One Year of Pressure Canning

Asparagus was on sale, reminding me of the four pounds I canned last year.  Looking at the date on the lids, I found that it has been a year since I got up the courage to use the pressure canner.

So, how do I like this investment?  I'm still scared of botulism every time I open a jar, which is probably why I haven't opened more of them.  I save the lid for three days.  This is not something I do with water-bath jars.

The quality of the product is amazing.  When I open a jar of ugly chicken, I wonder why I don't do it more often.  The only thing I've canned that I didn't like was the vegetable broth.  That's so easy to make as needed on the stove, I probably won't go to the trouble again.  Also, I'm not saving money by canning chicken or beef broth, considering how rarely I use them.

One thing I've discovered is that I don't open as many cans or jars of any one thing as I thought I did.  There are still two jars of asparagus.  Most of the chicken is still on the shelf, as is half of the chicken broth.  I'm almost out of all the beans, though.  There's a lot more sweet potato than I expected, but I didn't plan to make that many jars in the first place.  As much as I love the products, I'm one person and I have a huge variety of items in my pantry and freezer.

So, what's on the canning list for this year?  Pretty soon, some beans.  I'll do it next time I need canned (in case one doesn't seal).  I would love to get a case of Roma tomatoes to make about eight jars of quartered and the rest as tomato sauce.  I already have the citric acid for the project.  I'm only doing it if it's cheaper than buying commercially canned.  The excessive amount of tomatoes I planted this year may or may not supply enough for both canning and dried.  I'm almost out of canned pork, which may be my favorite item.  Sort of tied with beef.  They both come out as easy shredded meats.  For water bath canning, I'd like to have more sliced fruit.  I'm finding it the easiest thing to put in my work-lunch yogurt.  Fresh and frozen are best, but I'm enjoying the ease of canned, and sweetening it with a spoonful of the syrup.  It also works well when I take a break from yogurt to pack cottage cheese for a couple of weeks.

As far as the canner paying for itself, once I've finished last year's products, I've probably broken even on the canner itself.  The jars and lids will take another year or so.  Aside from attrition of jars breaking, I think I'm done buying them.  There are a lot of empty jars in the closet.  I now have a realistic idea of how much home-canned food I should be making for a year.  I have plenty for a few days without power, and much more using it in rotation with other pantry items.

One thing I did note was the price increases over last year.  The boneless-skinless chicken breast I canned was $2 a pound.  It's now an absolute minimum sale price of $3.  The asparagus has gone up fifty cents.  Pork is still $3 a pound for shoulder roasts, but beef chuck is a dollar more.  So, what I have canned is last year's prices.  Something to keep in mind.