Canning Made Easy

Grit Magazine ^ | October, 2007 | S. Schade-Brewer

[Diana in Wisconsin]

During the first World War, the U.S. government asked its citizens to contribute to the war effort by growing gardens. Americans rose to the challenge. The millions of quarts of provender produced by this astonishing effort not only fed American families, but helped feed starving people all across Europe. Humankind caring for humankind in a time of need – an example the world could heed today.

Similar food shortages have occurred throughout the centuries. When Napoleon was faced with the problem of feeding his rapidly growing military, the French government offered 12,000 francs to anyone who could figure a solution. A man named Nicolas Appert, though not completely understanding why, discovered that by putting food into a bottle or jar, sealing the jar up tight and cooking it for a few hours, the food could be preserved for consumption later. Napoleon’s army didn’t go hungry.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, flocks of free-thinkers sailed the ocean blue in search of a place where they could live free and govern their own lives. Once settled in their respective colonies, they too found daunting the challenge of having enough to eat. Through much trial and error, they discovered how to provide their daily needs and to preserve the precious leftovers for leaner times. Waste not, want not. The colonists learned how to take care of one another.

Preservation progress came at a cost, however. For example, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that anyone knew about Clostridium botulinum, the soil-borne bacterium whose lethal toxin, sometimes found in improperly canned food, claimed countless lives. Likewise, pickled provender frequently went bad when cork stoppers or pig’s bladders were used to cover the crocks and jars. Jams and jellies, sealed with brandy-soaked paper, often sprouted mold. But help was on the way – in the form of a rubber-sealed glass jar.

Tinsmith John L. Mason couldn’t possibly have known how his 1858 patent would permanently revolutionize family nutrition. His machine mass-produced threaded metal jar lids that, in combination with threaded-neck jars and rubber sealing rings, made it easy for virtually anyone to achieve a safe seal when canning. Mason’s canning jar and lid concept caught on immediately and opened the door for several improvements and modifications with familiar names like Ball, Atlas E-Z Seal and Kerr. Through time, the rubber seal has improved, as has the science behind the processing, but home canning is every bit as accessible today as it was in 1858.

You, too, can can

Before starting a canning project of your own, you should keep a few things in mind. It is best to gather only the produce you can work up in a few hours. This ensures optimum nutrition and quality. If possible, harvest early in the day.

Get your supplies out and check them over. Always use jars made especially for canning rather than old mayonnaise or pickle jars, and never use jars that are cracked or chipped around the rim. Use only the two-piece screw lids, never re-using the flat piece, as its protective ability is compromised once lifted off a jar.

Lids and jars should be sterilized before use by boiling for at least 10 minutes, leaving them in the hot water until they are needed.

The two canning methods in general use today make use of either a boiling-water bath or pressure canner for processing. The boiling-water system requires longer processing times and is suitable for foods with higher acid contents, while the pressure canner reaches higher temperatures faster and is suitable for virtually all food types. Once you have decided which fruit, vegetable or meat you want to can, be sure to educate yourself on the current recommendations for method, processing time and sterilization precautions for that produce. Your county extension office provides a wealth of information for your area, or you can go online to such sites as the USDA’s National Center for Home Preservation

www.UGA.edu/nchfp

Continues at link...

[mylife]

It makes a great relish for hot dogs

[phil1750]

Several comments on the first 80 post. Lids are too cheap to risk a poor seal. We don't re-use. We've put up over 100 qts of green beans and a like amount of tomatoes and soup base (tomatoes, peppers, and onion thru the blender first).

My wife freezes a lot of zuccuni and makes a lot of it into my favorite, sweet relish. This stuff is so good, I eat it as a side dish with what ever we are having for dinner. Needless to say, it is also fantastic on fish, hot dogs and brats.

[mylife]

Mmmm... Brats..

[phil1750]

Oh, I forgot one other comment. We used mayo jars years ago, but have found them not to be satisfactory now-a-days. Always seemed to work well for tomatoes but not beans. Now we don’t use them at all.

[mylife]

I use Ball jars and new lids

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I sympathize with clay, the soil in my area is caliche, which I learned to my dismay, needs a pick axe and a lot of determination.

The best combination of high nutrition food for my purposes is first, a hot weather apple tree. Very productive—I got about 10 gallons of applesauce this year. And gourds grow well underneath it, saving space. Pinto beans do very well on a trellis, and serve a double duty by blocking sun from a western wall in summer.

A real secret of the southwest is Amaranth, which very few people have discovered yet, but is a nutritional miracle plant. The greens are some of the highest nutrition greens around, and a seed head can produce a liter of fruit-grain. Very high in protein and amino acids.

It compares favorably with corn, but is far less susceptible to insects.

Its cooler weather cousin is quinoa.

BTW, if you want a giggle, instead of a milk cow, offer to meet your husband halfway and get a milk goat. It will be worth it to see the expression on his face.

[goat granny]

I canned during the summer and fall and loved to see all the jars lined up on the shelf...Raised 5 kids and our dessert was usually canned peaches or pears. It took 17 batches of jam/jelly to get me from one season to the next. If you find a place that lets you pick your own strawberries (usually in July when most farmers are done picking for market) Its great because you pick the berries that are all ripe and ready for jam..

.Picked my own cherries from a small orchard that lets anyone pick their own for a small amount of money and charged by the pound...Love cherry jam....

Took any free fruit offered if it was enough for a batch...Kids loved jam time as they got to eat the skim from the pot before jarring...Tomato's cold packed, even spaghetti sauce minus the meat...Add the meat when making the spaghetti..

