# Canning Chili?



## CCCC (Nov 21, 2011)

New here and learning how to can, I have canned carrots and tomatoes with a water bath canner that was my late grandmothers given to me by my mom.

My mom gave me a pressure canner for christmas and I am wanting to use it, but have not had anything to can as of yet.

I am interested in canning chili, I do have the ball canning book that I will read and use, just looking for any other suggestions from the forum.

Do you just make up a big batch of chili and can it?

What else do I need for ingredients as I am hoping to can this weekend?

How do you decide what you are going to can?

Do you try a recipe prior to canning so that you know you like it?


----------



## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

Home-canned chili is one of my favorite fast-foods, in fact I worked late yesterday and ate the last jar. Time to do up some more - Yup, make a big batch just the way you like and follow the procedure for canning meat.
Another favorite to can is spaghetti sauce and certainly... try a recipe first, you don't want to go through all the work and expense to can something you're not going to eat.
And congratulations on your new canner! You're going to love having you're own healthy home-canned food and feel so proud when it's all lined up on the shelves. Have fun!


----------



## Cajun Arkie (Jun 11, 2012)

Welcome - you wll love it here. Lots of very knowledgeable and helpful folks on here always willing to help. Heres wishing you lots of success!


----------



## mpennington (Dec 15, 2012)

Welcome! I'm new to pressure canning also. Everyone here has been so helpful and willing to answer questions. I'm learning a lot. Chili is the item I'm going to try next. There is a recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving on page 405. Uses ground beef, onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, chili powder, red chili pepper, and cumin. My family prefers chili without tomatoes, so I'm hunting another recipe.


----------



## Mike CHS (Apr 3, 2011)

Chili is one of our favorites to can. We also do BBQ sauce, pasta sauce and even pizza sauce all of which saves a bunch of Money. My bride can't eat sugar and doing our own is about the only way to guarantee sugar free.


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

How long did you can your carrots in a water bath canner. They take a very long time, like 4hrs to be safe. Tomatoes are safe, but carrots are a long time processing in water bath canner.

I just make chili and can it for 90min in the PC. We use it for a meal, then I can the leftovers.


----------



## CCCC (Nov 21, 2011)

It was over 4hrs for carrots in the water bath, my mom has always done it that way and it has worked, but am looking forward to PC.

Do I need beef bulion cubes for the chili? That is my only question.

Excited to do tomato juice, pasta sauce and stock too. Thanks for all the comments.


----------



## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

Just a FYI: You cannot safely can carrots with a water bath canner unless they're pickled. It doesn't matter how long you left them in, they never got hot enough to kill botulism spores. It takes a pressure canner to reach the 240F necessary to kill botulism. Boiling them for hours only turns the food to mush. Botulism is very rare, but it is also a very nasty way to die.


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I also have canned low acid veggies in a water bath for 4hrs. I did it that way for 25+yrs until I bought a pc. It was the way that it was always done in the past. The whole "unsafe" idea is a newer one. I realize that is what they say now, but it wasn't always done that way. In fact, they use to can meat that way too, but for 6hrs.

I don't use bouillon in my chili. I just make it like I always do when we eat it, then can the leftovers.


----------



## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

It's hardly a new idea. Pressure canners have been around for a very long time, and the dangers of water bath canning non-acidic food was well-known. Doctors used to recommend pregnant women smoke to counter morning sickness. Patent medicines were a mixture of narcotics and alcohol. Everyone used to treat burns with butter and rub frostbite with snow. Every single one of those things is stupid and people know better now. No one in their right mind would do any of those things just because it's the way people used to do it. Why take the chance with botulism?

The guy down the street is a drunk. He drives home from the bar all the time. He's never been in an accident. You gonna let your kids ride home with him? He's not killed anyone - yet.


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

It's one of those personal choice issues. A pc is more convenient because it is faster. But I know it works the other way too because I have done it, my parents did it, grandparents, etc. Pressure canners are newer inventions in the scope of humanity, yet people lived thousands of years before they were ever invented. It is a personal decision though. Thank God canning police do not exist in society.

Personally, I would choose to can chili in the pressure canner just due to the timing and convenience.


----------



## CCCC (Nov 21, 2011)

Just did the water bath cause that is what my mom taught me, I know the ball canning book has a section for each so I will follow it. Never got sick from canned meat in a water bath and it was my grandmothers who raised 13 healthy kids. Didn't mean to cause a debate once again will follow the book as don't want anyone to get sick right or wrong way.

Thanks for the help excited about the pressure canner.


----------



## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I use Jackie Clay's chili recipe with my favorite spice mix. Her's is very similar to the ball recipe but she does have some beans. I go with a few kidney beans and add another can when I use a jar. I often add some beef stock to my chili, I think it adds great flavor and thins it a bit for canning. 

Have fun with your pressure canner CCCC!


----------



## Karen (Apr 17, 2002)

Everyone, please remember that there are no canning method debates allowed. It's posted as a sticky at the top of this forum. 
Please be respectful to others choices of how they do their canning. There are very valid reasons on both sides. The sticky explains how to post in matter of your safety concerns, while still respecting other older methods. Here's the direct link to the sticky: 
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/co...t/392819-no-more-canning-debates-allowed.html


----------



## Helmutd6 (Dec 21, 2012)

I use my PC for canning my chili. I make it in six gallon batches. Needless to say i always have some around when i don't feel like cooking. I follow the method in the ball book and have yet to lose one.


