Canning

[bèlla]

Does anyone practice canning and preserving? If so, what are you preparing for the coming season?

 

[zephcom]

Does anyone practice canning and preserving? If so, what are you preparing for the coming season?

We don't can anything. But we do use commercially available freeze dried and dehydrated foods.

We also vacuum pack things like beans, rice, barley etc for long term storage. Buying in large quantities saves a lot of money.

We just never got into canning.

 

[devin553344]

Does anyone practice canning and preserving? If so, what are you preparing for the coming season?

My Mom used to can a lot and it was peaches. They were actually pretty good.

 

[bèlla]

My Mom used to can a lot and it was peaches. They were actually pretty good.

I made brandied peaches one year. They were good but I didn't like the texture. Cherries are better for that. But the peach salsa was quite good and I'd do it again.

 

[bèlla]

We don't can anything. But we do use commercially available freeze dried and dehydrated foods.

We also vacuum pack things like beans, rice, barley etc for long term storage. Buying in large quantities saves a lot of money.

We just never got into canning.

It's a lot of work. I'm home full-time. I didn't do it when I worked. Do you dehydrate your own food as well?

 

[devin553344]

I made brandied peaches one year. They were good but I didn't like the texture. Cherries are better for that. But the peach salsa was quite good and I'd do it again.

If I remember correctly, I did eat them straight out of the canning jar, but my Mom would make pie, which was super good. Or maybe it was cobbler. I seem to remember cobbler.

 

[zephcom]

It's a lot of work. I'm home full-time. I didn't do it when I worked. Do you dehydrate your own food as well?

I do some. We grow a heritage tomato that is absolutely delicious. I will slice those and dehydrate them for soups, stews and beans. Last year I took all my extra Jalapeno peppers and smoked them until they were dry and then ground them with the spice grinder.

Mostly we get the commercial stuff. It comes in #10 tins with a shelf life of about 20 years. The processor gets them fresh from the garden and processes them at the peak of ripeness. Or somewhere closer than I would anyway.

 

[bèlla]

I do some. We grow a heritage tomato that is absolutely delicious. I will slice those and dehydrate them for soups, stews and beans. Last year I took all my extra Jalapeno peppers and smoked them until they were dry and then ground them with the spice grinder.

Mostly we get the commercial stuff. It comes in #10 tins with a shelf life of about 20 years. The processor gets them fresh from the garden and processes them at the peak of ripeness. Or somewhere closer than I would anyway.

That sounds delicious. I had a 25 pound box of seconds and used them for several recipes. I don't know if I could do that again by myself!

I've seen a large can at Costco of San Marzano tomatoes. Is that what you're referencing?

 

[zephcom]

That sounds delicious. I had a 25 pound box of seconds and used them for several recipes. I don't know if I could do that again by myself!

I've seen a large can at Costco of San Marzano tomatoes. Is that what you're referencing?

We grow these tomatoes. They are called "Mortgage Lifters". The story is that the guy who created them way back when sold them on the street and made enough money to pay off his mortgage.

They usually grow big enough that only one slice is enough for a sandwich. You won't find them in the stores because they don't travel well. It seems that the thing which keeps tomatoes from traveling well is what gives them their flavor. So you end up with either a blah tomato that travels well or tasty tomato that is at its best when you pick it and hand carry it to the house.

 

[mmksparbud]

I learned to can in North Dakota. I spent almost 5 years there and everybody canned then. I was 22 and newly married and I canned everything in sight! We had a large garden also. I learned to make jams also. At one point, I had over 400 jars of all sorts of stuff down in the basement. We loved to go down there and just look at them. We also made our own wine, choke cherry and dandelion. Our next door neighbor were an elderly couple who taught me how to do it all. I had to give most of it up when we moved back to California and had no opportunity to can again like that for years. Just small batches of stuff once in a while. One day we found a jar of pickles that I had canned 8 years earlier---I didn't want to eat them, but hubby had no trouble and just dug and proclaimed them the best pickles he had ever eaten! One summer in California I planted several tomato plants and 3 zucchini plants. 1 zucchini plant will give you more than you can handle--I had zucchini coming out my ears--canned zucchini pickles, then I also ground a ton and bagged them in bags and froze them. Then I could just take out bag for a batch of zucchini bread. I had a freezer full of those bags! The tomatoes I ended up canning every single day all that summer. I canned about 3-4 quarts every day!
Lately I've gotten into fermenting stuff instead--I had colon cancer 2 years ago and these are supposed be good for the gut--probiotic. I've done several types of sauerkraut--best is one I do with red cabbage, beets, red onion, blood oranges, and a little allspice and cloves. Most everything I do, I do in gallon jars--transfer to quart jars after their done for ease of handling. Tomato salsa, tomatillo salsa, dried chili pastes, garlic paste, (pastes I do in quarts) Italian Giardiniera are ones I usually have going.
Around the holidays I made brown mustard and canned in small jelly jars for gifts as well as our own use, my husband loved that stuff. I also usually canned cranberry chutney with apples, oranges, raisins and spices. He'd make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with that that he loved. I would love to do more, but it is difficult now that I am in a wheel chair. The fermenting is easier.

