Canning and preserving

[ChickMarie]

I know it's been mentioned in some other threads, but I thought it could use its own (forgive me if there's a thread I missed in my search).

My grandmother used to do a lot of canning and preserving, but I never paid much attention and I've always been afraid to try it. Lately I've been wanting to give it a go. I've been doing some research online, but I always like to get advice here whenever I can

Anyway, I honestly don't know anything about it and I thought it was going to be pretty easy to get a few things to get started. Now I'm finding out about boiling vs. pressure and all kinds of stuff that I wasn't expecting.

I'd like to do some veggies like green beans and maybe learn to do some simple jams and other recipes. Salsas and sauces are an interest, too.

Do any of you have experience with this type of thing? What would be some good starter items for me to get? I've heard of a couple of good books to use, but I wanted to order whatever items I need at the same time I get the book(s).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and maybe this thread will live a long life and include wonderful advice and recipes for everyone

[rangerdog]

I don't pressure can anymore but already this year I have (water bath) canned bread and butter pickles, hot sauce, and onions. Start simple with the Ball Blue Book which is the definitive guide to preserving:

http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Blue-Book.../dp/0972753702

A kit like this one has the book included.

http://www.amazon.com/Ball-11102-Hom...tp_st_edpp_url

You of course need jars, lids and bands

[Tootsie Plunkette]

My mom used to do a lot of canning, but eventually gave it up as too much work. She did, however, take advantage of our big freezer, and every year would freeze batches of blanched & chopped tomatoes which made delicious spaghetti sauce. She also made a lot of freezer jam, using pectin.

[tagurit]

I use to do quite a lot of canning. The only things I like to can now are applesauce (using only Winesap apples) and jellies, particularly seedless raspberry. I blanch and freeze veggies.

You'll want to be sure to wipe the rim of the filled jar before you apply the hot lid. I usually drape a clean and barely damp dish towel over my left shoulder during this process.

[ChickMarie]

rangerdog, I didn't even know pressure canning existed until I started looking around yesterday. My grandmother always did it with water baths. I think I'll start out that way and then do more later on if I decide I enjoy it. I have a feeling I will though.

Tootsie Plunkette, we have a big freezer, too, but I don't take advantage of it like I should. Maybe I'll try my hand at freezer jam. I've never made it, but I've always liked it when I've had it. I never thought about blanching and freezing tomatoes. Another thing I'll have to try!

tagurit, the fact that you have to be so careful with canning is what always made me shy away from it. I have a lot more patience now than I used to, so I think I'm finally ready

[tagurit]

Fortunately (or not) ChickMarie, I began canning before it all got so fussy. We use to heat tomatoes, toss the hot tomatoes in a jar, toss in some salt, then seal them all up. No water bath. The idea being tomatoes are too acidic to cause any problem. Of course, jelly was sealed with paraffin, too. I hope I'm not losing you, here. Canning is so cool. It's the greatest feeling to look at all your beautiful jars when you're done.

[ChickMarie]

Originally Posted by tagurit

Fortunately (or not) ChickMarie, I began canning before it all got so fussy. We use to heat tomatoes, toss the hot tomatoes in a jar, toss in some salt, then seal them all up. No water bath. The idea being tomatoes are too acidic to cause any problem. Of course, jelly was sealed with paraffin, too. I hope I'm not losing you, here. Canning is so cool. It's the greatest feeling to look at all your beautiful jars when you're done.

I'm sure my granny didn't get too fussy about it all either
You didn't lose me. I want to start out very simply so I don't overwhelm myself and then move on to more difficult things once I'm comfortable.

Your mentioning of all the jars reminded me of a house looked at when we were house hunting. When we opened the door to the crawlspace it was FULL of jars of food. I do mean full! My stepdad got in there as far as he could go and said there was nothing but jars (with food inside) from wall to wall, front to back, side to side. It had to have been a few thousand. Then when we opened the shed in the backyard it was full of empty jars! Not just a lot of jars neatly or semi-neatly arranged but just piled on the floor about waist high!

[NayShel]

My only advice is to make sure you get a proper seal. Can't tell you how but I know if it's not done right, the food will just sit and spoil and you'll have an awful stench to deal with.

Mom used to do a lot of canning but now she uses her Food Saver vaccuum sealing machine for everything and puts it in the freezer. For the veggies, she blanches them, pats them dry, measures them out (usually 2 cups per package) and seals them up. For anything more watery/liquid like chopped zucchini, cooked squash or applesauce, she first freezes a Tupperware "square round" full and then vaccuum seals the frozen square of food stuff so it lasts longer.

