Canning class/ Mylar class. FEB 13 class.

[jerrymrc]

Thinking of doing a canning/mylar class sometime in January. Anybody want one? I will post here the attendees. If you want to attend drop me a PM and I will add to this first post. 6-7 people for the first one. I will post some info on what you can bring to make your class better for ya. Two things have come up. Only one signed up as of today and I have a sick kitty that is need some care. Let me know what weekend in February works and we will do this. I will bump this but always read this first post for updates.

1. The Ginsue

2. Batteriesnare

[esaabye]

Thinking of doing a canning/mylar class sometime in January. Anybody want one?

Depends on the timing but in theory yes.

[jerrymrc]

Depends on the timing but in theory yes. Right now I am kind of open. I know there are some that want to put stuff in mylar so looking at something like the 22-23?

Thoughts gang.

[theGinsue]

Of course, my schedule might change (I think I'm on call that week), but I'm interested in both canning and mylar!

[Beprepared]

Pending schedule, sounds good.

[jerrymrc]

4 would be about ideal. I have some Mylar on hand and as far as canning goes We could set it up so each one goes home with 7-8 pints of meat and the knowledge to do it themselves.

Start with cooking/prep tips and tricks then once we get it running switch to Mylar for the 90 min that the jars are processing. Total time would be about 3 hours.

Mylar would require for you to bring your sugar/rice/pasta Or whatever you wanted to take back with you. ..

[GearHead]

I would be interested in both canning and mylar.

[DFBrews]

i would be interested in attending a class. I have canned sterile wort (unferemented beer) for use to propagate yeast but that is the extent of my canning experience.

[nikon]

That sounds awesome. I'm headed back to Alaska, on the 12th. Drag, please post again if you choose to do another one.

[Dravur]

I would be Very interested. I just started learning about canning and tried my hand at some pickled eggs... not true canning, but it was interesting.

[Batteriesnare]

Jerry, I'm in depending on the scheduling. Let me know if you have room!

[jerrymrc]

Jerry, I'm in depending on the scheduling. Let me know if you have room!

I will do that. I will make plans and a date next week. :)

[gaileforce]

Would be interested. Would need to be a weekend day as my location is north of Denver.

[GearHead]

If it matters, I would prefer a Sunday schedule. Looking forward to the class.

[beast556]

If you have room I would like to just come and watch. Me and my wife are trying to build our stash and any info would help us so very much. Any day but tuesday will work for me if there is room.

Bryan

[jerrymrc]

Let me see what I can scare up and will finalize this soon. :)

[flan7211]

I'd love to be there.[Beer]

[jerrymrc]

Go read the first post gang. 23 January. I am looking at 10am-1pm right now.

[theGinsue]

4 would be about ideal. I have some Mylar on hand and as far as canning goes We could set it up so each one goes home with 7-8 pints of meat and the knowledge to do it themselves.

Start with cooking/prep tips and tricks then once we get it running switch to Mylar for the 90 min that the jars are processing. Total time would be about 3 hours.

Mylar would require for you to bring your sugar/rice/pasta Or whatever you wanted to take back with you. Each bag is like 56 cents and is PAKVF4C 5Mil Food Grade material from sorbant systems. The bags are 10"X16" and the eq of a #10 can. I can cut them in 1/2 to make smaller bags. 02 absorbers run about 27 cents each so lets say 95 cents per bag after shipping.

A few questions.

Mostly, I'm just trying to determine how much of what we need to bring.
And, for the things you will be providing, how much do you anticipate that we should bring to cover your costs, etc.?

Do we need to pre-order the mylar bags or just show up and pay you for what we use?

Should we bring a 12-pk of pint jars/lids/rings?

What type of meat do you suggest we bring, and is there any type of cooking/prep we should do with it ahead of time?

Since I've never mylared anything, what type(s) and how much sugar/rice/pasta do you recommend?

Sorry for all of the newbie type of questions, I just don't want to show up totally unprepared (like I usually do for things), and I want to make sure that you are properly compensated for everything.

Thanks for doing this Jerry, I'm really looking forward to it!

[jerrymrc]

Will post up what you may want to bring tomorrow. I will have Mylar and 02 absorbers.

[funkfool]

I may be in for this - if there is room - I learned a good bit last time we mylar'ed - would like to learn to can...
I should hit Sams club for more bulk supplies...

Hmmm... the 23rd - NFL Conference championship game at 1

[jerrymrc]

Please read post #1 for updates. Rescheduled for Febuary so what works for the masses? Looking at a Sunday the 13th. No Superbowl or Daytona. :)

[funkfool]

I will be on a plane heading back from S. Korea the 13th...
The 27th would be best for me, but alas, I am only one person no matter what the narcissist in me screams...
[LOL]

[theGinsue]

Wife will be away for a few days during that time so it works perfectly for me.

[jerrymrc]

This is a bump. Drop me a line if you want to be there.

[jerrymrc]

An update. Some of the details. The canning class will be just that, a class. I may have a few of the jars for sale if one wants. You do not need to bring anything for the canning portian unless you want to buy the pressure canner after the class. http://www.co-ar15.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23562

Mylar. I have ordered more bags and absorbers. These will be $1 per bag with your food items. These are #10 can size.
Perfect items to start out with are; Rice, salt, pasta, sugar, beans, flour or masa (5lb bag fits nice) spices, pancake mix, powdered milk and/or any dry or dehydrated items. If you have smaller things like spices we can cut and seal bags to fit. This will be a class and a chance to put up some items.

