Post by chuck on Apr 30, 2009 21:18:56 GMT -5
I just copied these from our site if you have any technical questions you'll have to talk to Jenny.
Canning Cheese
When I heard about canning butter, I was also told that you can do cheese the same way. Here's what I do. I've only canned cheddar cheese, but I suppose it would work for any hard cheese. As with the canning butter recipe, I could not find any "approved" method in any of my books, and when I called the extension service, I was told that canning cheese like this was not an approved method by the FDA. Sooooooo, use at your own risk. This is just for information and to let you know what I do.
There are really 2 ways. I used to melt the cheese in a double boiler, then spoon it into the sterilized jars. Sometimes the cheese sticks to the bottom of the pan, and the whole thing is a big, gloppy mess.
Here’s better way that’s cleaner, faster and easier.
1. I sterilize wide mouth pint jars in a 250 degree oven for at least 20 minutes. Since it's harder to regulate a woodburning cookstove oven to that low a temperature, mine is usually hotter. Since you'll process the cheese in a boiling water bath for awhile, this probably isn't necessary, but I think it's safer, so it's what I do.
2. Sterilize new canning lids according to package instructions. I let them simmer in water about 5 minutes, then keep them in hot water until I need them.
3. Now I either cut up the cheese, or if it’s frozen I crumble it and pack it into clean, dry pint jars. Then I place the jars (without lids) on a rack in my boiling water bath canner, to which I have already added some water. You want the water to come about halfway up the jars. Any higher and it bubbles in if it gets to boiling. Then, as the cheese melts, I add more until the cheese fills the jars to within about ½ inch of the top
4. When all melted, I remove the jars from the canner, wipe the rims, and seal the jars. Then I proceed with the boiling water bath for 40 minutes. When ready, remove jars from water with a jar lifter. Leave undisturbed until completely cooled. Check to make sure all the lids have sealed before labeling and storing.
As with butter, 11 pounds will fill about 12 1/2 pint jars -- or just over 3/4 pound per pint jar. We keep ours in the cache year round. We’ve eaten cheese that I canned like this several years earlier and it was delicious. It tends to get a little sharper, which I like. It doesn’t melt as good as fresh cheese, but when you’re in the bush and don’t have fresh cheese, it’s more than acceptable any way you’d use fresh cheese! During the winter, we usually keep cheese stored in buckets outside so it stays frozen. But, like meat, come springtime with the warmer temperatures, I start canning.
Canning Butter
Several years ago I asked a friend if she'd ever canned butter. She had not tried it yet, but said she'd read that it could be done easily and safely. Don't know about margerine. I have not found this in the Ball Blue Book Of Canning, or any other book, and when I called the extension service, they said there is no "approved" method to preserve butter. So, I guess this is a word of mouth thing, and use at your own risk. This is just what I have done and never gotten sick using butter I've canned.
I’ve tried two methods, so I’ll give both:
1. To fill a pint jar, you need just over 3/4 pound of butter. (actually, it works out to .88 lbs. --- 11 pounds will fill 12.5 pint jars.)
2. Using a large stainless steel or good enamel pot, gradually melt the butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. I use a big stainless steel pot I use to make jelly. Stir frequently. As butter melts, add more butter until it's all melted. Keep stirring frequently. I let mine come to a simmer before pouring into the prepared jars.
3. While the butter is melting, put clean pint canning jars in a 250 degree oven for a good 20 minutes. With a woodburning stove, it's a little hard to keep right at that temperature, so when I do it, it's hotter. Since the processing time is fairly long (see below), I don't think this step is essential. But, it's easy, and I feel better about it.
4. Sterilize canning lids according to directions. I simmer them in a little pan of water, and keep them hot until I need them.
5. When all the butter you are using for this batch has melted, and your jars have been in a 250 degree oven for at least 20 minutes, ladle the melted butter into the jars using a canning funnel if you have one. Leave 1/2 to 3/4 inch headspace. I stir the butter a little to keep it mixed and to keep it from cooling and sticking to the sides of the pot.
6. When all the jars are filled, wipe the rims well and place hot lids and bands. Screw down hand tight.
7. Process 40 minutes in a boiling water bath. When done, remove with a jar lifter.
8. Now, those were all the instructions I was given, so that's all I did. I just left the jars undisturbed until cooled, listening for them to seal. But, when they cooled completely, I was disappointed that the butter had separated. Nothing wrong with it, but I had to mix it up before using it, and only used it for cooking. The taste and smell were fine, and it was not rancid. But, recently I read on Pipedreams Campfire site about a method that's a little different. I think the main thing is #9 . . .
