Gaye Levy
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Canning is a blessing and a curse. For seasoned canners, preserving the local bounty not only saves money but is a relaxing and stress-free experience. These same canners giddily prepare fully cooked meals in jars, to be opened and reheated at a moment’s notice.
And everyone else? They suffer a fear of the canning process, botulism, and of blowing themselves up along with their kitchen. Don’t let this canning curse prevent you from learning and benefiting from this important skill. In The Prepper’s Canning Guide, my good friend Daisy Luther teaches you how to can without fear!
Not only that, she shares the latest in safety tips plus tried and true recipes from her own prolific kitchen. These are recipes every prepper will embrace because they were developed by a prepper, for a prepper. Meats, veggies, beans, jams, and pickles – they are all here along with useful hints and tips that will ensure your success.
With that introduction, today I share an interview with Daisy plus I have three copies of her book up for grabs in a giveaway.
An Interview with Daisy Luther, Author of The Prepper’s Canning Guide
This is your sixth Backdoor Survival Prepper Book Festival which speaks to your success as an author in the preparedness and survival niche. That being said, how do you differentiate this book, The Prepper’s Canning Guide, from your previous books?
People who have purchased my original canning book, The Organic Canner, will recognize some of the recipes from that book in the new one. The difference is, the new book is written with preppers in mind. It has lots of “kitchen sink” recipes to help you preserve whatever your garden happens to be overflowing with at the moment.
It has a section on canning off-grid, a section on the supplies a canning aficionado will want to have on hand, and even tips for canning the things in your refrigerator so they don’t spoil during a power outage. There are quite a few new recipes and the book is professionally produced and edited.
If you happen to be new to food preservation, you’ll find all the information you need to help you get started canning with confidence.
Do you ever suffer “prepper burnout” and if so, how do you deal with it?
Definitely, especially with the current climate in the United States right now. There is so much political animosity. We’re so divided. I’ve always spent a great deal of time reading and researching current events, but lately, it is so difficult to get to the truth. All of the sources seem extremely biased, and there’s so much anger in every article. It was really throwing me off my game.
Finally, I decided that the most important thing I could do was focus on the things that I can actually control. For example, I can’t win fruitless arguments on the internet. I can’t change the minds of people who are dead set in their opinions, no matter how much logic and reason I apply.
But there are lots of things that I CAN do. I can learn skills. I can store food. I can grow vegetables. I can read books – there are MANY things we can all control, and we should focus on those.
People seem more stressed than ever before. How can we combat this?
Have fun. I am not on board with the philosophy that prepared people have to be grim and serious all the time.
Take time every day to do something just because it makes you happy. Even though we are all focused on getting prepared, that shouldn’t mean that you exclude the things that make life worth living. Make memories with your loved ones. Travel when you can. Pet baby animals. Lay down and watch the clouds cross the sky on a beautiful day.
Survival shouldn’t just be about existing. It should be about taking every chance you can to find more joy in your life.
What, in your opinion, are the greatest challenges we face going forward?
A lot of people think that the economy has been magically repaired, but it hasn’t. The damage done and debt created over the past years are something that can’t be fixed overnight, and I think our situation is very precarious. The second issue is the current unrest – unless people can find some common ground, I think it’s only going to continue to accelerate.
Some people stopped prepping after Trump won the election and I think that was a big mistake. The problems that existed before the election are still there, and now we’ve added these societal issues. Prepping has never been more important than it is right now.
Two acronyms are bantered about among survival and prepper types. They are SHTF and BOB. How do you feel about these two terms and do you use them yourself?
I don’t use a whole lot of acronyms for the simple reason that jargon can be hard to understand and this can be intimidating for someone who is new to prepping. I prefer to use language that is easy to understand, even if someone hasn’t been at this for decades.
What advice do you have for a young person in their 20s who has shown an interest in preparedness?
When you’re younger, you tend to move more often. Maybe you’re changing jobs, getting transferred, getting married – there are all sorts of reasons you might need to be more mobile.
For someone who isn’t firmly settled, focus on having a couple of months’ worth of food, a water supply, and the skills and tools you need to survive. This is a great time to learn skills – you are young, fit, and a lot more suited to roughing it than someone who is older.
Tell me about your own website. Was is its focus and who is the target audience?
My website is The Organic Prepper. I started it back when I lived in Canada, so the URL ends in “.ca” for that reason.
