Ken Oster - The Complete Guide to Preserving Meat, Fish, and Game: Step-by-step Instructions to Freezing, Canning, Curing, and Smoking

The Complete Guide to

Preserving Meat, Fish, and Game

Step-by-Step Instructions to Freezing, Canning, and Smoking

By Kenneth V. Oster

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife, Joyce, who has faithfully stood with me through all of the challenges of life.

Preface

The abundance of commercially processed food has left many people without a need for the art of home canning meats and vegetables. Home prepared and preserved foods were once essential in feeding families throughout the year. I have many fond memories of my family canning large quantities of fruits and vegetables that we enjoyed throughout the long winter months. A couple of those memories are still fresh in my mind, although they took place more than 20 years ago.

My wifes family still lives in South Central Nebraska producing corn, soybeans, and wheat. Each year, Uncle Neil plants several rows of sweet corn in a field near the house. Up to ten families would pick as much sweet corn as they can eat and preserve every year. One year, my wife, her mother, and our two daughters decided they were going to can as much corn as possible in a day or two. They canned more than 100 quarts of sweet corn fresh from the family farm that week. Besides the value of the fresh food that was preserved for months of enjoyment, they made a lifelong memory.

Several years ago, I was stationed at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Michigan. One of the highlights each year was the annual salmon run up the Au Sable River, which flowed just a few miles from the base. One night my eldest son set out by himself on his bicycle to spend the night fishing. He caught a 39-inch salmon. He must have been a real sight as he came through the main gate of the base, excited as he could be, riding his bicycle carrying his fishing gear and that big fish. He came into the house at about 2 a.m. and woke the whole family up. All seven of us stayed up and cleaned and canned that great fish in the early hours of the morning. That memory cannot be manufactured by the artificial technology of modern society.