Sending Chickens To Freezer Camp

FOR MY SQUEAMISH FRIENDS...  PLEASE STOP HERE! 

DO NOT CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS POST!

I PROMISE THERE ARE NO GROSS PICTURES!

OK, you've been forewarned! Proceed with caution...

We got 30 day old chicks 9 weeks ago...

It is amazing how fast they grow!
(We lost 3 over the nine weeks)

This isn't our first time raising meat birds... 

but each year we learn a little something new

or something to do differently next time!

We belong to a group called

Small & Beginner Farmers of NH

where we share experiences and equipment.

Our family oversees the MPU (Mobile Processing

Unit) for our county. We teach others how to use

it and rent it out to members.

Above, you see the trailer that everything is

housed in... the removable 'cones' are attached to

the doors. We have portable pens that can be

set up (behind the door area) for the "poultry in waiting".

After the head is removed and blood drained,

the carcass is dipped in HOT water (about 150*)

in the scald tank for a few minutes, just until the
feathers can be pulled out by hand.

The Featherman Plucker works really well!

In just a few minutes the birds

are all ready for the next step!

Evisceration...  a fancy word which 

means 'to gut out'.

The chill tank... is kept filled with ice so that

the core temperature is brought down FAST

and they are ready for the freezer!

Sitting pretty.... awaiting bagging and

weighing and then off to 'freezer camp'!
(Average weight... 5.65 pounds)

All in all... the process is not bad or hard.

My husband and I finished up all

27 birds in just a few hours.

(Not including the clean up!)

As to cost effectiveness.... you decide.

I kept track of EVERYTHING this time around!

Our total price per pound is $1.29

We are happy!!

Sharing this post on

 Healthy 2day Wednesdays and

 Simple Lives Thursday!

Ana Sapphira at Soulfest...

 Travis & Austin

playing together in their band

Ana Sapphira

at Soulfest in

Gilford, NH

Travis, John, Doug, Austin
(Jordan is to the right of Austin)

on stage... playing for a large

crowd of over 500 people!

Austin & Jordan

It was so much fun to watch them play.

They have matured in their music and

have gotten really tight as a band!

The end of this week they go on

tour... NH, VT, NY,

with another local band.

PLEASE keep them in prayer ....

as a mom, of course I think of all the

'obvious' things like
SAFETY, TRAVEL, SLEEP, FOOD...

but the unseen and less obvious things
could be even 'more important'.

Please pray for the dynamics of the band

members while traveling together.
For their witness as Christian young men.

For their dealings with the other musicians.

For WISDOM in the decisions that
need to be made, etc.

It is awesome to see how God is using these guys!

Yes, I'm a proud mom. It is fun to see

them grow and mature!

Curious as to their style?

Go to youtube! 

Beans, Beans and More Beans...

I have been buying and saving dried beans with the good intentions of making; baked beans, re-fried beans, black beans & rice, hummus from chick peas and so on...  well, they've been stored in large plastic containers and I've just never used them. I'll admit to cheating... for the sake of ease, I've bought the large cans of kidney beans to make chili and the cans of black beans for soups & black beans and rice... BUT NO MORE!! 

I discovered in a favorite old cookbook of mine, a paragraph written by a Mennonite woman, Ada Beachy, the NEW TO ME concept of canning the dried beans so they are all ready to use! I LOVE THAT CONCEPT...  if you want to read her paragraph, check it out here!

I checked out online how other people did this and found a great lot of advice of what to do and what NOT to do too! (Like... LOOSELY fill the jars with the prepared beans NOT solid pack and then fill the jars with the hot water leaving the head space.)

I'm SOOOO EXCITED!! I tried kidney beans and black beans first... it was a lot of work, but I think it will be well worth it come winter time! NOW, I'm going to try the navy beans & pinto beans & chick peas... and keep on going!

Since I didn't soak the beans overnight, I quick boiled them, timing it for a couple of minutes after they started to boil then soaked them in this hot water for an hour.

Afterwards, drain and rinse the beans and then fill the pots back up with fresh, water and allow them to boil for another 30 minutes.

NOW drain the beans (KEEP THIS LIQUID) fill the quart jars LOOSELY to the shoulder area of the jars.

Add 1 tsp. of canning salt and then add the saved liquid allowing 1 inch of head space. (The headspace allows for the beans to expand a bit more during processing.)

You need to use a pressure canner (NOT a water bath)...  90 minutes (for quarts... 75 minutes for pints) at 10 pounds!

It's so much fun to see the jars starting to line up on the pantry shelves!

PLEASE: IF you are going to try this method... do your own research! Different areas of the country require different pressure canning times. (ie: the length of time may be greater if you live higher up in elevation!)

This post shared on Healthy 2Day Wednesdays and Simple Lives Thursday! Go check out some of the other ideas!

SIDE NOTE:  I did try to can chick peas (garbanzo beans) the next day. I tried the dry method putting a scant 1/2 cup in a pint, 1/2 tsp. salt and boiling water leaving 1 inch of headspace...  pressure canner for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. I can't say I'm overly thrilled with this outcome. They didn't fill the jars like I assumed they would. It could be they were too old. I will try again using BOTH methods and see if it is the peas/beans being a little too old or if the 'presoak/cook' method just works better for me.  I'll let you know! :)

Dill Pickles & Canned Green Beans.....

The processes are different...

but the end results are the same!

Food put up in jars

for the long winter months ahead.

Our family favorite...   DILL PICKLES

This recipe has been used for a few generations

 on my husband's side of the family! I used

my mom's recipe for a while... then after

trying this dill pickle, sorry mom, but

this is got my vote!! I've been making

this recipe for the past 28 years!

Ingredients above....  cucumbers, grape leaves

and dill heads! Yup... we grow our dill and use

the heads. I've also used the fern part too

when I run short! (SIDE NOTE: the ferns

are awesome in cucumber or potato or tuna salads!)

Wash the  grape leaves & dill heads. Put one

in each WASHED & WELL CLEANED quart jar.

Then, wash the cucs, slice and put in the

jars too! Top with 1 tsp. of alum and

add the BOILING HOT brine.

(10C water, 5C cider vinegar, 1C salt)

(USE CANNING SALT)

Seal the jars with hot, clean lids & screw tops!

This recipe as it has been handed down doesn't

call for water bathing. BUT... I KNOW THE USDA

GUIDELINES SAY THEY OUGHT TO BE. IF YOU

MAKE THESE PICKLES... PLEASE USE YOUR

DISCRETION & READ UP ON THE GUIDELINES

FOR YOURSELF & MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICES.

NEXT on our agenda for the day was green beans!

Pete, being the wonderful, helping husband that he is,

picked, washed & cut up all the green beans! HE EVEN

FILLED ALL THE PINT JARS FOR ME!!

I added 1/2 teaspoon of

canning salt and then boiling water leaving 1 inch

of head space before putting the lids on.

IF I WAS USING QUART JARS

 I'D NEED TO ADD 1 TSP OF SALT

(Head space is the amount of air space between the

top of the vegetable or fruit in the canning jar

and the underside of the lid.)

Now the jars go into the pressure canner. Inside

I had about 2 inches of hot water. The jars are added

and the top put on and sealed. The stove heats up the water

and pressure builds... this type of canner is controlled by

the heat from the fire. If it has too much pressure, we turn

down the fire or if there is too little, we turn it up.

CHECK THE USDA GUIDELINES FOR

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR WHERE YOU LIVE.

I cook them at 10 pounds of pressure

for 20 minutes for pints.