What are you canning now?

[JennsPeeps]

I canned 10 lbs asparagus last night. It did 7 asparagus jars (bigger than a pint, smaller than a quart... 1.5 pint?). I forgot to can the cut ends, so will be eating & freezing those. I took pics throughout the process & will post a how-to thread tonight.

It was funny to do the asparagus. About 1/2-way through I realized that asparagus was the 1st thing I'd ever done in my pressure canner last year. I was such a nervous wreck about it and canned the veggies at 15 psi instead of 10, turning them into mushy goo.

At least mushy goo asparagus can be run through a blender and used as part of the liquid to make into risotto.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I'm going to get in trouble for this but..... it's a funny story.

A couple of years ago I was introducing my new DW Sharon to the joys of country life. The two of us and her oldest daughter went out one morning and picked a bunch of wild grapes to make some grape jam. Everything is going great, I explained how the hot water bath works - to sterilize each batch of jars, the cook time etc etc. So I figured they had it down pat so I went off to something else.I came back in the house about 2 hours later and they were still canning the first batch of jars????? I asked what's wrong - they tell me the jars won't seal right. The follow the directions to the letter and every time they take the jars out of the water about 10 minutes later they make this "pop" sound. They figured it was the seal breaking and then they would try again. I did my best not to laugh to hard. Now everytime we can something and the seal forms I always cut Sharon a glance.

Steve in NC

Probably sleeping in the chicken house tonight.

 

[Phox01]

DH and I will be attacking the freezer this weekend and turning all the berries we picked last year into jam.We were supposed to do this over the winter but we ended up having #3 son show up with all he owned in his car . Needless to say we opened the door and let him in and he has not left yet. His 2 year old is here 3 days a week , never days in a row of course , which makes it very hard to get much done . From the looks of the freezer we are going to be canning 24/7 and will most likely get 50 to 60 1/2 pint jelly jars of jam.Please pray for us!!!!

 

[PeggySue]

Quote:
I know I've said this on another thread, but it bears repeating... but operating the canner empty except for water, helps SO MUCH in reducing the fear factor of it, you don't have to worry about handling food and jars and getting so many things just right, the first time.
You can see how it works, play with the heat setting/flame for adjusting pressure and not do any damage to jars of food.
It's a lot to learn all at once if you try to can food the first time you ever use it, this way kind of breaks it down into smaller increments and takes a lot of the intimidation out of it.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Quote:
That's a fantastic suggestion! One of the hardest things is learning how to manage the heat so that you don't lose liquid from the jars. I canned at a lower temp last night and it helped SO much.

 

[PeggySue]

Quote:
That's a fantastic suggestion! One of the hardest things is learning how to manage the heat so that you don't lose liquid from the jars. I canned at a lower temp last night and it helped SO much.

Thanks, actually it's the same approach I used to learning to ride a motorcycle (and that's a smidge more intimidating than canning

)
I stayed in a secluded (NO TRAFFIC) area until I learned the mechanics and the 'feel' of it, my brain could concentrate totally on that without the distraction of traffic, that way when I did have to deal with traffic, the operation of the bike was already ingrained.
So many folks buy a bike and jump into traffic and end up on the ground real quick. I wanted to avoid that

In this instance, I considered the canner the bike and the jars of food the traffic.

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

JennsPeeps wrote:
PeggySue wrote:
I know I've said this on another thread, but it bears repeating... but operating the canner empty except for water, helps SO MUCH in reducing the fear factor of it, you don't have to worry about handling food and jars and getting so many things just right, the first time.
You can see how it works, play with the heat setting/flame for adjusting pressure and not do any damage to jars of food.
It's a lot to learn all at once if you try to can food the first time you ever use it, this way kind of breaks it down into smaller increments and takes a lot of the intimidation out of it.

That's a fantastic suggestion! One of the hardest things is learning how to manage the heat so that you don't lose liquid from the jars. I canned at a lower temp last night and it helped SO much.

Not sure how you add the "BYC wrote box:" but wanted to thank PeggySue and JennsPeep for your input. I was just thinking this morning about getting the pressure canner out and giving it a go since we have carrots that are ready to be harvested.

What I'm scared about the most is I'm not sure the pressure gauge is in good working order. I have only used it once, and the guage it got some moisture in it. I called Presto and asked about it and the lady sent me a new seal. But I think the directions talk about the dangers of using the canner if the gauge is not working correctly. So I like the idea of just using water to get things right. Do you have any words of advice or cautions that you would like to offer - should I just replace the gauge or install the new seal and see what happens.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Hi there,

1. Here's info on pressure canners: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/using_press_canners.html

2. I'd call or email the Nat'l Center for Home Food Preservation (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/contact_more_info.html) for info on how/where to get pressure canners checked. I was told once that you could get them checked at the local cooperative extension office (http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/).

The dial guages are more likely to be inaccurate after a time than are the weighted guages.

 

[Jamsoundsgood]

Hey, does anyone have a good recipe for canning clam chowder? It's clamming season here in WA and my boys have been busy!

I've just never canned soup before, so I'm not sure how it goes, and would love some tips. Thanks!
Emily

 

[giasmom]

Quote:
Clam Chowder, I am so jealous !!!!!!!!! We don't get that down here very much. I love it !!! Sorry, have no advice to give you. Just had to comment.