Want to can... a little intimidated!

[Frogdogtimestwo]

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[nccountrygirl]

Hey y'all the bottom of a turkey fryer works great to. Just set your caner on it and go.

 

[debakadeb]

Quote:
I use a crock to put the cabbage and salt in to make the sauerkraut. However, others have used jars. It basically needs to be a clean container large enough to hold the cabbage while it ferments.

--remove the outer leaves from the cabbage
--shred the remainder of the cabbage very, very thin. When your shredded cabbage weight five lbs., put in in the crock and sprinkle 3 tablespoons of pure granualted salt. Even if I make more than 5 lbs, I stop at this point and take a wooden block or something similar and push the salted cabbage down making as much juice as possible. When the cabbage has wilted somewhat and the juice is covering the cabbage, I add more.

I then put a plate that is just slightly smaller in diameter than the crock, and a weight on top of the plate. The weight just needs to be an object that is heavy enough to keep the plate pushed down on the kraut. Typically, I clean a brick and use it. Cover with a clean cloth and let ferment.

Once the juice starts making bubbles, skim that part off each day. The kraut should ferment for about 3 weeks. The amount of time it takes sometimes depends on the temperature where it is kept.

After fermentation is complete, pack in hot, sterilized jars and process in a water bath (15 min for pints; 20 for quarts).

I think the most important things are to get the salt ratio correct and making the cabbage think enough.

Hope this works for you.

Deb

 

[DuckLady]

I started out with jams and jellies. The instructions on the pectin boxes are easy to follow. Then I moved on to other things that were acidic (fruit and pickled stuff) that only needed a waterbath canner. Then I went on to canning veggies with a pressure canner. Just start slow and work your way on as you gain confidence.

 

[painter chick]

Hi all, I love BYC I'm always finding new great info!

My question is about our hard water,for my first canning experience I made jam in a water bath method but with our hard water they all came out covered with mineral scum and cleaning every jar with vinegar isn't something I enjoy. I'm planning on getting a pressure canner this summer and am wondering if I have to go buy purified water(!) for my canning or just add vinegar or pre boil it or something?

Thanks for all the info, Sue

 

[MissPrissy]

I guess my water isn't as hard as yours. I just wipe my jars off.

 

[spook]

Tomatoes are the easiest to can, pickles too, they do not need a hot bath, only hot jars, boiling temp and they will seal themselves.
One rule of thumb, if in doubt, throw it out. Also, always listen to your jars, they will talk to you!!!! When you are done canning, we have always counted the pops for sealing, if you only have 4 pops out of 6 jars, check them over, 2 did not seal and you want to use those quickly (in a few days). Wipe your jar tops to make sure they are clean before placing the lid on. Also, listen to the seal when you open it. If it has a good sssssssssssssp! then it was a good seal, or a POP, another good seal. A tinny sounding click with a short ssp, not good enough.
Weird I am...lol. Good luck with canning, you will never go back to store bought! Foods are so real tasting and less in sodium and you know what they were rinsed in and grown in.

 

[rooster0209]

My mom cans alot. She makes the best crab apple & choke cherry jelly & refrigerator pickles,

I have been scared of canning. I freeze my tomatoes in quart freezer bags. I think it so much easier and I can do one or two quarts bags after work and not have alot of stuff out. I am sure they dont last as long as canning, but they always get used before the next batch of tomatoes are ready. I was pretty hyped last year, I put 22 bags in the freezer, gave lots of tomatoes away and still had lots and lots to eat.

I am thinking of getting brave and trying my hand at canning some crab apple jelly this year. It will make my mom proud! For at least a day anyway, at 40 I still do stuff that annoys her and makes her ask "when am I going to grow up?"

I have all the stuff needed to can left over from when my husbands grandma canned

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Quote:
EXACTLY!!! Totally agree..the tomatoes/salsa are the easiest and the jar lid MUST pop or it isn't sealed and it MUST hiss/pop (quieter though) when opened. Walmart has pressure canners, I looked at them the other day, Presto brand I think, for 60 bucks...can't beat that, a good starter size..bigger cost more of course. The jars were so fancy and cute I nearly bought some just becasue, lol!!!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

I was telling my sister about this thread and she said the best canning tip she ever got was to heat the jars in the rinse cycle of your dish water they come out hot and ready and stay hot a long time. She said she would help me can as she has done it all including the pressure cooker (she has 3 expensive ones). And she has all the stuff to do it so nothing but jars and lids and rings for me.

Your right walmart has some really cute jars right now.