9. Instead of leaving the jars alone after removing from the boiling water bath, wait until they cool enough to handle. Then shake each jar a little every few minutes as they cool. This really works great to keep the butter from separating. I've read that once the butter begins to stay consitent, you can put it in the refrigerator, still checking every 5 minutes and shaking. Do this until they solidify and won't shake anymore. Once the jars are cool and the butter is solidified, you can store on the shelf. I don't have refrigeration, so I just put them outside on the porch and go shake them every few minutes. Doesn't take long at all once they're in the cold. Then I labeled them, put them in a box, and stored them in the cache for use last summer.
Since I didn't know about the shaking when I did my original batches of butter about 4 or 5 years ago, I did the process over with the jars we still had left. They worked fine.
The method I read about in Campfire and on some other web sites was a little different from my original method. I recently tried it this way:
1. Melt the butter as above; heat the jars and sterilize the lids as described above.
2. Instead of pouring the melted butter into jars at this point, continue heating and stirring until it almost boils. Stir frequently as it simmers for at least 5 minutes. Don't let it scorch. The butter separates as it heats, but then blends again as it is simmered and stirred.
3. Remove jars from oven and fill as described above. Clean the jar rims, and place the hot lids and bands on the jars, and hand tighten.
4. After a few minutes, some of the jars will begin to seal. I found it best to leave them alone a few minutes. When I tried to shake them as they sealed, the lids popped back up. However, they did seal again, so I just waited until the jars were cool enough to easily handle and had been sealed at least a few minutes before I began shaking. Continue shaking every few minutes, as above. When the butter remains more consistent in the jars, you can refrigerate and check every few minutes. Continue shaking every 5 minutes until the butter solidifies. In this method, the jars are not processed in a boiling water bath.
So, it seems that you can either melt the butter, then do a boiling water bath for 40 minutes, or cook longer so that the butter simmers and don't do a boiling water bath. Either way, the jars will seal, and I didn't notice much difference in the taste or texture. In both methods, both the taste and texture were altered a little. But, since we don't have refrigeration, we have had butter go rancid during the summers before I started canning it. At least this way, we'll be able to have butter year round. I suppose either way is safe, but I feel better about melting it, pouring into jars, then doing the boiling water bath. Takes longer, but I'd feel better about using it after it's been stored for several years.
If anybody else has tried this or has any information, let us know.
Jenny
Canning Cheese
When I heard about canning butter, I was also told that you can do cheese the same way. Here's what I do. I've only canned cheddar cheese, but I suppose it would work for any hard cheese. As with the canning butter recipe, I could not find any "approved" method in any of my books, and when I called the extension service, I was told that canning cheese like this was not an approved method by the FDA. Sooooooo, use at your own risk. This is just for information and to let you know what I do.
There are really 2 ways. I used to melt the cheese in a double boiler, then spoon it into the sterilized jars. Sometimes the cheese sticks to the bottom of the pan, and the whole thing is a big, gloppy mess.
Here’s better way that’s cleaner, faster and easier.
1. I sterilize wide mouth pint jars in a 250 degree oven for at least 20 minutes. Since it's harder to regulate a woodburning cookstove oven to that low a temperature, mine is usually hotter. Since you'll process the cheese in a boiling water bath for awhile, this probably isn't necessary, but I think it's safer, so it's what I do.
2. Sterilize new canning lids according to package instructions. I let them simmer in water about 5 minutes, then keep them in hot water until I need them.
3. Now I either cut up the cheese, or if it’s frozen I crumble it and pack it into clean, dry pint jars. Then I place the jars (without lids) on a rack in my boiling water bath canner, to which I have already added some water. You want the water to come about halfway up the jars. Any higher and it bubbles in if it gets to boiling. Then, as the cheese melts, I add more until the cheese fills the jars to within about ½ inch of the top
4. When all melted, I remove the jars from the canner, wipe the rims, and seal the jars. Then I proceed with the boiling water bath for 40 minutes. When ready, remove jars from water with a jar lifter. Leave undisturbed until completely cooled. Check to make sure all the lids have sealed before labeling and storing.
As with butter, 11 pounds will fill about 12 1/2 pint jars -- or just over 3/4 pound per pint jar. We keep ours in the cache year round. We’ve eaten cheese that I canned like this several years earlier and it was delicious. It tends to get a little sharper, which I like. It doesn’t melt as good as fresh cheese, but when you’re in the bush and don’t have fresh cheese, it’s more than acceptable any way you’d use fresh cheese! During the winter, we usually keep cheese stored in buckets outside so it stays frozen. But, like meat, come springtime with the warmer temperatures, I start canning.
