Canning...old school style

Canning is something that I think any self respecting survivalist should be able to do. In most parts of the US it's impossible to grow crops year round. If things get so bad that the supply lines shut down then there will probably be several months out of the year where the grocery stores just don't have much produce on the shelf. The months when they DO have plenty on the shelf are the months when your gardens should be in full swing, anyway. The same goes for meat. Not everyone can raise their own meat animals thanks to ridiculous local laws and hunting ends up costing more than what it would cost to just buy the meat at the market at today's prices. With prices getting more and more expensive, canning is becoming all the more viable. A year ago you could fill up a pantry with canned meat and vegetables from the grocery store for half of what you can today. I went to Wal-Mart today and canned TUNA was $1 a can. A year ago it regularly went on sale for 3 for $1. This stuff is just going to keep getting more expensive.

So what can you do about it? Can it yourself! It costs a little bit to get things started but once you get things rolling most of the stuff is paid for and it becomes really cheap. A couple of months ago I decided that my garden was producing more than I'd be able to eat so I went ahead and invested in some canning jars and a water bath canner. My water bath canner was $20 and the jars were about $10 for a dozen. These are brand new prices. That was a pretty good start but it didn't take me long to realize that I'd need more. Luckily, the jars will last you forever as long as they don't break and new lids are only a couple of bucks for a dozen (stock up now). The biggest downside to water bath canning is that most recipes call for distilled vinegar which may be hard to come across during a major emergency. Luckily, it's ridiculously cheap and relatively easy to stock up on.

Once you realize how easy it is it becomes obvious that a pressure canner is where it's at. I lucked out and found an old canner at a thrift store that cost me $20. It uses weights instead of a pressure gauge and it doesn't use any rubber seals. Everything I've read on the internet said DON'T USE IT OR IT'LL BLOW UP AND KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. Me being me I went ahead and tried it out anyway. Interestingly enough it works perfectly. I've eaten jars of chili that sat on my shelf for a month after the canning process with no issues. The good thing about canners that have a good metal on metal seal and that use weights instead of gauges is that you should never have to replace anything. Obviously, you have to be very careful if you go this route. If you want to be safe then get a newer model All American Pressure Canner. They start at about $200 and you're sure to end up with a high quality pressure canner that will last you and your family several generations. Replacing the gauges is the only thing that you'll have to worry about but if you're really concerned with safety then this is very important. If you're lucky enough to find a flex-seal canner that's in good shape with all of the weights in tact (what I was lucky enough to find) then I'd have a hard time not recommending it. If it was abused then it could potentialy explode in your kitchen and cause some serious damage but if you're diligent about testing it before you use it then you should be just fine.

Canning has practically become a lost art. That's a little ironic because a $10 Ball Canning book that's available at any Wal-Mart will tell you everything that you need to know, whether you're water bath canning or pressure canning (yes I'm telling you to buy this book). We've become so dependent on our economy to keep us fed that, as far as I'm concerned, you'd be a fool not to learn ways to preserve food on your own to make sure that you can preserve some food in case the economy does actually fail.