What are you canning now?

[3goodeggs]

I'm in need of opinions, advice. I just came home with what I thought was a great thing from the local food bank- a box full of nectarines and peaches. The peaches are rock hard and some are even green- obviously not ripe. I figured I'd let them ripen on the counter and go from there. The nectarines are mixed- some hard, some about right, but when cut open they appear to be very dark. My guess is they were frozen during shipment, not fit to sell, so the food bank got them. They seem to taste fine ( not sweet like when they're in season locally, but ok in cobbler, etc. maybe) Is there any reason not to can them or use them in baking? Or should I just pitch them to the chickens?

You add sugar to fruit for pies and cobbler and jelly anyway... If they have the flavor and not the sweet, that can be remedied.

Dark as in red or brown? Brown is chicken food, red is probably just not ripe yet.
If it were me, I would give them the counter space to ripen and if they go bad, feed the chickens.

Rock hard peaches. I wonder where they could be from? Chili?

 

[KentuckyMom]

Yes, they are from Chile. The peaches inside coloring appears to be fine. They just aren't ripe yet.
The nectarines are brown inside. Two of my sons grabbed and ate a few and said, "These taste great!" I looked at them, tasted one and said "not great, but not bad." But the more I keep cutting into them, the browner they are. So, peaches probably fine, but nectarines not. The chickens will be ecstatic!

 

[OnlyOrps]

I want to learn to can! Following!

 

[WthrLady]

Toss the peaches in a brown paper sack and just check on them every couple of days. Nectarines that have been frozen I wouldn't can. I would peel sugar and freeze in bags, or make filling from and can that.

 

[rancher hicks]

Toss the peaches in a brown paper sack and just check on them every couple of days. Nectarines that have been frozen I wouldn't can. I would peel sugar and freeze in bags, or make filling from and can that.

yeah that's sounds about right. You could cook them up for over ice cream

We used to hate food collection day at the PO because folks would dump on us stuff chickens shouldn't eat.

Of course if your chickens get this stuff just consider it magically turning them into eggs.

 

[KentuckyMom]

@rancher hicksYes, a pet peeve of mine is- "If you wouldn't eat it because it's rotten, moldy, or outdated, why would you donate it?" But, since I have chickens, if it's not "bad", as in, it would hurt them, I'll just give it to them.
The nectarines will have to be gone through one by one. Some are dark brown inside, some appear to be fine with just a few spots,but not fully ripened.
I often think of the phrase "it will magically turn into eggs" when tossing them food. It isn't being wasted if my family will eat the eggs!

 

[KentuckyMom]

Thank you for your help everyone! I knew if I wanted help, I'd get it here!

 

[jomoncon]

I guess with all the spring planting, no one's had anything to can. But yesterday was a really big canning day for me.

First, I have 2 older little dogs who have had a lot of their teeth removed. Their vet said that instead of giving them canned food, get a high quality dry dog food, and add a little water to make it soft. I decided to take that 1 step further and add chicken broth & cooked chicken to their dog food. Whole chickens were on sale, so I got several of them. Cut up 2 of them, put them in my pressure canner/cooker with a lot of water & pressure canned them for 25 minutes. Removed the meat & canned the chicken in half pints & broth in quarts. A little chicken & a lot of broth now goes on their dry dog food. It soaks until soft enough for them to eat. They love it!! I love my little doggies & want them around for as long as possible.

My green beans are starting to ripen, so I did a small picking & canned 14 pints of them. Lots more to come. My green beans seem to be really productive this year. I'm already thing of neighbors & friends I can give some to. I tried a new variety named "Strike" and it's the most productive I've ever seen.

While I was waiting for the pressure canner to finish, I did 15 jars of Habanero Gold jelly & another 15 jars of what we call Habanero Hell Hot - the same recipe as the Gold, but with a teaspoon of dried, ground habanero seeds added for extra heat. My customer at the farmers market just love this jelly! Recently, at a customer's suggestion, I started substituting pineapple for the apricots in the Gold recipe. Took some fiddling around with the pectin to get it right. Had to switch to Pomona pectin to get it to set.

All in all, it was one of the most productive days I've had in a long time. And it'll get busy again. The green beans are still producing strong. The field peas and blackberries will be ready in about a week or so. The tomatoes & peppers are coming on strong. And figs will be ready in about a month. And, unfortunately for me, I was too tired to do a complete kitchen cleaning last night, so I've got to do that this morning before I do anything else today. After my first & second cup of coffee!

 

[WthrLady]

No canning.

In fact I have to replant the green beans and the peas AND the corn!

the peppers, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, and shallots are looking SUPER! The tomatoes and sweet potatoes are still waiting in the kitchen for June to come.

I'm out of canned tomatoes pie filling and berries I the pantry.

 

[N F C]

I guess with all the spring planting, no one's had anything to can. But yesterday was a really big canning day for me.

First, I have 2 older little dogs who have had a lot of their teeth removed. Their vet said that instead of giving them canned food, get a high quality dry dog food, and add a little water to make it soft. I decided to take that 1 step further and add chicken broth & cooked chicken to their dog food. Whole chickens were on sale, so I got several of them. Cut up 2 of them, put them in my pressure canner/cooker with a lot of water & pressure canned them for 25 minutes. Removed the meat & canned the chicken in half pints & broth in quarts. A little chicken & a lot of broth now goes on their dry dog food. It soaks until soft enough for them to eat. They love it!! I love my little doggies & want them around for as long as possible.

My green beans are starting to ripen, so I did a small picking & canned 14 pints of them. Lots more to come. My green beans seem to be really productive this year. I'm already thing of neighbors & friends I can give some to. I tried a new variety named "Strike" and it's the most productive I've ever seen.

While I was waiting for the pressure canner to finish, I did 15 jars of Habanero Gold jelly & another 15 jars of what we call Habanero Hell Hot - the same recipe as the Gold, but with a teaspoon of dried, ground habanero seeds added for extra heat. My customer at the farmers market just love this jelly! Recently, at a customer's suggestion, I started substituting pineapple for the apricots in the Gold recipe. Took some fiddling around with the pectin to get it right. Had to switch to Pomona pectin to get it to set.

All in all, it was one of the most productive days I've had in a long time. And it'll get busy again. The green beans are still producing strong. The field peas and blackberries will be ready in about a week or so. The tomatoes & peppers are coming on strong. And figs will be ready in about a month. And, unfortunately for me, I was too tired to do a complete kitchen cleaning last night, so I've got to do that this morning before I do anything else today. After my first & second cup of coffee!

Wow, you've been busy! Your dogs are lucky to have you fix their food up for them like that. What kind of dogs do you have?

I planted green and wax beans 3 times and the rabbits kept getting them so I've given up on those this year (we did put electric fencing up but they still managed to find ways in, darn little critters).

Good for you on getting so much done, that's a lot of work!