Thanks all the replies. You have made an interesting and informative conversation! Dave, yes. I have spent a lot of time in NZ. At one time, canning, using proper jars (which are marginally heavier than ours and very durable) was very popular. New Zealand was and still is to some degree a very rural country. Like here, canning has been supplanted by freezing. Essentially that mostly explains the lack of supplies now. And I have met a few folk who used to use pressure canners. I think they called them retorts or autoclaves. Carol is right; with BWB canning for such things like jams or chutneys, the grocery food jars work fine. Lack of pressure canning aside, the problem is the shelf life of these products AND the entire loss of canned fruits. Everyone (of a certain age) in NZ remembers their Ma or Grandma or Grandpa canning peaches or plums or other orchard crops. I dont know how they used do Lambs Tongues, for instance, but there must be those who miss those too! Essentially, NZ is an example of somewhere that used to do something that has now been mostly lost. Thanks the freezing tip, Woodsmoke. Some miscreants (like me) actually prefer some things canned. In my case, the canned pate was just a whim; something to do with the livers. I could envision having some small jars of some delicacy, but going through the whole process of making pate frequently from frozen liver isnt so appealing! Additionally, Im not so keen about freezing in general. We can have long power outages as well. Appreciate the tips JimnGinger. I will brine some brisket and freeze it, but again, like the pate, I was envisioning a handy lunch to make from a small jar. I have canned beef chunks, which I like very much, and it occurs to me that I could make these taste like Corned Beef if I wanted. Commercially canned Kippered Herring is very common and popular in Northern California grocery stores. I havent tried to home can any, but home canned smoked fish is very doable. Sardines, Herring, Smelt and Mackerel, Salmon and Tuna... Generally, I have found that home canned fish or meat is far better than what one able to purchase. Canning fish as opposed to freezing it, is, to me, a much much better approach. Thanks again!

If you cook the cabbage separately from the corned beef, it won't have the flavor from the meat, which is what makes it taste like corned beef cabbage. You can either add the cabbage to the crock pot along with the beef, or when the corned beef is done, pour the cooking juices into your large pot and cook the cabbage in the broth.

We absolutely love corned beef so I cook it fairly often especially if on sale. I have done in the slow cooker and the oven both are good but have a different flavor. I most often use the slow cooker, I put in a layer of sliced onion on the bottom, put the corned beef in, add the baby red potatoes not peeled, chunks of carrots which I don't peel I scrub the heck out of them with a vegetable scrubber, and contents of the spice package, I add a little Tony's Cajun seasoning for a kick. I add one can of beer or that equivalent of water. Cover and cook on high till meat is fork tender, I add wedges of cabbage on top the last 15 to 20 minutes. I like my cabbage with a little crunch left. I found some time ago I much prefer nice carrots well scrubbed over peeled they have so much more flavor. I don't like those supposed baby carrots in the bags. They aren't really baby carrots they are cut and shaped and don't have much flavor. I buy nice big orange carrots and cut into chunks. The best ones I have found are at the Mexican market. I don't have a corned beef since we were gone and I didn't get to go grocery shopping. I am jealous!

Marilyn, you're welcome. :-) This is another one I like with corned beef. Like the Horseradish Sauce, you can decrease amounts to make less. Mustard Cream Sauce Makes About 3 1/4 cups 2 T. butter 2 T. flour 2 cups broth from cooking your corned beef and vegetables 1 cup heavy cream 1 T. prepared horseradish sauce 2 T. whole grain mustard (or add to taste) 2 T. fresh chives, minced To make the roux: Melt the butter in small sauté pan, then slowly stir in the flour and cook over low heat for about a minute, stirring constantly. To finish the sauce: In a small pot, bring the stock, cream, horseradish and mustard to a low boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add the flour/butter, a little at a time, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the chives.