[RCIAG]

My great-grandmother canned everything.

I decided to get into it one year because I had more cukes than any one person should be allowed to grow unless you're a grower for Claussen.

I just bought the box of Ball jars & followed the directions on the bottom of the box. Of course you have to have the canning pot, the jar lifter, & all the other accessories mentioned but it's not that hard. I borrowed a friends stuff the first year or two then finally committed & bought my own.

I mostly just do pickles, squash & cukes, sweet pickles. Never done dill but will try that eventually.

For tomato sauces & the like I just do the vacu-seal thing now.

[ButterscotchCat]

Originally Posted by tagurit

We use to heat tomatoes, toss the hot tomatoes in a jar, toss in some salt, then seal them all up. No water bath. The idea being tomatoes are too acidic to cause any problem.

I've made some that way too. I found as long as you have a good seal, there is no problem.

I have to buy new supplies this year. Everything was lost in the fire. Where is the best place to buy Alum? Last time I found it at Rite Aide Drug Store. I can never find it at the grocery store.

[ChickMarie]

I would love to learn how to do pickles. I'm more interested in dill pickles and bread and butter pickles. We didn't plant any okra, but I want to do some next year and learn how to pickle those, too.

RCIAG, you said you can squash. What's that like? We have huge amounts of yellow squash and zucchini and even though I can't imagine ever getting tired of it myself, it would be nice to store some away for later.

[ButterscotchCat]

Originally Posted by ChickMarie

I would love to learn how to do pickles. I'm more interested in dill pickles and bread and butter pickles. We didn't plant any okra, but I want to do some next year and learn how to pickle those, too.

I'll look up my recipe when I get home and post it.

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by tagurit

Fortunately (or not) ChickMarie, I began canning before it all got so fussy. We use to heat tomatoes, toss the hot tomatoes in a jar, toss in some salt, then seal them all up. No water bath.

My great-grandmothers used water baths in my lifetime (both died when I was little), so I'm not sure when it got so fussy.

And water baths aren't difficult at all; just put the filled jars in the water and let them bathe for awhile. Easy breezy.

The idea being tomatoes are too acidic to cause any problem.

Luckies! My mom had an entire batch of canned tomatoes go bad because they didn't seal.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by ChickMarie

RCIAG, you said you can squash. What's that like? We have huge amounts of yellow squash and zucchini and even though I can't imagine ever getting tired of it myself, it would be nice to store some away for later.

I just googled a squash pickles recipe. They taste just like cucumber sweet pickles. I've never done zucchini but I'd imagine it'd taste about the same.

I think this is my squash pickle recipe which is pretty much the same as any bread & butter sweet pickle recipe out there:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1836,...252195,00.html

Though I don't cook the squash. I just rinse the mixture, put it into the jars & pour the sugar/vinegar/spice mix over it in the jar.

Every so often when I spin my spices around I wonder why I have mustard seed, then it's pickling time & I remember why.

[sweetokiegirl]

ChickMarie, check your county's state extension office. They may be able to give you information or classes (for free or little money) or even get you in touch with a local group that does home canning. I belong to "Oklahoma home and community education" or home extension clubs as they used to be called. We have monthly lessons on various consumer topics, do volunteer/charity work and do canning and preserving, baking, sewing, and other useful "homemaker" work. A lot of these things get shown at county fairs.
I second the Ball Blue Book of preserving. They have the most up to date methods for canning.
Tomatoes are a special case on home preserving. The newer varieties are lower in acid than older varieties. As I understand it, all tomatoes and tomato sauces should be pressure canned unless you add acid (citric acid) to them.
A way I have learned to check the seals is to lift the jars by their seals (with out the rings) after 24 hours of cooling in a draft free spot without disturbing. Always inspect the jars for chips before using them and check food periodically during storage for gas bubbles that indicate spoilage.

[DawnStorm]

My mother used the can/freeze a lot of things: homemade grape jelly (that was always a sticky mess); applesauce; mincemeat, and one time a whole peach pie. My mother was rather leery about the pie, but she'd read about the procedure in a magazine and wanted to try it. She pulled that sucker out of deep freeze about a day before my January birthday, thawed it in the fridge and heated it up. I had a peach pie instead of a cake that year, and it was delicious! It later occured to her to just make/freeze the peach filling, and she liked that better. Didn't take up as much room in the freezer.
There is some kind of pickle/relish called chow-chow that my parents used to make/freeze. I remember coming inside one weekend afternoon and seeing both my parents in tears from cutting up onions. The whole kitched smelled spicy.
As far as a sealing goes, I know for jelly, my mother always used wax, and as far as sterilization, she either put the jars in boiling water on the stovetop or warmed them in the oven. It's been years since she's done any of that.

