Vanity: Anyone have tips on home canning?

Lake Victoria | Today | Brainhose

[Brainhose]

Greetings;
I'd like to learn how to do some home canning.
I remember watching my long deceased Grandmother do it quite frequently.
I was hoping to cull the vast freeper cerebral knowledge base for tips and hints . Thanks much in advance.

[cripplecreek]

For starters you need a good pressure cooker.

We got a frost last night and I was thinking of collecting all my unripe tomatoes and canning some homemade salsa this afternoon.

[deport]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=home+canning

I thought refrigeration basically replaced canning as a home food preservation method... In any case be sure and follow sterilization methods as prescribed if you do canning. good luck.

[Tijeras_Slim]

In my family we used a 3’ rattan cane, usually about a half inch in diameter.

The kids down the street were luck their Dad only used a belt.

[Red_Devil 232]

I thought refrigeration basically replaced canning as a home food preservation method

Try keeping a bunch vine ripened tomatoes that were picked in August in the refrigerator until December!

[Dysart]

"Go get me a switch," are the words I feared most back in the day. How defeating is having to procure and return to your punisher the instrument of your own torture?

I didn't misbehave much.

[infidel29]

My mother used to can tomato sauce, cherries and homemade pickles (among other things) years ago.

She'd fill mason jars with the various things then put the jars in a huge kettle of boiling water. Once the contents were hot, she'd quickly seal the jars to create a vaccuum. We stored the jars in a cool room in the basement.

[Red_Devil 232]

What are you going to preserve?

Some canning methods do not require a pressure cooker just a boiling water bath for 10 - 20 minuets depending on your altitude.

[William Terrell]

When you get a pressure canner, the instruction booklet will have all the information you need to can anything. You can can meat and fish (incidentally, when you can fish, you can leave the bones in; the canning process will make them just as tender as the fish itself).

Follow the instructions exactly. The makers of the canner will have experimented on every process in the booklet; they must, to avoid lawsuits.

When canning tomatoes, you don't need a pressure canner, a hot water bath will work, but you do need to read the instructions you can find in a number of different places. Tomatoes are so acid that pressure is not necessary.

When canning pickles, you need to bring them up to pressure and immediately reduce the pressure by running cold water over the cookers and pop the cap, and let them cool to keep them crisp.

[cheme]

Get the basic book by “Balls” caning procedures

[deport]

That’s why I used the words ‘basically replaced’...... But you can freeze tomatoes for future cooking needs and that’s refrigeration...

[Red_Devil 232]

Sorry, that should read minutes not minuets ... dancing around the kitchen for 10 - 20 minuets will only improve your mood!LOL

[texaslil]

Yeah! A kindred spirit.

For starters, get a Ball canning book. Think it’s called Ball Blue Book of Canning. It will tell you how from start to finish. (about five dollars-—it also has hundreds of recipes for salsas, compotes, marmelades, syrups, relishes, etc. as awell as specialty recipes for gift giving. Walmart carries the book along with all the canning supplies you might ever need.

We live on a remote ranch and I’ve been canning since 1971. It may seem mindboggling at first, but once you get the hang of it, it fast and easy. The only thing I’d suggest is to figure the cost.

Jars are expensive since they’re made of tempered glass (about fifty cents each, and come in cases of twelve, but seems like no one does this anymore and they can often be had cheaply at garage sales)—I’ve gotten hundreds for free as well. The rings can be used over and over, but you’ll need the lids (about two cents a piece) each and every time you use them.

Don’t recycle jars like mayonaise jars. They are not made of tempered glass and may shatter in the canner. (one learns this the hard way with an incredible mess)

I’d start with a water bath canner-—also available at walmart for about 12.95. They are usually enameled tin, speckled dark blue They come with a lid and are about three gallons in capacity.

Pressure canners are fairly expensive. Jams, jellies, and high acid fruits and veggies like tomatoes, peaches are processed covered only in boiling water for only 10—20 minutes. Anything put up with sugar, sugar syrup, or vinegar— as in pickles— can be safely preserved this way. The advantage of putting up food in this manner is the savings on energy.

