What are you canning now?

[rides2far]

I'm new to canning, so I don't have a lot yet! Here's what I've done so far: pickled okra, plum jam, sweet/sour peppers, & marinara sauce (with citric acid added since I don't have a pressure canner yet). Everything is yummy & hasn't killed us yet! Just kidding, we've been very careful & followed directions religiously.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm new to canning, so I don't have a lot yet! Here's what I've done so far: pickled okra, plum jam, sweet/sour peppers, & marinara sauce (with citric acid added since I don't have a pressure canner yet). Everything is yummy & hasn't killed us yet! Just kidding, we've been very careful & followed directions religiously.

Those are beautiful!!!! Don't you just love how they glow on the shelf like jewels?

Once you start canning, it is a little addictive and it's hard to control oneself at times about knowing when to say "enough!". It just feels so good to know you grew that, made that, preserved that and it's useful, tasty and a productive thing to do with one's time.

Love that room, BTW...very pretty!

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Beekissed You use a steam canner, right?
I just saw an article online about Steam Canners. The University of Utah Extension and the University of Wisconsin Extension have both tested Steam Canners and have declared them safe for canning quarts and pints of jams, jellies and fruit (Wisconsin added acidified pickles and salsa to the list). Of course, using their approved recipes only.
Here is the link to the article that had the links: http://www.simplycanning.com/steam-canning.html

I am intrigued in the steam canners, but I have no use for another canner at this point in time. I had a water-bath canner in Wyoming, and the house we bought had 2 more sets in the basement. Plus 1 1/2 pressure canners down there to add to the one I already had.

 

[Beekissed]

I saw those links earlier this week! From what I can gather, it's not that the steam canner isn't safe, it's that it has not been tested to any great degree to verify that. I'm wondering if the water bath canner has been tested....I can't find anything on that. Seems to me that the steam is hotter than boiling water, the processing times are the same, so to my way of thinking the steam canner is actually safer than the BWB canner.

The reason I went ahead and got one is that it speeds canning time(don't have to heat a huge pot of water), saves power/gas usage, and I couldn't seem to get past having to get jars hot enough to place them into boiling water without them breaking. After a couple of times of having to empty a huge pot of water because a jar burst in there, I realized I was getting nowhere fast and time is precious. With the steam canner I don't have to worry about getting jars hot enough to withstand the temp change of boiling water...they sit on a rack above the water line. Faster, removed a whole step out of the process which I LOVE, and I've not had a broken, wasted jar of food since. For $30, it's a HUGE payoff over the years of use.

 

[rides2far]

Those are beautiful!!!!  Don't you just love how they glow on the shelf like jewels?    Once you start canning, it is a little addictive and it's hard to control oneself at times about knowing when to say "enough!".  It just feels so good to know you grew that, made that, preserved that and it's useful, tasty and a productive thing to do with one's time. 

Love that room, BTW...very pretty! 

Thank you! They are like beautiful jewels & it IS addicting! In fact, I pickled some pinto beans, kidney beans, corn, & ancho chiles. It will go good as a topping

for tacos or rice.

 

[rides2far]

Beekissed, I'm using the boiling water canner for now, since I'm just learning, but it is time consuming. Maybe next year I'll 'graduate' to a steamer or pressure canner! I would like to do some string beans & nonacidic foods. I just love BYC. I've learned so much from ALL these forums! Most of the people are really nice & willing to share.

 

[rancher hicks]

I'm new to canning, so I don't have a lot yet! Here's what I've done so far: pickled okra, plum jam, sweet/sour peppers, & marinara sauce (with citric acid added since I don't have a pressure canner yet). Everything is yummy & hasn't killed us yet! Just kidding, we've been very careful & followed directions religiously.

How much you do depends on what you need. Some of us don't need a lot of any one thing, so it may not look like a lot.

 

[Kacey's Krazee's]

Hi Bee, I read your comment about using meat cleaned out of the freezer. I too have some of my processed chicken and some wild hog that I need to move out of the fridge. The chicken
is dark meat, drumsticks and thighs. Do you remove the bones by just cutting the meat off, or to you boil them long enough to be able to remove all the meat easier? This may have been written about earlier, but I have just found this topic, and started reading.

I also just started canning. I have put up my garden this year. I am fairly bursting at the chest in pride. I was able to inherit my Mom's pressure canner last year, and now want to start working on meats. I had never thought about using the goods in the freezer, which would be awesome, as it needs to be cleaned up and cleared out , as I also froze part of the garden bounty.

Thanks for all of your awesome ideas!

Kacey

 

[Beekissed]

Hi Bee, I read your comment about using meat cleaned out of the freezer. I too have some of my processed chicken and some wild hog that I need to move out of the fridge. The chicken
is dark meat, drumsticks and thighs. Do you remove the bones by just cutting the meat off, or to you boil them long enough to be able to remove all the meat easier? This may have been written about earlier, but I have just found this topic, and started reading.

I also just started canning. I have put up my garden this year. I am fairly bursting at the chest in pride. I was able to inherit my Mom's pressure canner last year, and now want to start working on meats. I had never thought about using the goods in the freezer, which would be awesome, as it needs to be cleaned up and cleared out , as I also froze part of the garden bounty.

Thanks for all of your awesome ideas!

Kacey

Kacey, I've done it both ways~deboned prior to canning and left the bone in~ and much prefer leaving the bones in. It contributes to the broth in the jar and the meat just falls off the bone after pressure canning, so when you use the jar you just lift the bones out of the meat. No fuss, no work...just easy as can be. The bones are very soft then also and easier for my old dog to eat. The pressure canner renders all the meat, cartilage, etc. as tender as a lamb and, thus, making for less waste than if you tried to remove all of that before canning.

 

[Arielle]

I think the jams and jellies have won.

made some Blueberry blackberry jam and it just did not come out to my liking. It would reach temp and didn't boil they way I thought it should. I added some no sugar pectin and now it's too thick. Too the blackberries are too seedy.

I can't take anymore. I'm totally bummed,

Putting the fruit thru a FOley food mill will remove most of the seeds. You are right, soetimes there are just oo many darn seeds and it distracts from the wonderful jam texture.

If it is any consolation, I did once over cook cherry jam, and when it cooled it was almost a hard candy. Tasted great but Oh too difficult to get out of the jar. lol THis was in the 1970's . . . .lol