I write about a pretty wide variety of topics. I’ve always had a strong interest in health and nutrition, and I combined that with my love for preparedness when creating the site. I write about frugality quite a bit too – as a single mom raising two kids, my ability to stretch money has meant a much more stable lifestyle for us.
I like to connect current events with the need for preparedness. For example, in January and February of this year, our area was subject to storms lasting for weeks. This resulted in mudslides, avalanches, floods, and giant sinkholes. Roads were crumbling as people drove over them. From this, I was able to write a lot of content that was applicable to our real-life situation.
Other current events to watch out for are issues with the market, politics, weather events, crises in other parts of the world, and civil unrest. By watching these events unfold, we can learn what to expect if similar events happen where we live. This can show us the things we need to do to prepare for such events, and can also help us to predict what may happen next in our own scenarios.
Can you drop some hints about your next book?
So many books, so little time. I have a few topics in mind and I’m not sure which will come next. One thing I’m considering is writing about specific preps for specific disasters, instead of the broader view.
Other potential topics are frugal yet healthful food, prepping for people with dietary restrictions, and maybe even some fiction.
Do you have some advice or a personal message you would like to pass on to Backdoor Survival readers?
Don’t be discouraged.
There is so much ugliness in the world right now. There are so many people having life-altering financial problems. Serious health issues are on the rise and will affect nearly every family at some point.
It can make you feel hopeless.
But no matter what is going on in your life, if you face it with a survivor’s attitude, the journey will be easier. Even if it doesn’t result in the outcome you would like, you can alter your path positively. Never lose hope that tomorrow will be better than today.
The Giveaway
Daisy has reserved three copies of her book in this newest Book Festival Giveaway.
A special word about the giveaway question/comment: Please read the question and respond accordingly, even it the answer is “I don’t know”. This week’s question is:
Submit a question about canning or preserving food that you would like answered in a future article.
The deadline is 6:00 PM MST Tuesday with the winners notified by email and announced on the Rafflecopter in the article. Please note that the winners must claim their book within 48 hours or an alternate will be selected.
Note: Due to customs requirements, this giveaway is only open to individuals with a mailing address in the United States.
The Final Word
Before closing let me tell you something about Daisy. She is a mom of the highest order, nurturing two daughters and farm animals which she has named. She is also a blogging colleague, friend, and the nicest person you will ever meet. As busy as she gets, she always has time to help out when needed, even it takes precious time away from her own workday.
Aside from those personal qualities, she is a fantastic author who shuns fluff. Her writing is well researched and often comes from personal experience. Her book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide, is a best seller in its own right and must-have for every survival library. I could go on and on, but for now, will just say this: The Preppers Canning Guide along with the Ball Book of Canning and Preserving and the USDA Canning Guide, are the only books you need to set yourself on a path of home-canned goodness.
For more information about the books in this latest book festival, visit Prepper Book Festival 14: Books to Learn, Prepare, and Be Ready for Anything.
If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to email updates. When you do, you will receive a free, downloadable copy of our e-Book, The Emergency Food Buyer’s Guide. Also check the Facebook page regularly for links to free or almost free eBooks that we personally review just for you.
You can also vote for Backdoor Survival daily at Top Prepper Websites!
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Spotlight: The Prepper’s Canning Guide: Affordably Stockpile a Lifesaving Supply of Nutritious, Delicious, Shelf-Stable Foods
A practical and approachable guide to amassing an emergency food supply filled with your own natural dishes
As the disaster drags on for days, weeks, months or even years, food scarcity and starvation will fuel people’s desperation. Even preppers like you will need more than dried beans and rice to survive. With The Prepper’s Canning Guide, you’ll learn the lifesaving techniques to take your food storage to the next level, including how to:
•Store nutrition-packed foods
•Create delicious MREs
•Can protein-rich meat and poultry
•Make canned produce last longer
•Use time-tested water-bath methods
•Utilize modern pressure canning
From food safety guidelines to grid failure canning tips, this book will guarantee your family stays safe, secure and well-fed.
170 Responses to “Prepper Book Festival: The Preppers Canning Guide”
How is the best way to pickle cucumbers? I’ve tried and they are always too soft. I want crispy ones like the store bought, but want to do my own.
I love canning! I just can’t make pickles.
Make sure to cut off the blossom end when making pickles. That is where the enzyme is that makes them squishy.
I am nervous about pressure canning. I’ve heard horror stories. It sounds like this book would be the perfect way to move forward with confidence in that area of our preparedness!
I’d like to learn how to can fruits with less sugar.