----------



## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

caning your home made chili and just about ant thing else is a great money saver and you don't get tired of leftovers .just use the longest prosessing time for the ingredints (usally the meat) in the recipe ido beef veggie soup n chili all the time by the time all the ingredients are added theres a big pot full so I fill up jars with the excess .and process for great homemade fast food at any time. it helps that I have a small electric canner that holds only 4 pint jars .but i'v used the big one to lots


----------



## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

CCCC said:


> It was over 4hrs for carrots in the water bath, my mom has always done it that way and it has worked, but am looking forward to PC.
> 
> Do I need beef bulion cubes for the chili? That is my only question.
> 
> Excited to do tomato juice, pasta sauce and stock too. Thanks for all the comments.


I'd can any receipe for chili that you like and normaly make, if you usually add boullion for extra flavor, throw it in the pot.


----------



## AlabamaBelle (Jul 25, 2012)

mekasmom said:


> How long did you can your carrots in a water bath canner. They take a very long time, like 4hrs to be safe. Tomatoes are safe, but carrots are a long time processing in water bath canner.
> 
> I just make chili and can it for 90min in the PC. We use it for a meal, then I can the leftovers.


I'm new to pressure canning also & about to can my first batch of chili. What PSI do you use?


----------



## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

AlabamaBelle said:


> I'm new to pressure canning also & about to can my first batch of chili. What PSI do you use?


Follow the ducumented canning guides. I believe that cooked beans are generally processed at 10 psi for 90 minutes for quarts.



mekasmom said:


> It's one of those personal choice issues. A pc is more convenient because it is faster. But I know it works the other way too because I have done it, my parents did it, grandparents, etc.


Did Grandmom ride in the car without using a seatbelt? Would you do that today because Grandmom never used one?



mekasmom said:


> Pressure canners are newer inventions in the scope of humanity, yet people lived thousands of years before they were ever invented. It is a personal decision though.


Ummm, people were not canning thousands of years ago. Canning is relatively new, only coming about after the microbial concept of disease evolved. Most likely before that, experimenters killed themselves via botulism poisoning. Of course back then it was attributed to a witch's curse.


----------



## AlabamaBelle (Jul 25, 2012)

MichaelK! said:


> Follow the ducumented canning guides. I believe that cooked beans are generally processed at 10 psi for 90 minutes for quarts.
> 
> I don't know what the documented canning guidelines are for meat, which is why I asked. I was hoping someone could tell me.


----------



## Prov31Wife (Dec 20, 2012)

I was afraid of using my PC for the first time, but once I tried it (DH was sweet and sat in the kitchen with me the first time and helped me read the directions and make sure I was following them) I never looked back, and I use it like every other day. 

When using BWB canning, I was always so nervous about getting the acidity just right. PC is so much easier. Just make my food and find the time to process it. There was a limit to how many pickels, relishes, salsas, jams, and butters I could make (though I made many!) but now I can make more convenience foods and typical meals. Love it!


----------



## Prov31Wife (Dec 20, 2012)

AlabamaBelle said:


> MichaelK! said:
> 
> 
> > Follow the ducumented canning guides. I believe that cooked beans are generally processed at 10 psi for 90 minutes for quarts.
> ...


----------



## Prov31Wife (Dec 20, 2012)

Also, if you are canning for a household of two, I would do my meats in pints. It's just DH and I, and a pint will do a meal for each of us and then some.


----------



## Raymond James (Apr 15, 2013)

I do not want to start any canning debates so I will just tell you what I do. 

Follow the Ball Blue Book. 
Wash and clean everything before starting. If there are any flies in the kitchen kill them. 
Follow the Ball Blue Book. 
Timers and thermometers are your friend have them use them.
Follow the Ball Blue Book. 
Cook things using as much of your own ingredients as possible. Season to your taste. 
Follow the Ball Blue Book. 
Count every pop of the jars. Check every jar to insure it seals. NO pop/ no seal then use it that day or refrigerate it. 


Label- Label -label. Trust me Label. You do not want to be trying to figure out which is spaghetti sauce or taco sauce especially when you are making something that takes two jars. So I ended up with one of each I thought it wasn't bad thee wife thought other wise. So label-label -label. 

Did I say follow the Ball Blue Book? 


Clean everything after and feed any waste to the chickens /hogs or put it on the compost pile.


----------



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

mekasmom said:


> It's one of those personal choice issues. A pc is more convenient because it is faster. But I know it works the other way too because I have done it, my parents did it, grandparents, etc. Pressure canners are newer inventions in the scope of humanity, yet people lived thousands of years before they were ever invented. It is a personal decision though. Thank God canning police do not exist in society.
> 
> Personally, I would choose to can chili in the pressure canner just due to the timing and convenience.


 
Wow! Just, WOW!

I know I can drive down the road without my seat belt fastened. It's a personal choice. But what about the three babies sitting in the backseat (or at the dinner table)? Is that their "personal choice"?


----------



## jen8753 (Jan 18, 2012)

Did you not see the post saying NO MORE CANNING DEBATES ALLOWED?

If not, here you go... http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/co...t/392819-no-more-canning-debates-allowed.html


----------



## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

AlabamaBelle said:


> I don't know what the documented canning guidelines are for meat, which is why I asked. I was hoping someone could tell me.


Here's a link to Presto's website. It has lots of valuable information, but this link is direct to the processing guidelines.

http://www.gopresto.com/recipes/canning/recipeindex.php 

After you finish, I'd recommend going through the rest of their website becauses there's lots of information that might be very helpful to you.


----------



## jmtinmi (Feb 25, 2009)

Prov31Wife said:


> AlabamaBelle said:
> 
> 
> > It's a good idea to always look it up to make quadruple sure, but meat is 90 mins for quarts and 75 minutes for pints.
> ...


----------

