every noodle out of the box. I am quite certain that there are little packrats that are being exploited for this purpose...short story long...I have decided to share a tip on canning dry goods with you. Any kind of dry goods can be "canned". Flour, beans, oatmeal etc can be put into a jar. Fill your jars and set them on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven pre-heated to 200F and heat for an hour. When time is up take the jars out one at a time and wipe the rim with a damp towel, slap a lid on it and screw the band on tightly (but don't crank on it). Work quickly and set the covered jars on a towel. When cool and kept in a dark area at less than 75 degrees the canned food will last up to 20 to 30 years (or so it is told). The only foods that this won't work for is stuff that has a high oil content. Those need to be pressure canned. The lady that shared this info with me cans cereals (which are crunchier after canning), noodles, rice, sugar, cat food and all other dried foods. As soon as I get a day off I am going to can everything that I can get out of my cupboards...take THAT you little bastards. If only I could get the cats interested in working for their food....hhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm PS Oils and oily foods go bad fairly quickly and these can be canned as well. Buy the large containers of cooking oil and heat it on the stove until it gets very hot but not burning. Ladle it into hot jars and slap a lid on it. I then pressure can it at 10lbs for 15 minutes. I have oil that is 5 years old and still good. |
| The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand | |
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| Mommacat | Sep 4 2011, 10:39 PM Post #2 |
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Oh, not good on the "welfare recipients"! Me thinks perhaps the house kitties are too well fed!? Thanks for the tips on dry canning. I had tried to do a bit of research, but didn't have much luck - seems the only perscribed method for dry canning that I could find involved metal cans. Do you have to soak the lids and bands as you normally do for canning? |
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| HandFarming | Sep 4 2011, 11:44 PM Post #3 |
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After 100s of bait pails bought, mouse traps and other anti-rodent store goods, a friend told us how to trap rodents continuously and cheaply. Get a 5gal bucket and fill with 5" water. Then float a corn cob or other enticing food in it -the floating part is important as they can see it. Put it near other food things and so they can easily get into it....like a shelf you know they frequent. When they jump in to get the food, they can't get out because they have nothing to stand on. If you have those darn little mouse types, I would think a gallon pail would work. I had a dog once get into rodent bait and now prefer this method as it's non-toxic. As for storing foods, we have metal drums for grains in the barn and what isn't canned goes to the freezers but you've convinced me to change how we store our plastic pails of bulk goods. |
| You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think. | |
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| Mommacat | Sep 5 2011, 02:20 AM Post #4 |
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I used much the same method; I put salty chips on the counter near a half sinkful of water. Every morning I'd wake up to a couple drowned mice. It was not a pleasant control method, but certainly effective. After a while I didn't see evidence of any more mice, but partly I think, cuz I put absolutly everything in mouse proof containers. But, that was before I was a prepper and I suspect the sheer volume of stored items makes it harder to come up with critter (be it bug or rodent) proof storage. I now use bar bait that I got at the feed store. I put it out around my bins and containers and have no problems. Of course, I don' live on a farm where many food sources are available to them, so I am sure the problem is compounded by that fact, too. I used to even see the damn things risking being pecked to death by robbing from the chicken feeders! Best advice - keep your cats a little on the hungry side! |
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| Raven | Sep 5 2011, 04:07 PM Post #5 |
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Mommacat, the lids are prepared in the same way that you would if you were canning "wet". The lids, however, are hand dried before putting them on the jar. The biggest thing is to work quickly. I like the ideas that you have given me for the better mouse trap, but this also will work for bugs. The only bugs this lady ever got came in with the food. I don't want to freeze anything more than I have to. I can't bear the thought of the work that is in order if the grid goes down and I have 3 freezers full...
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| The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand | |
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