Canning Club!

TropicalKitty

Hi all!

I'd like to start a thread (thanks to an idea from a fellow MFP'er! - kayemme) for those of us who are into or getting into canning. We can perhaps share tips, tricks, recipes, failures, whatever.

This is my first year trying the whole canning thing. I just bought a pressure canner (for low acid foods) that should be on my doorstep tomorrow. I'm thrilled to be able to save money and have nutritious foods on hand from the summer all year.

First round that I'm going to try in the canner is some homemade beef stock this weekend and some vegetable soup. *crosses fingers*

Can't wait!

mamaturner

OH MY GOSH! I'm in!!! I've been making our own jam for a few months now but Saturday did my first batch of pickles... YUM!

I don't have a canner but would love one.. I do it the ol' fashioned way of putting it in boiling water for bout 15 min.

I plan to add salsa, more veggies (beans, asparagus, cauliflower etc.), stock and soup is new to me! I wonder if you could do applesauce too then!? I'm super excited for more info!

devilwhiterose

I'm doing the old fashioned way with boiling water. I have a whole set of pint-size jars! I don't seem to be getting much from the garden so I may have to hit up a veggie market and have a whole day canning. I haven't started yet.

amjenti

I've done a little canning. Mainly orange marmalade (winter time) and fresh strawberry jam.
I have a huge amount of fresh blueberries in my freezer that I don't know what to do with. They are a little on the tart side.
I'll have to look for some recipes.

Good luck in canning vegetable soup and homemade beef stock, sounds wonderful. :drinker:


ETA: I do it the old fashioned way too

TropicalKitty

Oh I'm so excited there are others who want to join me!

I thought the boiling thing was the normal way to do it, but as I read up on it, boiling the jars doesn't get the heat you need to kill the bacteria in the low acid foods. For things like vegetables, you need to get the temp up to like 240F to kill the botulism bacteria that can flourish in the no oxygen environment you are creating. Stuff like tomatoes and jams, most fruits, are ok for the boiling method because the acid in them isn't hospitable for the bacteria.

The pressure canner I got can be used to water can as well.

I'll share my recipe and results from this coming, amjenti. Does anyone have any tips or words of advice for me?

mamaturner, have you looked on www.pickyourown.org? There's a bunch of recipes on there and they have some canning stuff too. It may say about applesauce. I got the Ball canning guide to go with my canner, so I'll see if it has a recipe in there for you.

mamaturner

I've done a little canning. Mainly orange marmalade (winter time) and fresh strawberry jam.
I have a huge amount of fresh blueberries in my freezer that I don't know what to do with. They are a little on the tart side.
I'll have to look for some recipes.

Good luck in canning vegetable soup and homemade beef stock, sounds wonderful. :drinker:


ETA: I do it the old fashioned way too

I love mixing fruits for jams. I use blueberries with raspberries and strawberries a lot. Makes a great "triple berry jam" I actually have that in the database... most of my fruit jams come to about 30 cals per Tablespoon. I tried using some honey and cutting some sugar... didnt work too well. lol. Or you could make some blueberry pie filling.. use it for pies, cobblers or on top of ice cream of low fat cheesecake!

nicolee516

every year I make my own jam. I have made lost of other things in the past such as sauerkraut, spaghetti sauce, relish, etc! I love eating our own food we have prepared!

TropicalKitty

Here's a link about the acidity and boiling/pressure canning:

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4078.htm

immacookie

I can not WAIT for next summer to get back into a garden and basic canning. We've been living in a rental for 3 years since relocating but are currently looking to purchase. :drinker:

mamaturner

Well I guess I may need to invest in a canner!! I guess so far everyone I'm doing is high acidity so I'm ok... but if I do anything else I'd need it. Just another thing to add to my wish list for my tiny kitchen!

Thanks for the websites!!

Brangwen, we rent too, luckily our building manager is cool and let us plant a few tomato and pepper plants in front of our apartment. We also have a few planters of them... unfortunately they're getting soft brown spots... anyone know why!?! We've never had this problem... anywho, we go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning to stock up. I do my canning either Sat or Sunday.... just need more space for my jars!

TropicalKitty

I got my canner for $79.97 on Amazon (the Presto 23 quart) it holds 7 quart jars or I can't remember how many pints etc. I've seen really good reviews for it.

I have a garden, but squash bugs claimed my zucchini, yellow and crookneck squash. I have some tomatoes so far. It's my first, so a bit of a learning curve going on. Next year I know I'll need to plant more tomatoes and figure something out about those pesky squash bugs! So farmer's market it is for me as well.

July24Lioness

I am joining you guys too!!!!

Here is the website I use for home canning everything that I do............

http://www.pickyourown.org/

ketchup, BBQ sauce, salsa, tomato sauce, tomato paste, etc................We canned peaches and pears last year also and my sister is using them to puree and use for baby food.

I love gardening and canning. We learned a lot from my mom and my aunt (mom's sister) still cans with me and my sister since our mom is passed away. Good family time spent preparing foods to have through out the winter.

I would suggest getting the Ball brand pressure cooker if you don't already have one.

Happy Canning!!!

kayemme

i'm in!

4myheartnsoul

I don't can but I freeze. I row everything in my garden and make salsa, soup, spaghetti sauce. I cook beef or chicken and make my own stock...I love it!! I also make my own zuchinni bread and apple cake and muffins and freeze them. Welcome everyone!!

July24Lioness

I got my canner for $79.97 on Amazon (the Presto 23 quart) it holds 7 quart jars or I can't remember how many pints etc. I've seen really good reviews for it.