I have more than enough bags but will have 50 absorbers. Looks like I have 3 people for the canning and two for the mylar.

I will also have some items to try for those attending. A combination of things related to food storage. [Coffee]

[jerrymrc]

1 Week to go. I also will make a few dishes with foods that were put away in Mylar or canned to give one some ideas on cooking with food storage.

Could use a few more gang. :) Right now I have 3-4 people coming.

[ARgal]

I would be interested in the canning class. Is this going to be held in CO Spgs?

[jerrymrc]

I would be interested in the canning class. Is this going to be held in CO Spgs?

Yes it is. Looking at 10-1 or so on Sunday.

[ARgal]

Yes it is. Looking at 10-1 or so on Sunday.

Great - if you have room i would like to attend. I'm new on the forum, so just getting to know people. Will you post the location or send a pm or something?

[SA Friday]

I'm in too Jerry. Can you pm me the address?

[theGinsue]

Still have me on the list don't you?

Looking forward to the class!

[ChunkyMonkey]

What time is the gathering?

[jerrymrc]

What time is the gathering?

Looking to start at 10am.

[jerrymrc]

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.[Coffee]

[Batteriesnare]

Awesome! [Beer]

[ChunkyMonkey]

I wish I could.. I won't be free til 1ish.

[jerrymrc]

I wish I could.. I won't be free til 1ish.

The way this is looking is it will be a canning class with info/show and tell on the Mylar. I think we will be setting up a date in the next month or so to do a mylar party.

Stay tuned. At the very least I will let ya know next time I am doing a batch and we can work it so you could come down and learn. My canning goes in spurts. meat is done when the sales are and things like jams and green beans are normally in July/Aug.

[Beer]

[Batteriesnare]

Should we bring items to mylar then?

[jerrymrc]

Should we bring items to mylar then?

Bring them but I do not believe we have enough stuff to do a set of o2 absorbers. I think after tomorrow then we will have enough people to set a date in late feb or march to use a package of them. If we do then it is not a problem. We may have a work around so do bring your items.:)

[jerrymrc]

I thought we had a good time today. Had 4 people show up.

I will start another thread soon for a Mylar date. Hope everyone had a good time.[Beer]

[theGinsue]

I had a great time and found it to be exceptionally informative. Looking forward to attending the mylar class.

I got home and called my best friend and spoke with his wife for a few minutes. She does water bath canning and told me she wished her hubby had told her about this (he's not on the site but knew I was coming today) as she would have liked to have come too. She said she wants to learn how to pressure can but (thanks to her mom & grandma scaring her about pressure canning "blow ups") she is afraid to get started.

I told her that, barring another opportunity to attend one of Jerry's classes, I'd show her what I learned - if she bought her own gear.

It was also great to meet all of todays attendees (out of respect for your privacy, I won't call you out - but you could always post a response).

ETA: Jerry - If you would be so kind, please post your roll recipe in the recipe thread - those were delicious!

[ARgal]

I had a great time at the canning class also - it was very informative. I have been thinking about starting to do some canning for awhile now, and this has given me the information I needed to get started. Thanks so much Jerry for hosting it and sharing your knowledge with us.

And it was fun to meet some of the other forum members. :)

Debra

[ARgal]

OK - I ordered a pressure canner yesterday. Looks like the end of season sales are going on so it's a good time to buy if you are planning on gettiing one. Amazon has the Presto 23 qt with the dial gauge for $72. Can't wait to try it out. I think I will can some chili and maybe some spaghetti sauce first.

[jerrymrc]

OK - I ordered a pressure canner yesterday. Looks like the end of season sales are going on so it's a good time to buy if you are planning on gettiing one. Amazon has the Presto 23 qt with the dial gauge for $72. Can't wait to try it out. I think I will can some chili and maybe some spaghetti sauce first.

Sounds good. your more than welcome to drop me a line if you ever have a question.[Coffee]

[ARgal]

Sounds good. your more than welcome to drop me a line if you ever have a question.[Coffee]

Thanks Jerry! i'll do that.

[SA Friday]

The class was exactly what I was looking for. Jerry laid it out very well and cleared a lot of the smoke away about canning. I have looked quite a bit into pressure cooking and the equipment necessary both before and after the class. The class made a huge difference in my comfort level in this endeavour and I now know what I'm looking at in these searches.

I'm gonna cry once and wait till the tax return is back and get an All American 21 1/2 qt canner. I going to try out doing some pickles in water bath first though. It looks fairly easy and should be a fun project to break the ice.

Hopefully, the wife and I can get some semblence of a garden going this summer and I can jar up the results. At the very least, I'll snag some of the cheap basics over the coming months and get some food stocked up before Ginsue finely decides to stick the fork in the light socket and crash the front range power grid for a couple months. [Tooth]

[SA Friday]

OK, did pickles with a quick mix and water bath. I did a couple with red pepper and most without. Some of the cucumbers were too thick with seeds to be really crisp, but for the most part they came out really well.

Biggest learning part was just how long it takes for the jars to cool off and suck the lids down. also, cut the cucumbers as long as possible because they will shrink a lot.

I'm gonna play with some other veggies when I can get around to it and will post the results and just how easy it is. pickles with a quick mix are really easy.

BTW, I have a lot of fridge shelf space. what effect will storing the canned foods in the fridge have? Last longer after pulled out? No effect at all? Cause them to unseal? Don't have a clue.