Home Canned Chili Con Carne

We do a lot of entertaining both at home and our vacation home.  One huge hit has always been chili dogs which basically are all beef wieners topped with chili, onions and grated cheese.  For years, I made chili with beans (chili con carne) from scratch then froze part for chili dogs.  Then a few years ago I decided to home can chili with beans as a homemade convenience product for the pantry.

Commercially canned chili con carne is available in the grocery store but hands down the winner in terms of flavour and price is home canned.  Home canned chili is processed in a pressure canner for 75 minutes at 10 lb pressure at altitudes under 1,000 feet above sea level.  This raises the internal contents of the jar to 116°C/240°F so the contents will still be boiling when the jars are removed from the canner.  While this temperature will destroy any botulinum spores that could produce toxin resulting in Botulism, it does produce a slight to pronounced textural change in some  foods.  Pressure canned meats can take on a slight rubbery texture some do not care for.  However, a nice selection of home canned meat products is ideal as homemade convenience products in the pantry as well as emergency supplies in the event of a power failure.

Kitchen Quick Tips - Cooking Beans

Add an eighth tsp of baking soda to the soaking water when soaking dry beans.  This reduces the indigestible sugars that can cause flatulence.  Rinse beans after cooking if possible to reduce intestinal gas further.

My Somewhat Restocked Pantry

I was beyond excited when we bought this house last year knowing full well the fifth bedroom would be used as a full size pantry.  The room is located on the lower level of a bi-level home.  It is approximately 11' x 10' so has ample storage space.  The pantry is home to all of our home canned foods, dried foods, two chest freezers and specialized kitchen appliances.  I have spent a considerable amount of time restocking and organizing the pantry  over the past few months.

The pantry is located off the large games room (out of camera range) on the lower level, on the north wall of our house, across from the lower bathroom and adjacent to a door leading to the outside.  It does of course have both AC and heating to maintaining a constant temperature is not an issue.  Not only is the room spacious, it is almost square with a nice window that really isn't needed in a pantry but the depth can be used for extra storage.  There is a nice size closet that when cleaned out of the boxes from moving can be used for additional storage.   It is by any accounts one of the nicest and most spacious pantries we have ever had.  Oh, and I did notice the walls in the pictures look purple.  They aren't.  The walls in the hall and games room are almost a chocolate brown and the walls in the pantry are a taupe with a funky black racing stripe.

As you enter the pantry to the left (west wall) there is a large closet ( just barely shown to the left).  It is home to a few boxes we haven't unpacked yet.  I do have a nice over the door rack to hang a few things on the pantry door.  The west wall has large plastic storage totes that are going to be replaced with a storage locker.  An industrial wire mesh shelving unit hold a lot of staples like baking needs, dried pastas, commercially purchased foods and home canning.  Our house backs onto a farm field so everything in the pantry is protected from rodent damage.  Rodents did get in last year when the field was harvested but since hiring an exterminator, we have had no problems.  Still, everything is protected as we spend an average of three months outside of the country.

The north wall has a nice size window that will end up being blacked out with the new deck in 2013.  What I would like to do with that space is turn it into storage as the window well is a good foot deep.  I have pails of dry food in recycled ice cream bins (right) and other recycled rodent proof food grade containers.  There is a smaller wire rack to house recipe books, canning supplies and basically whatever else I can fit on it.  Beside that is our largest chest freezer.  We down sized this freezer when we moved to our last house.  It is just borderline small but will hold a half a beef with a bit of extra room and it is EnergyStar rated.  To the front of the north wall are three boxes of mason jars.  I was in the midst of home canning when I took the picture so that's where they were.  They will be filled with home canned goodies shortly.

The east wall of the wall has a huge, industrial strength shelving unit we got from one of our friends who has a grocery store franchise during their renovation.  It houses a lot of our small kitchen appliances.  Not seen but to the back of the top shelf are two knitting machines and on the bottom adjacent to the freezer are boxes of my candlemaking supplies.  The second to the top shelf has 206 jars of wonderful home canned tomato product.  The bottom shelf is home to home canned products in cases waiting their spot on shelves.

If you look close, I like using painter's tape for labeling.  It comes off cleanly without causing any damage to the cartons or shelving.  I use a Sharpie to write on it.  It's not high tech but it works for us.

The south wall of the pantry is short as that is the entrance wall.  It has the smaller freezer, home to poultry, pork and fish.  To the corner, there is enough room to stack two rows of empty jars which was stacked to the ceiling before I started the busiest canning season.  BSo eside the freezer, there is a small wire shelf that is used for plastics, cook books and extras.  I don't have much in the way of plastic storage so don't need a lot of storage space to begin with.

There is a bit of space above the freezer where we are thinking of adding a cabinet.  So there is still a fair amount of potential for increasing the storage in our pantry.  It is still not fully stocked but I'm working on it.  I am pleased that so far the pantry is organized and progressing nicely.

Home Canned Crushed Tomatoes

I am not a huge fan of home canning plain, basics as in tomato products.  The reason is two fold.  First home canned basic tomato products while versatile take up a fair amount of space in the pantry that could be better used for a home canned convenience product.  I would rather can the tomatoes in the form of ready to use sauce or quick meal than just plain tomatoes.  Second, there is little savings in canning a basic tomato product like whole, diced or crushed tomatoes.  This is not the case for me as my tomatoes are free to begin with but it is a factor for others who have to pay for their produce.

I decided to can a few jars of crushed tomatoes for the pantry.  Like most of my tomato products, I acidified and pressure canned both batches.  Pressure canning results in a healthier product that makes the beneficial anti-oxidant lycopene more readily available to the body and it save considerable time over processing in a boiling water bath canner (BWB).

I hot packed the first batch of crushed tomatoes (l jars to the back).  Plain tomatoes tend to be a bit problematic in that they will lose liquid during the canning process especially if raw packed.  I don't like that so hot packed the jars meaning I brought the tomatoes to a low boil using the method to prevent separation then processed.  There should have been no liquid loss but I suspected the venting time was a bit longer than it should have been for the first batch.  The batch was fine with all jars sealing just a bit more headspace than I like.  The second batch (500 ml jars to the front) had no leakage problems.  Once I removed the rings for storage, I was more than happy with the results.  The jars were picture perfect!

When it comes to home canning, pay attention to the required headspace.  This is a must and very important when processing using a pressure canner.  Be meticulous about the venting period before the canner is brought to pressure.  This allows any trapped air in the jar to be released before the canning process.  Most canner manufacturers recommend a 10 minute vent period.  Ignoring either of these will cause problems like liquid leakage and failed seals.  In the event a jar does leak during the canning process, as long as it seals during the cooling period the food is fine for storage although you might have a bit of a mess to clean-up in the canner.  If the jar does not seal during the 24 hour cooling process, put the jar in the refrigerator for use within a day or two or reprocess.