May means Mother’s day, a career that has been called the most important and difficult in the world, building the lives of children. So why has this job been undervalued?
I will admit there are times when I would like to get away from my chosen stay-at-home career. Just this week I washed an undeveloped film that contained my son’s birthday pictures, my youngest son Skyler pulled the gearshift knobs off our quad and they have mysteriously disappeared, Carter ran into my car with his bike and dented the door and while I was pulling the kids in the wagon the wheel fell off.
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Despite these awkward moments, I think the pros outweigh the cons and amazingly things always get better. For those moms who choose to work, I have great admiration for you as your time is spread so thin. Just remember to look after yourselves and take time to be with your children. The dishes will wait.
Canning chicken
Dear TEAM: Have you a recipe for doing chicken in jars? What is put in the jar with the meat and how long do you process in a pressure cooker? – Bill, Toronto
Dear Bill: When I received this question I immediately thought of Bernardin, as it offers a service to consumers with canning questions. It supplied me with this recipe and recommended using the most up-to-date supplies, including a pressure canner to do the processing to meet food safety standards.
Chicken on the bone
These directions may be used for all types of poultry such as chicken, duck, goose, turkey or game birds. Keep bird refrigerated until ready to be preserved.
Place clean mason jars on the rack in the canner. Add water; bring to a gentle boil to heat jars. Boil snap lids five minutes – not longer – to soften sealing compound. Keep jars and lids in hot water until ready to use.
Raw pack – Separate chicken at joints. Pack chicken into hot jars, leaving a one inch (2.5 centimetres) headspace. Add 1/2 teaspoon (two mL) salt to each pint (500 mL), one teaspoon (five mL) salt to each one litre jar, if desired. Do not add liquid.
Hot pack – Boil, steam or bake chicken until about two-thirds done. Separate chicken at joints. Pack hot chicken into hot jars, leaving 11/2 inches (three cm) headspace. If desired, add salt as listed in raw pack. Ladle hot cooking liquid, water or chicken broth over chicken, leaving one inch (2.5 cm) headspace.
Using a nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing stickiness. Centre the snap lid on the jar. Apply screwband securely until fingertip tight. Do not overtighten. Place jar in canner.
When canner is full, check that the water level in the canner is about three inches (eight cm) or the level recommended in the manufacturer’s manual. Lock canner lid in place and follow manufacturer’s heating instructions. Vent canner – allow steam to escape – for 10 minutes, then close the vent.
When canner reaches the pressure appropriate for your altitude and type of pressure canner (see chart), begin counting processing time. For a 500 mL jar, process for 65 minutes; one L for 75 minutes.
When processing time is complete, remove canner from heat. Allow canner to stand undisturbed until pressure drops to zero, wait two minutes, then remove cover, tilting it away from yourself. Lift out jars without tilting. Place upright on towel to cool in a draft-free place. Do not retighten screwbands. Let jars cool undisturbed for 24 hours.
After 24 hours, check seals. Sealed lids curve downward and do not flex when pressed. Wipe jars with damp cloth; remove, wash and dry screwbands. Store bands separately or replace loosely on jars as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.
- Process filled jars at the pressure level appropriate for your altitude and type of pressure canner you are using.
- If you want to do the chicken without bones, follow the same instructions, but the processing time is different. For the hot and raw packs without bones, process the 500 mL jars for 75 minutes and the one L for 90 minutes.