[Mr. Furious]

I buy pizza sauce and pasta sauce in bulk, so I pressure can it in individual jars. IIRC, you have to pressure can it; a water bath won't allow it to reach an appropriately high temperature. Or something like that.

The nice thing about a pressure canner is that it can also be used as a water bath canner, since the body is essentially a stock pot.

[ButterscotchCat]

Originally Posted by ChickMarie

I would love to learn how to do pickles. I'm more interested in dill pickles and bread and butter pickles. We didn't plant any okra, but I want to do some next year and learn how to pickle those, too.

As promised, here is my Mom's/Grandma's recipe for pickles. My mom never sterilized her jars, but I do.

Dill Pickles - 1 Quart

2 Dill Flowers or 2 Teaspoons Dill (add some dill seed if using dried dill)
1/2 Cup Cider Vinegar
Boiling water (if you don’t have “good water” in your area, buy water)

Sterilize jars. Pack jars w/ pickle sized cucumbers and the dill*. Add the vinegar, salt and alum. Top with boiling water. Place canning lid and ring on jars. (I shake at this point). Cool in a draft free area. Store for at least 5 weeks in a cool area out of sunlight before pickles are ready, (better after 6 to 8 weeks). Will keep for over a year (personally, I have eaten them over 2 years old, still good).

* a clove of garlic can be added before the boiling water for Kosher Dill Pickles

[tagurit]

Originally Posted by AnglRdr

My great-grandmothers used water baths in my lifetime (both died when I was little), so I'm not sure when it got so fussy.

So did my grandmother, and my mother. I'm missing your point.

And water baths aren't difficult at all; just put the filled jars in the water and let them bathe for awhile. Easy breezy.

Yes, of course, but if you only heat up the pot of tomatoes, then fill the jars with the hot vegetable, and seal, it's less fussy. Of course, it's less safe, which was my point.

Luckies! My mom had an entire batch of canned tomatoes go bad because they didn't seal.

Well, not lucky, vigilant. If tomatoes don't seal, they have to go into the bath with (probably) a batch of beans. Same with any other jar that doesn't seal, you have to re-do it. You can't put an unsealed jar on the pantry shelf.

Though, you could do any other vegetable without processing, as long as you forced a seal, there is definitely greater risk than with tomatoes, and I wouldn't advise anyone to chance it.

[Esprise Me]

Thanks for starting this thread, ChickMarie. I was thinking of doing so myself!

I bought a CSA farm share with a friend last summer, and we both really enjoyed it. We got a half share (individual portion) together and still had some leftovers to freeze, in part because I was in Costa Rica for six weeks of the growing season. This year we've decided to get a full share (family portion, for 3-4 people) together because it's not that much more expensive, and we have lots of friends and co-workers (and my boyfriend!) who love fresh local produce and would be happy to take any extra off our hands. We're also thinking we'll freeze some stuff again, and maybe try canning. I recently finished Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and now my friend's reading it. We're intrigued by the idea.

I have some questions for the experienced canners around here. I looked into the water bath canning system Rangerdog mentioned, and there were two reviews that confused me.

20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
ONLY FOR CANNING FRUIT, January 5, 2009
By PM - See all my reviews

PLEASE BE CAREFUL... this canner is ONLY to be used for fruit and jelly's, with some use for canning tomatoes (only very acidic ones-or you have to add acidity like lemon juice). YOU SHOULD NOT CAN VEGETABLES with this canner , it is not safe as it can only heat water to boiling 212 F, and you need a pressure canner to can vegetables and meats- heats to 245F necessary to kill botulism etc because these foods are low acid. check the goverment recommendations! BE SAFE.

So, is it not possible to can other things at all without a pressure canner? What if you add acid like vinegar or lemon juice?

Also, forgive my ignorance, but is canning the same thing as preserving things in jars?

79 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars great for home grown produce, March 23, 2004
By Tamy R. McDonald (australia) - See all my reviews

This is the only canning system I would ever use. Its easy and less dangerous then the pressure canners. I've canned everthing from homemade spaghetti sauce to jams and vegetables. They keep very well and taste great even months later. Just follow the simple instructions in the manuel and your favourite recipes and you have a great thing going. Your produce in the jars looks great makes for wonderful gifts at Christmas time too!

So...you can can vegetables in a water bath? Or is that one of those things some people get away with doing for a while but is fundamentally unsafe and will catch up with you eventually. Also, what's dangerous about a pressure canner?

And, one more stupid question: What's the difference between a pressure canner and a pressure cooker?