 

[bèlla]

We grow these tomatoes. They are called "Mortgage Lifters". The story is that the guy who created them way back when sold them on the street and made enough money to pay off his mortgage.

What a neat story. There are moments when I imagine myself in a garden but it isn't practical now. Growing your own food is very satisfying. I contemplated homesteading years ago. But it's a lot of work.

 

[public hermit]

I have a canning question. Is a pressure cooker necessary, or can all canning be down with a water bath? All those old stories about pressure cookers have me leary. I keep a garden, and so I end up giving a good bit away, which us nice. But I would like to take that next step and start canning.

Or, maybe pressure cookers are safer than they used to be?

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

Does anyone practice canning and preserving? If so, what are you preparing for the coming season?

My Mom grew the best tomatoes in Arkansas and canned them in a variety of ways. She made preserves, too. Her peach was truly the best I ever tasted. Before she died a year ago we were reminiscing about that and she said, "Oh thanks, baby, but I just followed the recipe in the Ball canning book."

 

[mmksparbud]

I have a canning question. Is a pressure cooker necessary, or can all canning be down with a water bath? All those old stories about pressure cookers have me leary. I keep a garden, and so I end up giving a good bit away, which us nice. But I would like to take that next step and start canning.

Or, maybe pressure cookers are safer than they used to be?

When I first learned to can it was with the water-bath method. It was all I used. Pressure canning came years later and only best if canning meats to ensure safety. Pressure canning does take less time. Pressure canners are now much safer. However, the big 21 qt. one I was just looking at, is the very same one I used to have over 30 years ago! Though there are fancier, and much more expensive ones. The smaller ones are much nicer now. I never once had a pressure cooker explode on me.

 

[public hermit]

When I first learned to can it was with the water-bath method. It was all I used. Pressure canning came years later and only best if canning meats to ensure safety. Pressure canning does take less time. Pressure canners are now much safer. However, the big 21 qt. one I was just looking at, is the very same one I used to have over 30 years ago! Though there are fancier, and much more expensive ones. The smaller ones are much nicer now. I never once had a pressure cooker explode on me.

Thank you. That's what I should do, start with the water bath. I don't plan on canning meat. Maybe if I become proficient, I'll feel more comfortable with the pressure cooker.

 

[zephcom]

Thank you. That's what I should do, start with the water bath. I don't plan on canning meat. Maybe if I become proficient, I'll feel more comfortable with the pressure cooker.

Just be sure to follow the instructions and don't can things really should be canned with a pressure cooker. It has to do with botulism and one doesn't want to mess around with that.

 

[bèlla]

Thank you. That's what I should do, start with the water bath. I don't plan on canning meat. Maybe if I become proficient, I'll feel more comfortable with the pressure cooker.

Look at the Food in Jars website. She has a lot of helpful information and has written several books on the subject. Price wise, it’s less expensive to work with items as they become available. Here’s a seasonality chart for your reference.

 

[public hermit]

Look at the Food in Jars website. She has a lot of helpful information and has written several books on the subject. Price wise, it’s less expensive to work with items as they become available. Here’s a seasonality chart for your reference.

Thank you for the site. I found "Canning 101." That's the one for me.

 

[mmksparbud]

Look at the Food in Jars website. She has a lot of helpful information and has written several books on the subject. Price wise, it’s less expensive to work with items as they become available. Here’s a seasonality chart for your reference.

That is a great website. I also love all those mason jar lids that you can get nowadays, even through Amazon. They are great for making those jars even more useful.