What are you canning now?

[Kim_NC]

Finished 8 pints Hot Chow Chow yesterday.

I still have a bunch of Anaheim Peppers. I'm thinking of maybe a Pepper Onion Relish.

Our old fashon pear trees are really starting to come off now. I HAVE to get started on them - Pear Preserves and Pear Butter first.

 

[Kismet]

Quote:
I made homemade pectin with the sour apples I had - they weren't officially crabapples. I froze it in ice cube trays, two tablespoons pectin per cube. I measured two tablespoons into a compartment, then pored in the pectin to the same height in all the rest. After it was frozen, I put the cubes into a plastic bag for easy removal.
Fifty pounds is a lot, though. That will set you up with pectin for life.

I have also used crabapples when making apple cider. For every hopper of apples going into the press (old-fashioned hand turned press), we threw in about ten crabapples. It helps as preserve the cider.

 

[3goodeggs]

oh so wise and experienced canners...yet again I have a question.
I have searched on line and can not find an answer to : Can I substitute guar gum, agar, or tapioca for the clear gel in canned pie filling recipes?
I may just make a cooked and spiced filling and then add the thickener before I make the pie. Would that work?


I can not find a source for clear gel locally. I do not have time to get it from the web. back porch full of pears...

thanks!

 

[KDbeads]

Quote:
Can't help with the rest but a couple of ideas for plums....
Chinese plum sauce:
http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/09/plum-sauce.html (just use 4 or 5 pounds of fresh plums)

If you add a can of tomato paste to it and omit the soy sauce and 5 spice, it makes a decent BBQ sauce

Plum butter: http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/07/plum-butter-crazy.html You can really pack them away with this recipe, I had 2 grocery bags full cook down into 6 pint jars!

And if you have a dehydrator you can make prunes

Thank you! That is an easy flip change on the plum sauce/bbq sauce! My plums are a lighter redish orange color so my sauce will probably be a funny color, not like traditional plum sauce. I actually read your entire blog the other day, you are my canning hero! I got a lot of good ideas. The improvising on the plum butter and not a strict recipe kind of made me shy away since I am new to canning, but I think I will try it anyway. It sound like a really way to use up plums in a hurry! I do not have an emulsion blender, will that make a huge difference in texture? Maybe I can strain out some of the skins. I really wish I had a dehydrator. I was going to order one but thought everything would go bad before I recieved it. I am definitely going to get one before harvest time next year though. Thank you again for taking the time to answer.

The trick with improvising is to make sure you have enough acid/sugar/salt to make the food safe for HWB canning. Nerd that I am we have a PH meter in the house

I tested the plum sauce before I was willing to can it, I came up with a Ph of 4.5 (I had to add a teensy bit of vinegar to the recipe I started with, I think it called for 3/4 cup, I increased it to 1 cup). If in doubt I've ran across a processing time for the pressure canner of 10 minutes for those plum sauce recipes that use a large amount of fresh onions.
Use a food processor or blender

They work just fine, just more to clean up, remember to keep a towel over them to keep from getting scalded!

 

[oberhaslikid]

You can use cornstarch it just doesnt look appealing in the jar .Once opened and baked in a pie it does Ok.I have used it when canning apple pie filling or peach.
The clear gel make it look pretty in the jar.

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Quote:
Do you have a restaurant supply store in your area? I got my Clear Gel at Cash and Carry which supplies goods for small stores and restaurants. I had to buy 25 lbs which will last me a life time. Wish you lived closer I give you as much as you want.

Sandee

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Yesterday was a major canning day for me. First was 5 lbs of Jalapenos which made 6 quarts of Pickled with carrots and onions, then on to Peppery Pear Salsa 6 3/4 pints and then finally 16 pints of pears in light syrup. I processed about 60 pears - it was a lot of peeling and my feet and back knew it at the end of the day. I'm going to try and get a batch a Apple-Pear Jam done tonight since the pears are perfectly ripe and won't last until the weekend. It was a lot of work but the rewards this winter will be worth it. But the biggest reward was that everything I canned we grew in our garden/orchard - what a great feeling.

Sandee

 

[bockbock2008]

Quote:
I hear ya. I got 9 half pints of candy apple jelly made last night and I don't have a very good feeling about them. I'll give them awhile but I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Quote:
Oooo I'm going to make some pear jam tonight. Did you use liquid or powdered pectin? My pears are really ripe so I was thinking I'd add a little extra liquid pectin to make sure it sets.

Sandee

 

[KDbeads]

Continuing with the chinese sauces....
Sriracha
http://strayneedle.blogspot.com/2010/09/sriracha.html