One of the benefits of home canning, is that you know exactly what you are eating. You have pride in knowing you put it on the shelf yourself. You didn't just buy some can of unknown quality and ingredients off the shelf at the grocery store and transfer it to your home shelf. When I home can chicken, a quart jar of my chicken with a cost of less that $1.50 is better and cheaper than the so called equal in 4 smaller cans at the grocery at about $10. You do the math. . Yoder's Canned bacon can occasionally be found at $10 to $14 per can if you buy a case. If you watch for quality thick sliced bacon on sale at $2 or less per pound you may can your own and have a better product as well. No refrigeration required until opened, and extended shelf life. . Here is how; Canned bacon: roll your own by Enola Gay Issue #127
Wow! Great article, I am deffinatly going to have to try that. I just hope I can find me some wright's thick sliced bacon. i know bacon is starting to get very expensive here, So I will deffinatly save some money.
I am elated to see the interest. I too am anxious to try this and I am just waiting and searching for a sale on good quality thick sliced bacon to give it a try. . one note; I will be using parchment paper. I know it is rated for food preparation and cooking. Hardware masking paper my have undesireable things in it that could leach out in the cooking/canning process and thus end up in your body. Maybe I am being overly cautious, but I do believe in "better safe, than sorry!" . feedback on your canning experience will be highly appreciated!
parchment paper is used in cooking. preceeds aluminum foil. few use it but it is commonly available. yes I believe butcher paper would be fine. Again for the same reason..... food grade. . i believe the article mentioned that you could use parchment paper.
Butcher paper is a NO. It is plastic lined on one side, and the plastic will melt at the canning temps. Definitely not good eating. Parchment paper, brown kraft paper, even "masking" (Painters) paper. All food grade without any plastic that will melt onto or into the food you are canning. - the key is no ink, plastic or any strange stuff that will taint the food.
Does anyone have any idea of the shelf life of canned bacon? I ask because we have noticed that frozen bacon gets marginal quickly after being defrosted.
Yoder's claims 10 year shelf life if stored properly (think 50 - 70 degrees, cool dark place). no freezing or extreme high temps. . home canned items commonly exceed storage life of tin can canned items with no ill effects.
I would go with the Parchment paper, And if you are planning on doing alot, your local sysco restaurant supply house may be able to help you out at least on the paper buy the big rolls in the cutter box. you may even be able to come to some terms with them on thick sliced Bacon. Just give them a call and talk to one of the sales staff they should be able to help out.
save a lot groceries have 1lb pkgs of bacon right now at $1.98, but it is not thick slices. When I try this, I am going to try with a 24 inch by 12 inch piece of parchment vice 18 x 12, and fold and wrap really tightly before putting into wide mouth quart jars. Should be able to get closer to 2 lbs per jar.
Believe whatever you want to. The USDA is the boogyman in this particular subject, and alot of home canners will wholeheartedly disagree with them. I ate chicken canned in January 2007 Tuesday, and it was delicious. Neither I or the other person eating it has had any problems. What does almost everyone claim the shelf life of canned goods is? Usually 2 years! I don't agree with that either. . I'll just say this, Y'all throw that food out. Home canned after 1 year maximum. agribusiness canned after 2 years. call me. set it by the street. I'll be happy to eat it for years after you give up on it by USDA standards.
I'm with you. Published storage limits are nonsense IF you store your stuff properly. However, I would eat someone else's canned goods just about as quick as I would shoot someone else's reloads ... Unless I know them, that means not at all. My grandmother nearly died from botulism (neighbor's homecanned green beans) and I watched a pistol literally disinegrate in a guy's hands shooting reloads he picked up at a local gun show. He was really, really lucky he wasn't hurt worse than he was ...
Heck, home canned MEATS can last up to 5 years easily, Tac. I am a home-canner, too...and I like to can all kinds of foods. I just don't think it's appropriate for you to claim it's the longest lasting canning method without empirical proof. I know it's definitely a great idea to can your own foods because it's healthier and YOU become the sole arbiter of quality control. However, not everyone out there may be qualified to can at your level of expertise, and a few will undoubtedly make mistakes. There really are risks involved to home canning. It is always best to take up good habits and not believe their food will last a decade when it has already been shown that it mostly rests on the quality of the canning process. I have professionally canned meats in tins that I KNOW will far outlast my own.