Why We Should Start Canning Now

...and how to do it.....

Nov 09, 2023

I know. This is an unusual way of thinking for me. I am usually all about fresh and seasonal and dining on only the best quality ingredients.

But life has recently changed. We are in a surrealistic swirl of events around the world, and in our own backyard, that has me thinking that if, as many pundits have been predicting, our power grid is attacked, it could mean months if not years without electricity, water, gas, etc. Food and water would be our first concern.

Most pundits are talking about a cyberattack on our grid. But you don’t even need that for it to happen. A series of coordinated physical attacks on our power grid could achieve an eventual total shutdown across the country. I have been reading and reading and also, because I have written a terrorist novel along these lines I have been researching. It’s just so darn easy to do to our country, and would be especially devastating if carried out in the deep cold winter months. (by the way, if any of you know of an agent that would like me to send them my manuscript, let me know!)

Soooooo I have my Berkey Water Filter already, and have ordered water purification tablets as well so that even pool water or puddles or buckets of rainwater can be safely consumed.

But food…..? I have been casually stockpiling canned goods for a while, especially when I witnessed how COVID wiped out so many supermarket shelves so quickly. And I have been watching online ideas from “preppers” all over the internet encouraging us to buy freeze-dried foodstuffs for our families that could last at least 3 months. The one I am most familiar with is found at mypatriotsupply.com

The most concerning prospect they put forward is that if this did happen and the supply chain made food hard to find and if we ran out of our own stockpiles, that there would be a chance we would be directed to live in FEMA camps. Ok. I know. Scary stuff. But I am forcing myself to read and think and above all, pray and hope this never happens.

And that’s how I come to today’s newsletter theme of canning. Homemade, delicious canned produce is economical, and above all provides us with top quality, well-flavored, made-with-love food to feed our families and pets. You can “can” soups, meat stew and potatoes, dog food, fruit, veggies, all sorts of surprisingly fun meals in a Mason jar. Think lift-your-mood coq au vin or shepherds pie, canned.

Considering there would be no electricity, we could at least cook on charcoal fueled Weber grills and gas grills. I will be buying big bags of charcoal and stock some gas tanks for the gas grill. However, if you live in an apartment, alternative cooking methods would have to be explored and there’s a lot of information online.

I am in the process of going through canning instructions books and the best one I have found so far is the recently published:

Ball Canning: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Preserving Techniques and Recipes for Beginners and Beyond

My grandmother always used a pressure cooker to do her canning and the food tasted amazingly delicious. In fact we looked forward to cracking open a jar of her tomato sauce, made in the summer but consumed in the winter. Or her crunchy dill pickles! To die for.

So with the above cookbook you can either do its recipes for water-bath canning with a large pot:

…or use the recipes for pressure-cooker canning with a pressure cooker:

I also recently learned that, although you can not safely can food in an InstaPot, there is a digital electric canning pot that is made specifically for canning. It is the Presto Digital Pressure Canner. However, it is out of stock everywhere I look. If you find one, let me know!!! It has amazing reviews and is super easy, press-a-button kind of canning.

Another book I like is this survival guide by Damian Brindle. A good, practical and easy read with solid information.

Why We Should Start Canning Now

...and how to do it.....

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