Canning Butter
Several years ago I asked a friend if she'd ever canned butter. She had not tried it yet, but said she'd read that it could be done easily and safely. Don't know about margerine. I have not found this in the Ball Blue Book Of Canning, or any other book, and when I called the extension service, they said there is no "approved" method to preserve butter. So, I guess this is a word of mouth thing, and use at your own risk. This is just what I have done and never gotten sick using butter I've canned.
I’ve tried two methods, so I’ll give both:
1. To fill a pint jar, you need just over 3/4 pound of butter. (actually, it works out to .88 lbs. --- 11 pounds will fill 12.5 pint jars.)
2. Using a large stainless steel or good enamel pot, gradually melt the butter over low heat, stirring occasionally. I use a big stainless steel pot I use to make jelly. Stir frequently. As butter melts, add more butter until it's all melted. Keep stirring frequently. I let mine come to a simmer before pouring into the prepared jars.
3. While the butter is melting, put clean pint canning jars in a 250 degree oven for a good 20 minutes. With a woodburning stove, it's a little hard to keep right at that temperature, so when I do it, it's hotter. Since the processing time is fairly long (see below), I don't think this step is essential. But, it's easy, and I feel better about it.
4. Sterilize canning lids according to directions. I simmer them in a little pan of water, and keep them hot until I need them.
5. When all the butter you are using for this batch has melted, and your jars have been in a 250 degree oven for at least 20 minutes, ladle the melted butter into the jars using a canning funnel if you have one. Leave 1/2 to 3/4 inch headspace. I stir the butter a little to keep it mixed and to keep it from cooling and sticking to the sides of the pot.
6. When all the jars are filled, wipe the rims well and place hot lids and bands. Screw down hand tight.
7. Process 40 minutes in a boiling water bath. When done, remove with a jar lifter.
8. Now, those were all the instructions I was given, so that's all I did. I just left the jars undisturbed until cooled, listening for them to seal. But, when they cooled completely, I was disappointed that the butter had separated. Nothing wrong with it, but I had to mix it up before using it, and only used it for cooking. The taste and smell were fine, and it was not rancid. But, recently I read on Pipedreams Campfire site about a method that's a little different. I think the main thing is #9 . . .
9. Instead of leaving the jars alone after removing from the boiling water bath, wait until they cool enough to handle. Then shake each jar a little every few minutes as they cool. This really works great to keep the butter from separating. I've read that once the butter begins to stay consitent, you can put it in the refrigerator, still checking every 5 minutes and shaking. Do this until they solidify and won't shake anymore. Once the jars are cool and the butter is solidified, you can store on the shelf. I don't have refrigeration, so I just put them outside on the porch and go shake them every few minutes. Doesn't take long at all once they're in the cold. Then I labeled them, put them in a box, and stored them in the cache for use last summer.
Since I didn't know about the shaking when I did my original batches of butter about 4 or 5 years ago, I did the process over with the jars we still had left. They worked fine.
The method I read about in Campfire and on some other web sites was a little different from my original method. I recently tried it this way:
1. Melt the butter as above; heat the jars and sterilize the lids as described above.
2. Instead of pouring the melted butter into jars at this point, continue heating and stirring until it almost boils. Stir frequently as it simmers for at least 5 minutes. Don't let it scorch. The butter separates as it heats, but then blends again as it is simmered and stirred.
3. Remove jars from oven and fill as described above. Clean the jar rims, and place the hot lids and bands on the jars, and hand tighten.
4. After a few minutes, some of the jars will begin to seal. I found it best to leave them alone a few minutes. When I tried to shake them as they sealed, the lids popped back up. However, they did seal again, so I just waited until the jars were cool enough to easily handle and had been sealed at least a few minutes before I began shaking. Continue shaking every few minutes, as above. When the butter remains more consistent in the jars, you can refrigerate and check every few minutes. Continue shaking every 5 minutes until the butter solidifies. In this method, the jars are not processed in a boiling water bath.
So, it seems that you can either melt the butter, then do a boiling water bath for 40 minutes, or cook longer so that the butter simmers and don't do a boiling water bath. Either way, the jars will seal, and I didn't notice much difference in the taste or texture. In both methods, both the taste and texture were altered a little. But, since we don't have refrigeration, we have had butter go rancid during the summers before I started canning it. At least this way, we'll be able to have butter year round. I suppose either way is safe, but I feel better about melting it, pouring into jars, then doing the boiling water bath. Takes longer, but I'd feel better about using it after it's been stored for several years.
If anybody else has tried this or has any information, let us know.
Jenny
Another karma coming ;D
