Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed how many truly bad, dangerous drivers there are these days? Of all ages, too.
I don't think I have ever killed just one chicken for eating. When we had the kids home, we would do 20 or so chickens at a time and I think the milk jug would be to slow as you still have to pluck and clean them after slaughter. We no longer raise meat chickens and only kill old hens that are suitable to can after their laying life it over. You can also buy these but the milk jug would work just as well for small groups of birds. Be aware that the old fashioned dual-purpose birds are the ones to get if you also plan to use them for slaughter, but you will sacrifice a little bit of egg capacity for the meat. I did my batch of "Cowboy Candy Relish" last night. The standard way to make it is jalapeno slices, but I am not fond of the taste of jalapenos so I use other hot peppers, generally hotter and cut the sugar by half. I used to make the slices, but I found it was much more convenient to make the relish. I use it on hot dogs and sandwiches all the time and my wife uses it on her grain-free crackers with fake cream cheese snacks. My favorite way to use hot peppers. I got ten half-pint jars. Wife is roasting tomatoes for canning at the moment as our canning season is winding down.
A warning to those who do home canning. Some marketers of vinegar are putting 4% vinegar in their bottles instead of 5%, which is standard and required by all canning recipes I have seen. Also, there are many reports of defective lids on the market. I don't know if these are American or Chinese. The Chinese are marketing canning supplies with an American flag on the container, leading the uninformed to assume the products are U.S. made. They are manufactured in China and no where on the packaging does it say "made in U.S." but the American flag leads some to assume that it is a U.S. product. I have gotten yelled at by dumb people when I try to explain that you shouldn't use home made vinegar for canning. They don't understand that it involves more than just pH. You would have to be able to titrate the percentage of acetic acid in your product to determine if your home made product meets standards. It is fine to use home made vinegar for salad dressings and for refrigerator pickles and such, just not for that which is going to be canned and sitting at room temperature.
A less trusting person might think this is yet another attack on people having an independent food supply.
I think there are some attacks on home canning, but the vinegar may be due to an acetic acid shortage I assume is due to weapons manufacture for Ukraine. I am told the industrial stocks have been depleted so they are using food stocks.
My friend who makes the pickled cucumber recipe ( but uses young zucchini’s in place of cues ) used a “ home brand” vinegar in one occasion, however the pickles didn’t keep they “went off” slimy … yuck …and she binned the lot , so anytime I’m using / making relish I buy the name branded vinegar which is now known as Vine valley vinegar ( it was known as suppelts vinegar ) https://www.barossamag.com/local-advice/barossa-history/seppelts-not-just-wine/ so it doesn’t pay to use inferior products @Don Alaska
I found the percent of acid on the label and noticed a decrease in some. Lots of vinegar is used for cleaning now (green) so maybe the manufacturers think cutting back would be OK for them. At Fleet Farm, the vinegar is labeled for canning but thanks for the heads up Don Alaska. I think the lids from normally American companies are made in China now too. I have noticed skips and deformities on the rubber occasionally-- even on Ball lids.
I haven't seen that yet as we have quite a few lids stored, but I have wondered if the reports of defective lids included the traditional American companies. I think Superb supplies are American-made and quite a few are turning to them. Here is a link to their website. They were founded to supply the Amish with canning supplies since many items on the market did not meet their high standards. Some are also turning to supplies made by French companies, as they are reusable but quite pricey for large amounts. 4% vinegar would probably be fine for cleaning purposes too. Good catch!
A woman my wife communicates with on Facebook posted that she "canned" vegetable soup. "Since there were no beans in the soup, I heated it up, poured it into jars, put the lids on and everything sealed fine." Two weeks later, she posted that several of her jars "exploded". How could that happen? "I guess I should have water bath canned them instead of just sealing them." Perhaps this woman was contriving ways to kill her family. She should have pressure canned them, not water bathed, and certainly not just sealing hot liquid. She essentially was culturing botulism. ?Might be good for a facial to tighten up those sagging mental muscles?
Ironic just last evening talking to daughter on the phone about canning beans and she said she could put them in a hot bath, I told her the same thing you posted. We have a great canner but it cost a few hundred dollars about 15 or more years ago, no telling what they cost today. We have about 25lb.s of beans to can in next few weeks.
I actually had one of my pickled bean jars explode while it was IN the canner. I guess it must have had a crack around the bottom.
From the information my wife has, the woman just poured hot soup into the jars and sealed them, then left the rings on (probably screwed too tight) so when the gas developed in the jars it couldn't blow the lids off and ended up exploding multiple jars all over the walls of the room she had them stored in. It may have saved her family members' lives though.