Anyone do lots of home canning/food preserving?

[Kim_NC]

We can a ton of stuff....jams, peaches, pears, applesauce, pie fillings, syrups, potatoes, potatoes w/snaps, snap beans, wax beans, tomatoes, tomatoes/okra, tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, veg soup base, mixed vegetables, salsas, pickles and relishes, jalapenos, green chilies, pepper rings, meats (chicken, venison, beef), chicken stock, beef stock, carrots, chili, pork n' beans, sauerkraut.

One of my favorites is to use dry beans to can my own beans - pintos, black beans, kidney beans, red beans, etc. In pints jars, it gives us the convenience of commercially canned beans for recipes and daily cooking, but tastier and without chemicals.

We also freeze and dehydrate.

ETA: I started canning with my Mom & aunts as a teenager. Then graduated to pressure canning in my 20's. I'm 50 now. DH & I enjoy canning together and eating our goodies.

 

[Scoop]

ChickieNikki I've been meaning to post the title of a book I've used for at least 20 years now. I don't know if it's still in print or not, but I'll just throw it out there. It's called Summer In a Jar: Making Pickles, Jams & More. The author is Andrea Chesman, the copyright is 1985 by Williamson Publishing Company, Charlotte, Vt 05445. The ISBN is 0-9133899-14-4. It was $7.95. It's not the only book I use, but this book is kind of neat because most of the recipes are for real small batches. It's nice when you only have a small amount of something or just want to try something new.

Kim_NC how do you can the dry beans? Can you let us know your procedure?

 

[PeggySue]

Holy cow. Just because I recently got spoiled on fresh eggs at my local feed store, I found myself building a hen house in my back yard.
And just because I got spoiled on the fresh veggies there, I planted a garden, which the unusual rainfall this year has caused to flourish.
It's storming right now, actually.
And now, because I have beans, peas and tomatoes on the vines, I went and ordered a pressure canner.
I had chickens ages ago, but this will be a first on the canning, and I am so looking forward to it!!

 

[Scoop]

PeggySue that's called the Domino affect! (Hey, I have a Dominique hen named Domino!)

 

[PeggySue]

Quote:
I like that a lot better!! I usually call it the WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO NOW?!?! effect!!!

I have a side burner on my propane grill on my patio, anyone have any thoughts on whether that is ok to use when I start canning, or should I stick to my gas stove in the kitchen??
I have such sorry counter space inside, I'd love to be able to do it outside!!???

 

[brandytab]

Quote:
I like that a lot better!! I usually call it the WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO NOW?!?! effect!!!

I have a side burner on my propane grill on my patio, anyone have any thoughts on whether that is ok to use when I start canning, or should I stick to my gas stove in the kitchen??
I have such sorry counter space inside, I'd love to be able to do it outside!!???

I'm going to be canning outside this year because I have to - electric stove now in the house and just can't get up to temp!

I read that as long as you have a wind barrier, it works perfect!

 

[Scoop]

I've canned outside on my grill on occasion, but yes, do have a wind barrier as brandytab indicated. I stopped pressure canning outside because the temperature has to be a very constant and not go up and down. It's nice to do it outside sometimes and not heat up a house.

 

[PeggySue]

Quote:
I like that a lot better!! I usually call it the WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO NOW?!?! effect!!!

I have a side burner on my propane grill on my patio, anyone have any thoughts on whether that is ok to use when I start canning, or should I stick to my gas stove in the kitchen??
I have such sorry counter space inside, I'd love to be able to do it outside!!???

I'm going to be canning outside this year because I have to - electric stove now in the house and just can't get up to temp!

I read that as long as you have a wind barrier, it works perfect!

Yeah! I saw a mention of gardenweb.com on this thread and I was just on it reading about using propane, now I am even more excited!!
Right now I need to make a supply shopping list....any suggestions for "must haves" will be welcome!!

 

[Scoop]

My "must haves" suggestions would be:

Canning salt - don't use regular salt
Canning funnel, to fill jars easier
Wide mouth jars for pickles
Plenty of dish towels to put your hot jars on so they don't crack

Good luck! Let us know how you make out!

 

[brandytab]

Quote:
I'm going to be canning outside this year because I have to - electric stove now in the house and just can't get up to temp!

I read that as long as you have a wind barrier, it works perfect!

Yeah! I saw a mention of gardenweb.com on this thread and I was just on it reading about using propane, now I am even more excited!!
Right now I need to make a supply shopping list....any suggestions for "must haves" will be welcome!!

That's where I read it and what made me decide to can that way. We ripped out the big burner from a propane smoker, and that's what we're going to use hooked to the big propane tank!