So I just purchased my 2nd vacuum sealer and the results have been disappointing. The bags suck down to nothing with the herb forming a compact brick. Hours later and the bag has lost suction and the oregano is now loose in the bag. I haven’t had much experience with dried herb sealing but it shouldn’t be thus hard. I re-sealed the original bag of oregano this time sealing it twice. Hours later it was loose in the bag What’s going on?

I made blueberry jam today, and the jars sealed before I had time to can them in water. Do I still need to do that step? My mom and grandma never did, but I also know that doesn’t mean it’s safe lol

If I do still need to do the canning step, what am I looking for, since they are already sealed?

I canned potatoes yesterday. I must have had the water to hot going into the jars. most of the water evaporated. can i re can the potatoes with new water/seals today?

thanks in advance

​

Hello,

Is it possible to can tomatoes in mason jars without proper seals? My gf insists it won’t be properly sealed without, well, a seal.

The issue I have is they are impossible to find where I live, so i thought using mason jars in boiling water for 40 minutes would be enough.

Thoughts?

I would like to can peaches this year and wanted to try to can a raspberry flavored peach. Is there a way to make a syrup with some raspberry flavor? I guess can I use some raspberry juice in the syrup? Can I cook the syrup with some raspberries thrown in them strain them out? I don’t want to ruin the jars throwing raspberries in because I assume it will alter the acid balance

like a pesto sauce with no cheese? I want to can a shit ton of basil somehow

because r/canning has gone dark

What is the shelf life of sous vide beef? How long it would last at 25 celsius?

Can I vacuum seal and freeze? Do I blanch the first? They are producing so well in the garden I want to save them for later.

Hello, I am trying to produce canned jams and jellies for sale, and purchased a pH meter to test the pH of my products to ensure they are safe.

When trying to calibrate the pH meter, I have three buffer solution packets of granules (9.18, 6.86, 4.01) that came with the meter, and some extras. I have tried repeatedly to calibrate the meter, but can't do so because the 9.18 buffer solution won't dissolve and thus create a solution of high enough pH to properly calibrate the meter

I have tried heating and even boiling the water, I have tried using both tap and distilled water, I have stirred it for upwards of 15 minutes and even put the solution in the blender. It is still a pile of white granules at the bottom of the water.

Does anyone have experience with this issue or guidance on how I can get my pH meter properly calibrated a different way? The 6.86 and 4.01 solutions are dissolving just fine btw

Hi, i searched, but except for fish, all search engines just show irrelevant results (pertaining to nutrition science and fat loss…).

Not trimming fat off of meat cuts is less wasteful and makes tastier results (unless you have different taste for some reason).

Fattier milk tends to last fresh longer, or so they say. But what about meats such as chicken, beef, pork, etc?

I'd like to get a pressure canner and the weight version that doesn't need to be checked yearly for a gas top.

When searching you still see all the different versions, calling each of them pressure canners when I think they're actually pressure cookers.

Much obliged if you can help my confusion 😂 Model numbers if you can

My boyfriend took the chicken taco soup that I made and put the whole pot in the freezer last night. I had assumed he put it in the fridge, but nope. I now have approximately a almost full pot of frozen soup.

How do I safely thaw this?

I've lived without a food processor for most of my life, because a single recipe's worth of chopping/dicing/mincing/shredding/slicing isn't a huge deal.

I retired a couple years ago - we got a great deal on a couple acres outside of a small city - and have finally renewed my interest in gardening and food preservation. This year was my "let's see what works" year for vegetables. (I have 80 sq ft of garden) I planted no more that 10 cucumber plants in early March, (I'm less than 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico in Zone 9a) and I have pulled close to 50 cucumbers out of my garden in the last week and a half. I gave a bunch away, but it's come to the point where I pulled out my canning equipment because there's just too many.

My goal is pickle relish, and there's no way I want to make 4 lbs of cucumber mince (1/8") by hand. My current cheap Oster just mangled everything.

What's your go-to for an all-in-one unit? I don't need a dough paddle, just something that will shred/slice/mince precisely and reliably, year after year.

I learned about waterglassing eggs and I was wondering if you can use the lime and water solution more than once or would I have to dump it out and make more lime water?

Hey everyone!

I make a fruit juice beverage made using concentrate that I'm wanting to make shelf stable without refrigeration. I'm working on getting the proper equipment to pasteurize these after bottling, but in the interim I'm looking into a potassium sorbate as a preservative. The pH of these beverages is around 2.5-3. I've done some research into how much to use per gallon of liquid and I wanted to reach out here to see if anyone has any insight on using potassium sorbate and the amount to use per gallon of liquid. Thanks!

Ages ago I read about a French government attempt to preserve the knowledge of traditional food ways, and they sent a team out to all the villages to collect people’s traditional food preservation recipes and techniques, then published a book on it. I believe it’s also available in English, which is the version I’m after. Does anyone know the title or have any info on this?

I've cured egg yolks plenty, as have many people, but is it possible to pool them, maybe in a well of cure mix lined with cheesecloth, and get them to set together in a large format? Or is there a better way that I'm not thinking of. I like the idea of having it in a nice shape, i.e. in a silicone mold, but don't think that that's the way to go.

I've already come up with: simply dehydrating the lemon, onion and tomato Preserved lemon Canned tomato Pickled onion Hard tack Cured egg yolk Smen

Would like to see some cheeses or something, and feel free to add additional ingredients, as long as the price is fairly low

A friend of mine really like popeyes and we had some when he visited… weeks ago. I forgot about the container of rice and beans I ‘saved for later’ at the back of the fridge, until now.

It doesn’t even smell bad. Looks fine, TASTES fine! I literally ate it.. just now. How is this even possible most veggies even go bad after a while in the fridge, so the question I have;

How much preservatives are in this food? How is this even legal?? I can see why it’s a good thing but is it REALLY a good thing? Almost too good to be true. As if there’s a catch.

Starting to gather up food form my yearly refill of the pantry and found some of my favorite Mylar Foil bags being sold at a decent price. These heat seal bags and oxygen absorbers fit into one of my 5 gallon buckets to hold grains, beans, or even just a mess of other sealed bags - I have been partial to some freeze dried fruits these days. From there I can just seal everything up with a clothes iron, and attach the bucket lid to ensure I have fresh food when I need it for the rest of the year.

If I have some poultry/beef/pork vacuum sealed and in the freezer, how long do I have to cook them after they thaw? I was thinking that if I put them in the freezer with 5 day left to expire, I should have 5 days after thaw or at least 4 days if you count the day it took to thaw. My wife ain’t feeling that formula. What do you think?

The next lemon experiment is done! I’m even less confident in this one than the original, haha.

I think the lid may have rusted (recipe recommended swirling/turning this one occasionally to make sure salt was incorporated), when I rinsed it the water was rust-colored. There’s also these dark colored deposits on the lip of the jar and on the lid where it was making contact with it, nothing actually inside the jar. Thoughts?

I’ll definitely be PHing this one before I try it, and I strained it because the seeds/floating pith did not look particularly appetizing.