We would all starve if we relied on my canning ability

[KindredSpirit]

This is just an observation. If my family's survival depended upon my ability to put up all of our food we would starve to death!! All I did today was put up strawberry jam. I don't do much canning and I am sure that is the problem. I think I will try doing it more so I will gain a little speed. What are your tips for making the work go a little faster and do you can with family members or friends? Those of you who can alone, how much can you put up in a day?

[fixer1958]

Sorry, can't give you any tips on canning, although I plan to do some.
I told the DW today that if it depended on me to bring home the food
"hunting and growing" we would be a "lean, mean, starving machine"

It takes time to get it all down. Patience is the key I think.

[RockyGlen]

We all work together - many hands make light work. I also have 4 canners, when pressure cooking I move the hot ones off the oven to cool while we get the next load started. When water bathing, I have two going. If I am hot packing, I heat the items up in my electric roaster so that the two big burners are free for canners.

[Beltane]

It really is an all day process. DH and I just prepare for the day...and do nothing else about cut, slice, can, etc. Boy - it sure it exhausting!

[Pony]

Well, figure at least half a day. But you can be doing other things while the canning is processing.

I find that things go best for me when I PLAN AHEAD. Everything laid out where I need it, instructions read through a couple times (even for recipes I've been following for years), all the decks cleared and no foreseeable interruptions.

Practice helps a lot, as does reading the food preservation forum here on HT!

Pony!

[MountAiry]

We would all starve if we relied on my canning ability

LOL KindredSpirit!
You sound a bit like me. I'm always afraid I would somehow do it wrong and make my family sick.
I also heard horror stories about pressure cookers blowing up when I was a kid.
I have made jellies before, but so far, that's about it.

I'm working on it though.

[Lucy]

I have adapted a list I found in a book, changed it a bit. Here is my reminder list. Perhaps it will help. Sometimes I can by myself, but often my husband helps me. It is an all day thing, but so rewarding in the end. It does get easier the longer you do it. Also, having good tools really helps ! There are a lot of things that make canning easier for me. Sharp knives, lots of large bowls, my Cuisinart, etc. I just bought a pear corer recently.

FOR WATER BATH CANNING:
EASY STEP BY STEP REMINDER AS YOU WORK

20 MINUTES BEFORE PROCESSING:
Place jars in canner and add hot water. Cover canner and begin heating over medium heat. Keep jars hot until you are ready to fill them. If the recipe requires a preparation and cooking time longer than 20 min., begin preparation of the ingredients first. Then begin heating the water and jars in the canner while the prepared food is cooking. If the ingredients require a shorter preparation and cooking time, begin the canner before you start your recipe.
5 MINUTES BEFORE PROCESSING
Place lids in hot water and keep lids hot until you are ready to use them. Do not heat the screw bands.
FILLING CANNING JARS
Remove jars from canner and ladle food into hot jars to within recommended headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles and readjust headspace to desired level by adding more hot food and/or liquid. Wipe rim and side of jars to ensure a good seal. Lift lid from hot water and center on jar. Apply screw band until fingertip tight.
PROCESSING CANNING JARS
Place jars in canner and adjust water level to cover jars by 1-2 inches. Cover canner and place over high head. Once a full boil is reached, begin counting the processing time specified in recipe ( a full boil must be maintained for the entire time required). At the end of the processing time, turn off heat and remove canner lid. Remove jars from canner and place on a heat safe work surface. Do not touch seals or dry jars. Let cool for 12-24 hours. Check jar seals (sealed lids turn downwards) and remove screw bands.
STORING PRESERVED FOODS
Wash jars and rings. Label jars with contents and date. Store in a cool, dark place. Any jars that do not seal within 24 hours must be refrigerated, frozen, or reprocessed immediately using new lids.

[KindredSpirit]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Lucy, that does seem like a good idea to have the time frame for everything set out. I copied and pasted that to my computer! For those who say they spend the day canning, how much do you get put up in that amount of time? I am just curious what I could expect with experience. Thanks!!

[RenieB]

My dh is a great help when we can. He does all the chopping up of ingredients and I get the equipment read and we are in business. I could do it myself but he enjoys helping and it makes the job faster.

RenieB

[Cyngbaeld]

You can put a lot of stuff in the deep freeze if it is getting too much to handle canning it. Then take it out and can it when you have time, just do it prior to butchering or hunting season.

[Callieslamb]

Just keep practicing. As you become more familiar with the 'scoop' you will find your own ways of getting more efficient. Two canners helps greatly but aren't very practical in the long run.

[Peacock]

Well, if I were new at canning (and I am, compared to many here!) I sure wouldn't choose to start with strawberry jam. I'd try something easier like tomatoes. Something that doesn't require actual cooking first, just heating. I can see how coordinating it all would be overwhelming to a beginner. Make strawberry freezer jam instead.

I've never canned a huge amount at once, the most I've ever done is two canner loads - and since I only have a small canner, we're talking about 12 pints of something, probably a tomato product.

Of course...ahem, I have 36 tomato plants this year, so in about a month or so I'm probably going to have that canner fired up constantly! Good thing I stocked up on freecycled jars and bought that big box of lids from eBay.