It gave quite a sense of satisfaction when done, even hubby helped. I have a son that makes and cans his own salsa..better than store bought

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“BTW, if you want a giggle, instead of a milk cow, offer to meet your husband halfway and get a milk goat. It will be worth it to see the expression on his face.”

Never! I guess you haven’t seen my ‘goat rants’ on any of the gardening or ag-related threads, LOL! I was an indentured slave on my Aunt’s farm each summer while growing up. Granted, she taught me a lot (she was ‘organic’ before the word was even invented), but I can’t stand the smell of goats, the taste of goat meat unless it is heavily seasoned in a giro, the smell or taste of goat milk, and goat cheese is even worse! And they are stupid, vile, mean-spirted animals with no redeeming qualities!

So, no goats. Meeting him half way will have to be with sheep. I’d love the wool for my crochet projects and they could mow the lawn for him. :)

[goat granny]

I always used the same screw tops for years, but the cost of the rubber rim lids wasn’t so bad that I reused them..Just to be on the safe side in case the rubber had deteriorated..

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I freeze a lot, too. And this is the first season in a long time that I tried onions again. My soil is clay, but my flower beds are pretty loose, so I stuck onions in with the flowers. It looked pretty cool! Anyhow, they were ‘Red Candy’ and turned out great. They’re in a wicker basket drying in the garage.

I also put a big, red cabbage in the flower bed. It was happy as a lark there and produced a cabbage as big as my head. It’s so lovely! I have it in the fridge and am planning something special for it. :)

More cabbages and more onions next year for sure!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

What a haul! Both from the garden and from Grandma!

I’ve never trusted pressure cookers, either. I know; it’s weird.

I want to try my hand at building a solar oven; not this summer, but in a NORMAL summer.

I’m going to be jumpin’ through my butt when all of my tomatoes come in. 30 plants, all loaded from top to bottom, just waiting to ripen up. They shouldn’t ALL ripen at once, but after the season we’ve had, I do not trust Mother Nature to be kind!

I did 30 pepper plants, too. The jalapenos are doing great, and the Fat-n-Sassy bells are also loaded. Cornon de Toro is looking wonderful, as are Banana Bill; both are sweet frying peppers.

We’ve gotten 3” of rain in the past two days and FINALLY have temps in the 80’s and 90’s, so I think my garden will finish off just fine. :)

When we had to dump a whole lotta pepper plants at work (we always have extra pepper plants; it’s a planned thing) I had my staff save all of the small peppers on them before they went to the compost pile. I had a grocery bag full of Yellow Hot Wax and Gypsy peppers and I made the most awesome pepper salsa for us to eat at work.

We also have three scruffy elderberry bushes growing in the fence line. I gave the maintenance guys strict orders to not touch them; I’ll harvest those berries when ripe and make us some Elderberry Wine for after hours. There’s an amazing amount of food to eat just in my nursery yard at work.

Waste not, want not! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I hated all the hard work to help them but as an adult appreciate their labors all the more.”

It breaks my heart to think of all the ‘survival skills’ and common sense we have lost in ONE short generation! I mean, my Mom doesn’t grow and preserve food. She spent her life plotting to get OFF the farm, and she teases me that I am constantly channeling HER mother just to annoy her with all of my ‘Susie Farmgirl Homemaker’ ventures, LOL!

Too bad, Mom. If you’re ever hungry, come see me...the pantry is full! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"...and haul it all up and dispose of it."

Did you start a compost pile at your new house? That stuff would be a great starter!

"I would like to keep the jars if possible though, anyone have any ideas?"

The jars should be just fine as long as you wash them out, then sterilze them in boiling water before you use them again. If any of the jar lips are chipped, throw 'em in the recycling bin; they won't seal properly.

Save any blue jars you find, especially if they have the twist on, one-piece metal tops! You can sometimes get $5 a pop for those at antique shops or flea markets. :)

I have a collection ranging from the smallest to the biggest. I use them to store dry goods, buttons, marbles, candle stubs; all sorts of stuff.

The canning jar is one of those things on my 'useful and beautiful' list along with things like rag rugs, wooden bowls and spoons, ceramic mixing bowls, old milk bottles, etc. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Only thing, I wasn’t leaving until my pickles were done.”

You are a True Patriot, LOL! :)

[OregonRancher]

My wife freezes a lot of zuccuni and makes a lot of it into my favorite, sweet relish. This stuff is so good, I eat it as a side dish with what ever we are having for dinner. Needless to say, it is also fantastic on fish, hot dogs and brats.

My wife just asked if you could send the recipe? She said it sounds to good not to make...

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I still think you could have some fun by proposing some odd animals.

Emu? Lemurs? Llamas? Here’s a cute one: Dwarf miniature horse.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205022/Koda-born-health-problems-doctors-worried-But-turns-hes-just-little-horse.html

[Gabz]

Last week we inherited my late mothers canning supplies. 500 jars, a pressure cooker that holds 10, 1 quart jars, and a hot bath pot. (terminology??)

Please accept my condolences for your loss.

With that said ----- now I will express my total JEALOUSY!!!!

Canning was not something ever done in my family. In fact my mother made fun of me for doing it, even while she was enjoying the fruits of my labor. She thought it funny I would bring or send her stuff I had canned. She never understood how much I enjoyed doing things like that.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Anyone have any fabulous recipes for blueberries?”

Here’s 394 recipes using blueberries. That should keep you busy for a while, LOL!

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?foodido%5B%5D=1410&srwci=

Send me some Blueberry Sorbet when you get to it. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You are definitely going to Heaven. But, we already knew that. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You’ll love this thread, then!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2299939/posts

As Granny to add you to her Ping List. :)