I hope you are all having a rewarding gardening season!
Does anyone want to share some canning advice?
I'd like to make sliced Bread and Butter type pickles,(not refrigerated) and maybe later, if I get brave enough, some tomato sauce.
These are some of the recommendations I found on the internet, but it all seems contradictory.
First the pickles...I put them in a bowl mixed with pickling salt, and THEN A)Cover with ice and let rest 3 hours, B)Weigh them down with a plate and put in the fridge overnight, OR, C)Leave covered with plastic wrap on the kitchen counter at room temperature for 3 hours?
Second, once I've washed the salt off them, I should immediately......... A) pack cukes into hot jars, and pour just boiled brine in, B)add cukes to the just boiled brine, cooking for a minute, and then use a funnel and spoon to fill the hot jars?
Third, is it true that grape leaves help the pickles stay more crisp?
Do I need to sterilize the jars if they are clean?
I plan to heat process the canning jars for 10 mins.
Any advice would be appreciated.
In Texas, we would always put a wild mustang grape leaf, and sometimes, a tiny sour unripe green mustang grape in the jars to make them crispy.
Well, there are different reasons for each of those items, and it depends on the recipes and final processing.
If you have run your jars through a dishwashing/sanitizing cycle, then you probably don’t have to sterilize the jars before canning.
Some differences have to do with raw pack vs hot pack methods. I can’t even begin to remember the reasons for the different instructions.
You can’t go wrong if you buy the Ball Blue Book of canning and preserving, and following their directions.
Some recipes on the web are just things that have been passed down from generation to generation, and might not be the safest thing, even though it will usually be an ok way.
Yes, grape leaves can help. Salt helps draw the water out. Calcium Chloride can help crisp your pickles. Ball sells it as pickle crisp, I got mine at Walmart. Chilling in the refrigerator and doing a fast processing is also supposed to help with crispness.
A recipe with adequate vinegar, and processing for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner, is probably good enough to insure bacterial agents etc. are killed.
Sterilizing the jars is additional safety measure. Botulism can be an issue in an oxygen free environment such as when home canning. This can be in the soil. It will grow in the vaccum created by processing. The toxin produced is deadly.
Being cleaner than clean is the best way, especially with stuff that will be eaten straight from the jar. Buy the Ball book and rest easy.