That's in the Kerr Home Canning and Freezing Book, Alltrista Corp. 1996.

Carol

Thanks for the information. She told me it was an approved recipe so I am happy to know where it is from....

I like the looks of this recipe over the NCHF recipe, mainly becuase it has less tomatoes ( NCHF calls for 1/2 gallon, this one only 1 pint ). I dont really care forcooked tomatoes, but the wife likes them, so I live with it.

Question:

Anything wrong with varying a little with the above recipe, buy adding a couple pounds of ground beef ( cooked/drained ) and doubling up on the brown sugar?

Adding a couple pounds of ground beef isn't varying a little, it's varying a lot. Unfortunately, canning formulas aren't recipes; there are big food safety issues involved.

If you still decide to do it, I'm assuming you'd process quarts rather than pints and you'd have to use the processing time recommended for ground beef - 90 minutes. It's your call.

Personally, I'd be inclined to treat this recipe as a base and brown the beef at the time I was heating the contents of the jar. It's only a few extra minutes, the taste is fresher, the canning consumes fewer jars and lids (thus reduced energy consumption for processing) and requires less shelf space for long-term storage. It's not always advantageous to can things.

But you know your own circumstances best. Give it some thought.

The sugar is irrelevant. Do what you like.

Carol

Carol

Read the recipe I have linked below.

Considering the linked recipe, I dont see the problem. But, I'm a total newbie to canning, I wanted to check with others to be sure. And we dont want to add beef later. We want canned Chili, ready to go.

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHF Chili recipe

The thing is....you found a recipe for exactly what you want to do that is a tried and tested recipe....I think that it is always better to go with a tested recipe. I am not new to canning but even with the experience that I have, I still stick with the tested recipes. What I have found is that just like what you just did, there is nearly always an approved recipe for what I want to do.

Many people choose to do it their own way, but I just prefer to play by the rules. I guess I don't see any need for saftey's sake, to re-invent the wheel.

I'm familiar with the NCHFP recipe.

I stand by what I said. It's your call.

Carol

I've canned the NCHFP Chile Con Carne Recipe, we like it, I'm actually about to do another batch today. No need to go altering a very different recipe and wondering if it is safe if all you want is some canned chile that is quick to heat and eat. The recipe is only appropriate for pints.

Are you referring to the chili bean recipe being only for pints or the chili recipe from the canning place.

Considering the linked recipe, I dont see the problem. But, I'm a total newbie to canning, I wanted to check with others to be sure. And we dont want to add beef later. We want canned Chili, ready to go.

jiminmichigan - the problem with playing with approved recipes is pH and density. Alter either and the processing times become invalid.

EX: By adding a couple of pounds of browned ground beef to the recipe above you'd change the density and the pH of the recipe. It would be both more dense and less acidic and the processing time has to be altered to compensate. Using the processing time required for meat would "probably" be safe but it still isn't recommended because there is just no way to know for sure.

Or, by cutting back on the tomatoes called for in the NCHFP recipe you would alter the pH making it less acidic and so less safe again invalidating the processing time.

The problem is that when you do that the time required for safe processing would just be a guess. No way to test and no way to know for sure.

That is why we all recommend sticking with tested and approved canning recipes. They have been tested repeatedly and proven to be safe.

Dave