Green beans, potatoes, etc. require a pressure canner and processed at the higher temps to kill botulism, etc. low acid veggies require. For instance, potatoes or soups and stews containing potatoes, peppers, meat, need FORTY to NINETY MINUTES at ten pounds pressure. That’s a lot of gas or electricity. Potatoes are so easily stored it’s hardly profitable to can them. Also scalding and freezing is a good option. The Ball Canning Book also tells you how to freeze and dry fruits and veggies.

Also I use wide mouth canning jars that are tapered. This way I can use them for freezing as well. Because of the tapered sides, food can be partially thawed and slid out of the jars. Narrow mouth jars require complete thawing since the food will not redily slide out. Seems like we’re always in a hurry here.

If you have any questions please use the private reply to me. I’m sure this will, no doubt, bore most to tears. Too bad so many no longer know how to feed themselve LOL

[Red_Devil 232]

Yes you can freeze tomatoes but they are mushy after thawing and are, as you state, good for cooking ... like in a sauce. Nothing wrong with freezing but some vegetables do not survive freezing well unless you have the means to “flash” freeze them. If you want some nice hot jalapenos along with some green tomatoes or other fresh vegetables packed in vinegar and other spices, canning is the only way to go!

[SouthTexas]

Wife blanches then freezes some types of vegetables, as well as canning. Something she learned from MY grandmother.

What are you trying to put up?

[johnny7]

The kids down the street were luck their Dad only used a belt.

A belt... or razor strop... can be very effective if applied by a skilled technician. ;)

[SampleMan]

1. Put your food stuffs in jars in a pressure cooker (required to get a sufficiently high temperature), different foods will take varying amount of water and seasoning if desired.

2. Place vacuum lids on top of jars.

3. Apply heat for as long as it takes to kill all the bad bacteria (check google).

4. Vaccuum will form in jars and seal lids as they cool.

5. Screw on tops. These protect the lids from being knocked loose. They are not their to provide a seal.

When you open a jar, ensure that the vacuum seal is still good. If not discard. Metal vacuum lids cannot be reused.

Most grocery stores carry mason jars. Wash them with heat in the dishwasher before you use them.

Don’t recommend canning corn. Steam, cut off cob and freeze.

[AntiKev]

Ball Blue Book of Canning

The author is lucky he wasn't dyslexic. I bring NOTHING to the table...except an appetite.

[conservativegranny]

It is now recommended that you can tomatoes using a pressure cooker. I think the reason is that many of the new varieties of tomatoes are not as acidic as they once were.

The best way to can is to check your home extension office in your county. They usually have up to date canning information on their websites. There are alot of great canning websites on the internet.

It depends on what you want to can as to which method you are using. I’ve canned jams, jellies, salsa, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce, vegetable and chicken soups, tomatoes, bbq sauce, pickles, and various fruits and pie fillings over the years. There are some things we prefer frozen. Green beans for example taste entirely different frozen than they do canned. I prefer the frozen as they taste more like fresh green beans.

The advantage to canning over freezing is that canned goods last longer and do not rely on electricity to maintain. It also frees up room in your freezer for storing other things that cannot be frozen like fresh meat and make ahead meals etc.

Buy good equipment. A good pressure canner and hot water bath enamel canner. Use only jars made for canning. I prefer always buying wide mouth as they are easier to get some things into like pickles and pears. Size of jars depends on what you are canning. Jams & jellies I do in half pints, tomatoes in quarts. I use alot of pints for applesauce and salsa. And new fresh tops are used every time you can. You can reuse the rings. You’ll need a jar lifter and a magnetic lid lifter to get the lids out of the hot water that you soak them in before using. Follow all directions and times exactly. Ball makes a good canning book and they sell it on their website.

I love canning and made my own dill pickle relish last year. Great stuff!

Some sites I use for both recipes and advice but always follow extension recommendations:

www.canningusa.com
http://www.recipecottage.com/preserving/
http://www.mountain-breeze.com/kitchen/canning/index.html
http://www.homecanning.com/
http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/1012/canning.html

The new Ball canning site:

http://www.freshpreserving.com/

An example of a University Extension canning website:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Canning_Food

Have fun!

[lysie]

Texaslil, you know your canning. I started canning around the same time as you.

Brainhose , at a garage sale, I was lucky to find a large pressure cooker for canning. Check your local newspaper. You may find one cheap.