Thanksgiving’s over. Now what?

With all of the Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge and with the looming Christmas feasts, some of you may be wondering how to preserve all the deliciousness. Well, unfortunately, canning probably isn’t your best bet.

Here’s why:

Turkey

Technically, it is possible to can your leftover turkey. However, the quality won’t be very good. When you can poultry, you should only cook the meat 2/3 done. This is because during the pressure canning process, the meat will continue fully cooking. For information about canning poultry, check out this video from Jarden .

Gravy

Gravy is such a hard thing to make the exact right amount of. It seems that if there is enough, then, there is too much! So, when you have a lot of leftover gravy, you may think about canning it. Canning isn’t a good choice with gravy. Why? Well, most gravy recipes include dairy products and thickeners (flour for example). Neither one of those things is able to be canned using at-home processes. Thickeners change the pH of foods and also make the products too dense to allow the heat to fully penetrate to the middle.

Vegetables

Remember that when you can, you are cooking your foods longer. So, canning completely-cooked vegetables would obliterate the intended consistency. Mashed potatoes are too dense for canning. The heat won’t reach to the middle of the food to kill the c. botulinum.

My recommendation? Enjoy as much of the delicious holiday bounty as you can. Maybe, even try making a casserole or soup with it. Then, freeze whatever leftovers you have to enjoy some other time!

I’d love to receive some of your favorite dishes to make with leftover holiday foods. If you have a great recipe, send it to me in the comments section.

As always, Happy Canning (just not your leftovers!). And, have a wonderful holiday season!