Ann, they make Sure-Gel with less sugar now. I’ve used it for making my diabetic hubby jellies. I think you can use gelatin in it, too, but check with an expert first.
You can use grape juice (either red or white) or apple juice in place of syrup when canning fruit. 🙂
I love all the useful information you share. i would love to know more about dehydrating vegetables, fruit, and herbs. and the best way to store each. thank you so much.
I have been intimidated to start canning, even though my sister does it all the time. I’d love to have this book to guide me. Thanks.
I would like to know how to preserve grape leaves.I have seen them sold in brine in glass bottles.
I don’t know the definitive answer to this one, but if I were going to can grape leaves, I’d pickle them. The vinegar would ensure you had enough acid to make it safe.
How could you can PawPaw fruit? Can you also can grape juice-freshly crushed from the fruit?
Pawpaw fruit is lower acid than most fruits. I would probably make it into a pawpaw butter and I would definitely process it in a pressure canner.
Can you pressure can dry items like flour, mixes, etc?
Jeff, pressure canning requires liquid to build up the pressure, so no, you cannot pressure can dry items like flour, etc. But many vacuum sealers have an attachment that you can use to vacuum seal canning jars and you could use this method to help preserve dry goods in canning jars.
I have a case (9?) half gallon jars with vacuumed flour in them. I also have rice and dried beans vacuum sealed. I also have wheat berries vacuumed sealed.
If you have stored dried beans that have gotten older, you know that they are hard to cook to tender? Well, I have some like that and decided to pressure cook them. (Let them soak overnight before putting in pressure cooker.) They were just as tender as the newer ones from the store.
Thank you Deborah for that suggestion! I have some older dried beans and no matter how long I cook them they never quite get as tender as they should. I’ll have to try the pressure cooker next time.
Jeff – I concur with Ann! Vacuum sealing is the best option for dry foods. I like to freeze them for 48 hours before sealing them up to kill off any critters that might be in there.
I do love canning!!! there are many things that I have yet to learn how to can. I want to learn how to can everything that anyone has already mentioned. At the top of my list is how to can: milk,butter, bacon, I would like to learn how to can some specialty items like, Bell peppers canned in water like you would see in the grocery store. ( The only recipes i can find use a pickling brine) specialty sauces like I see in the grocery store, for instance Sesame Ginger Simmer Sauce ( sold at Safeway). Canned tamales, corn beef. are now also on my list after seeing some of the other entries,
Some of the things that you see in the store you really can’t safely duplicate at home. Bell peppers in water might be able to be pressure canned (I’ve never tried this) but I fear they’d be pretty mushy. I recommend against canning dairy products and anything with a flour-y thickener. You can always add the thickener at serving time.
Some things really do work better in other preserved formats, like freeze-dried or dehydrated. Safety should always come first. 🙂
I love reading what Daisy writes. I’ve read her website for so long, I consider her a friend, even though we have differing views on many issues. My question for her is this: I have read several articles about canning butter and bacon. Some articles are how to’s and others say never can butter or bacon. Is there a way to safely can butter and bacon?
Hi, Linda!
First, thank you so much for the kind words. I feel like many of you guys are friends also. We really get to know one another after a few years. 🙂
Secondly – the canning of butter and bacon are topics of heated debate. Many people do it and say that it is perfectly fine.
First the dairy products: I did can a few dairy products at one point myself, but have opted not to do that any longer. I follow the USDA guidelines with regard to canning because the risk of botulism is one I am simply not willing to take. There IS no approved method for canning butter or other dairy products, so I don’t do it. I recommend getting a powdered or freeze dried option instead.
For bacon – the method where you wrap the strips in parchment paper and can it that way is not considered safe by the USDA either. (Perhaps in part because they haven’t tested this as far as I know. ) A way that you are able to can bacon is buy cutting it into bite-sized pieces and using a liquid or brine. Here is the recommended method. //nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/strips_cubes_chunks.html
While everyone has to make their own choices, I generally opt for the safest practices. I always think it would be bad enough to make my family sick, but even worse if it happened during an emergency in which medical assistance wasn’t available.
Happy canning!
Daisy
I currently buy Oscar Meyer or Kroger pre-cooked bacon when it is on sale. It comes in a zippered pouch and then a box. I find that it usually will have an expiration date of 6-7 months out. Once you open package then refrigerate any left overs. Has the same amount as a package of uncooked bacon and in low salt type as well. You will find this back in aisle around the meat or refrigerated area. You will know when it turns bad it gets very dark brown and smells.