[belladulcinea]

When I pick veggies out of the garden I always say something "good thing we don't have to count on my garden for all of our food!" Since I'm still without a canner I freeze or dry most things. We also eat as much fresh as possible.

We do make jams and such but not too filling when you're hungry!

[trixiwick]

You'll get better at it over time and with experience! You'll get into a groove where you know you have to put the big pot of water on to boil first, and then pull out your jars and lids, and then pull out the ladle, tongs and magnetic rod (gotta have one of those!). If I devoted a whole day to canning, I could probably get 50 jars canned. Stuff like tomatoes and jam are pretty easy, since they require so little time in the canner. Lower-acid stuff is a lot more time-consuming. It's gonna be a slow summer for me, as we have tons of peppers that I'll be roasting and then canning, and NOTHING takes more time than that. But yum!

Put some music on, relax, and teach yourself to get into a steady, easy groove of just taking your time and getting it done. You'll get much better with practice, I promise!

[Wildwood Flower]

Originally Posted by RockyGlen

We all work together - many hands make light work. I also have 4 canners, when pressure cooking I move the hot ones off the oven to cool while we get the next load started. When water bathing, I have two going. If I am hot packing, I heat the items up in my electric roaster so that the two big burners are free for canners.

That's the way my mom and I always did it. We never did water bath, however. Too hot in the kitchen, for one thing.

We used 3 canners: 1 packing, 1 cooking, and 1 cooling down.

We used the pressure canner, even for fruit and tomatoes, just brought the pressure up to 5 lbs. ===Then turned off the stove. Wait awhile before moving the canner, or your jars will break.

Also...many hands help. We used boiling water over the peaches and tomatoes. makes the skins slip right off. For peaches, we just cut them in half. Faster.

We sterilized the jars in the dishwasher--later on, after we had one. Good enough, if you're pressure canning.

Jam's a big mess. But worth it!

Have fun! And get some help!

[KindredSpirit]

Thanks for all the replies. The encouragement really helps!

Trixiwick, what is a magnetic rod. Is that to fish the lids/rings out of the water?

Wildwood Flower, I didn't know you could sterilize the jars in the dishwasher. Is that in place of boiling them? Thanks for the tips on getting the skins off!

[trixiwick]

Originally Posted by KindredSpirit

Trixiwick, what is a magnetic rod. Is that to fish the lids/rings out of the water?

Yup, that's exactly it. Make life much easier than trying to fish lids out of boiling water with tongs, which are not ideally made for the job. I think they cost $3, and are worth a lot more than that!

[Melissa]

Practice really does make perfect in this case. I have been canning most of my life. I will say I am much more organized at it than my Mom was! When she canned it seemed like our whole house was a mess. I make sure my entire house is clean first before I start and I put something in the crockpot for supper. I have a seperate kitchen for canning which helps a lot. I usually can about 1000 jars a year and fill my freezer so speed is of the essence. The girls often help chop and peel which makes thing go much faster. I don't normally do a lot at once, I prefer to can 30-50 jars a day rather than spend the entire day doing it. I can have a bushel of tomatoes picked, cleaned and ready to process for juice or whole tomatoes in about one hour, but if I am making salsa or sauce, it takes a bit longer. Hang in there, in a few years you will be an expert!

[Trixie]

[QUOTE=Callieslamb]Just keep practicing. As you become more familiar with the 'scoop' you will find your own ways of getting more efficient. Two canners helps greatly but aren't very practical in the long run.[/QUOT

E]

Callie, that's my advice.

I can tell you it is true. Having been away from canning for a while, my attempts last year took so much longer than 'back when'.

It is like everything else, your hands seem to know just what to do without your thinking about it.

Just work at it.

Although, I do use two canners sometimes and it works for me. I have two old Burpees. One is a double decker, I can do 14 quarts in it or 21 pints. The other is a single decker - it does 7 quarts or 14 pints.

I only use those when doing things like potatoes, or maybe pinto shellers, as I have usually harvested a lot at one time and need to get them in the jars. And goodness, those pinto shellers take forever to process.

[KindredSpirit]

Originally Posted by Melissa

Practice really does make perfect in this case. I have been canning most of my life. I will say I am much more organized at it than my Mom was! When she canned it seemed like our whole house was a mess. I make sure my entire house is clean first before I start and I put something in the crockpot for supper. I have a seperate kitchen for canning which helps a lot. I usually can about 1000 jars a year and fill my freezer so speed is of the essence. The girls often help chop and peel which makes thing go much faster. I don't normally do a lot at once, I prefer to can 30-50 jars a day rather than spend the entire day doing it. I can have a bushel of tomatoes picked, cleaned and ready to process for juice or whole tomatoes in about one hour, but if I am making salsa or sauce, it takes a bit longer. Hang in there, in a few years you will be an expert!

I sure wish I would have thought of putting something in the crockpot!!! When I got through we had a bowl of cereal for supper. DH was not pleased! He knew enough not to say anything, but he sure looked sulky!! LOL I can not imagine putting up 1,000 jars in a year!