REBEL CANNING AT HOMESTEAD

Greetings homestead steemians I am writing this post from the grave. You see, I recanned nacho cheese sauce, opened a jar, ate it, and promptly died of the “Big B.” I eat a pretty healthy diet, but I do have my wicked indulgences.

Chocolate is one, and this silly cheese sauce is another. After seeing what others did, I bought a #10 can of nacho cheese that weighed 6.62 pounds and cost me $7.48. I could easily get 13 half-pint jars (not quite 14 as someone else had posted) out of it, which comes out to 57¢ per jar. I suppose you could add a little more money in for the price of the energy it took to heat and can them. So let’s say 65¢ per jar. (I only canned 12 jars, though, and—um—put the rest away.) That’s a REALLY good price!

I heated the cheese sauce in a large saucepan over low heat (#3 on electric) and stirred every couple of minutes. I sprinkled in more cayenne as I stirred because I like it to have a bite. While that was warming on the stove, I put 12 clean AnchorGlass half-pint little fatty jars and lids in a 250-degree oven to sterilize. I turned the oven off about 10 minutes before I turned the cheese sauce off. I decided the sauce was ready when I heard a big “gloop” bubble come up from the bottom after a couple minutes of not stirring. It was quite warm but not at all boiling. I moved the pan to a small burner that I had turned on extremely low (#1). This stuff is gloopy and messy, and you want it to be as thin as you can get it—and only sustained heat will do that.

I took the jars out of the oven and let them cool a few minutes. I leaned each jar on the lip of the saucepan and used a shallow ladle to put the sauce in each jar. This way I wouldn’t gloop it all over the counters. Forget about a funnel—it won’t work. The instructions I had seen said to WB for 20 minutes, but since I have my new Carey now, I decided to do 15 minutes at LOW pressure (probably about 5 lb). And that’s how I died.

People love homemade preserves, jams, and pickles, which makes them the perfect hostess gift or stocking stuffer. One of my favourite wedding gifts was a huge basket full of homemade jams, jellies, and chutneys, which I enjoyed eating for months afterward.
Canning is not just for rural grandparents anymore. Americans of all ages and areas are returning to our roots and canning to capture fresher, more affordable flavors

For me I made the decision, based on where I am in my life, to freeze majority of foods instead of pressure canning and when I do choose to can, I can foods that are safe for waterbath canning only. A few examples are pineapple, jellies and jams, strawberry lemonade concentrate, pickles, salsa and cowboy candy. Believe me, this keeps me busy and it fits into my lifestyle. I may get beat up by saying I freeze food☺️ So my suggestion is, do what fits in to your lifestyle. For me, it’s a joy not a chore because I manage what I can.

My tomatoes I froze from last summer were taking up too much room in the freezer

I just tried German chocolate cake. I used a cake mix for this first try, but I dropped about 1/8 cup chopped pecans in the bottom of each jar before cooking. I was looking forward to testing it, but they all sealed. Oh well,

REBEL CANNING AT HOMESTEAD | Ecency