I have a garden, but squash bugs claimed my zucchini, yellow and crookneck squash. I have some tomatoes so far. It's my first, so a bit of a learning curve going on. Next year I know I'll need to plant more tomatoes and figure something out about those pesky squash bugs! So farmer's market it is for me as well.

Check out this website for plants that will naturally repel those squash bugs.................This is where my sister and I have been learning from. Natural pest control so you don'thave to use chemicals and can have an organic garden.

http://organicgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_garden_pest_control

solvig

What a great club! I've been canning for a couple years and I finally got a pressure canner for Christmas this last year. I usually do jams, jellies, fresh fruit, tomatoes and we did turkey stock with the pressure canner. It's so much fun. In fact, pears should be getting about ripe any time now and we have a place that we get to go and pick all we want for FREE!! That's the trick, find as much stuff as you can for free to keep your costs down, or it's just not worth it.

I love canning and hunt thrift stores constantly for jars because no matter how many you have, you always want more! LOL!

MrsRLD

So in! I love to can. This last year I took the course at the local extension service and became a master food preserver. Here are the things I enjoy canning the most:
Tuna, Hot Pepper Jelly, Peaches, Zucchini Relish, Pickled vegtables, Stewed tomatoes, Applesauce and juice, Apple butter, Berry jams, Red Onion Marmalade, Jalepenos, Chow chow, I also like to dry:, Fruit leathers, Apples, Tomatoes, Peppers, Wild Mushrooms, and herbs
So much fun,
Shannon

mamaturner

I would suggest getting the Ball brand pressure cooker if you don't already have one.

I'm on amazon.com and can't find it?! I would love a ball brand, that's what I use for my cans....

Laceylala

I'm in. I've been wanting to do canning for a few years now..and while my garden is super small this year since summer didn't sart here in Oregon until just about two weeks ago, I am going to buy lugs of peaches and tomatoes to can.

I've been looking for a sun dried tomato recipe for quite a long time without success...but found an oven dried tomato recipe in my latest Food and Wine magazine that I cannot wait to try!

mamaturner

Shannon I LOOOOOVE Red onion marmalade!

TropicalKitty

Thanks for the link Lioness! I had heard of the radish, but there are so many other things that I love that I could plant to help my garden.

Oooh MrsRLD, you'll be a great resource for us too! I wonder if my local extension office offers something too.

melodyg

I haven't canned in the past but am interested in learning more about it and maybe doing some this summer. Can't afford a canner right now so it would be whatever I can do without one. Any tips?

immacookie

Brangwen, we rent too, luckily our building manager is cool and let us plant a few tomato and pepper plants in front of our apartment. We also have a few planters of them... unfortunately they're getting soft brown spots... anyone know why!?! We've never had this problem... anywho, we go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning to stock up. I do my canning either Sat or Sunday.... just need more space for my jars!

Unfortunately we have a huuuuge storage issue also, really nowhere to keep the goodies. But next summer hopefully that will be resolved. :happy:

immacookie

Check out this website for plants that will naturally repel those squash bugs.................This is where my sister and I have been learning from. Natural pest control so you don'thave to use chemicals and can have an organic garden.

http://organicgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/natural_garden_pest_control

My grandma always used to make a spray bottle of liquid castile, garlic and tobasco (all diluted with water), said it would kill anything... and she always had a great garden. She also used to make up the garlic/mineral oil concoction for mosquitos and spray it around the porch at night when we'd sit outside (guess you could put it on yourself too :laugh: ).

TropicalKitty

I haven't canned in the past but am interested in learning more about it and maybe doing some this summer. Can't afford a canner right now so it would be whatever I can do without one. Any tips?

You could start with jams and tomato products. Anything on the high acid list that you can do in boiling water. I tried jam last year just to get an idea of how to do it - so easy!

Also, you could luck out at a garage sale or something (like ebay) and find a canner for super cheap!

mamaturner

My jam- 3 cups cut fruit (except blueberries, raspberries blackberries, etc) to 1 cup sugar... I know it's kinda high in sugar.. but I don't use pectin, bring to boil about 20 min. do the custard spoon method (put spoon in jam and make a line with your finger, if the top of line doesn't run, your good) Don't cut the berries, I put in whole and at end of boiling I mash them.

godblessourhome

i'm in! i made grape jelly last year and asked for 2 cookbooks on canning for christmas (that i received). whoo-whoo!

July24Lioness

I would suggest getting the Ball brand pressure cooker if you don't already have one.

I'm on amazon.com and can't find it?! I would love a ball brand, that's what I use for my cans....

Wal-mart has them.

mamaturner

I would suggest getting the Ball brand pressure cooker if you don't already have one.

I'm on amazon.com and can't find it?! I would love a ball brand, that's what I use for my cans....

Wal-mart has them.

guess I'll have to get the hubs to go, I refuse to go into walmart and haven't for at least a year.

TropicalKitty

I would suggest getting the Ball brand pressure cooker if you don't already have one.

I'm on amazon.com and can't find it?! I would love a ball brand, that's what I use for my cans....

Wal-mart has them.

guess I'll have to get the hubs to go, I refuse to go into walmart and haven't for at least a year.

I've only seen the Ball water bath, not pressure canner... WalMart only has the Presto brand according to their website.

mamaturner

I was looking at the Presto... you had the 23 quart right? It seems like a very good deal. Now... is there a difference besides quality of metal between aluminum and stainless steel? course price lol... but if they hold the temp and do the same thing I'd much rather get the presto (aluminum)