Canning?
 

I just tried canning again after about 15 yrs.I never did alot anyway but my mother was here then to help with questions.After it was all said and done and I had time to think about it,I made it alot harder than it should have been.

My question is how do you organize your lids,jars, pans and canner to make it go easier?

I read on here how people can their leftovers right after supper.It would take me half the day to get ready.

I used the water bath method.

Tambo

I put my clean jars in the oven at (about 175 degrees) to keep them hot. Rings & lids go in a pan of hot water on a back burner, canner & food to be canned go on the front burners. Jars come out one at a time to be filled and put in the canner.
I replaced my water-bath canner with a steam canner & it sure does make canning go a lot faster. You don't have to wait for all that water to start boiling.

That's a great idea about keeping the jars hot.

Steam canners are not recommended for processing food for long term storage. At the very least you should be adding a substantial amount of processing time to your recipes if you really have to use one.

My sink, counter, stove make a real nice "L" shape so I keep the jars in the sink filled with boiling hot water, put the pan full oh hot water and lids on the counter, have the hot food pot on my right and the canner furthr to the right. I just pour the hot water from the jar into the sink, set the jar on the towel on the counter, fill the jar, put the lid/ring on and 1 step to the right into the canner it goes. Basically all within arms reach. I use pressure canners only. Really quicker and safer.

I use a pressure canner for low acid stuff, but the steam
canner is great for tomatoes, relishes, jellies, etc. They say you don't have to process that kind of stuff-but I do anyway.

Who says that? That would make my life easier if it were the case! :haha:

If you pressure can or water bath process for at least 10 minutes, it's unnecessary to boil the jars and lids.

(According to the USDA book, _Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving_ 2nd edition)

I recently water bathed( I boiled the jars and lids and after I finished, I read I didn't need to do that... :p ) some jelly and it's storage length was stated to be safe for a year. (apple, grape, raspberry juice)

Diana

There is no way I'd not process anything! Not worth the risk, no matter who 'they' are! :haha:
I have had to tell a friend to dump an entire day's work because she followed some 'old timer' who said things like "well, I survived just fine". :no: The recipe she gave made my skin crawl. Made me shudder again just thinking of it.

If anyone lurking, particularly a 'newbie' to canning, and reading this is in doubt, always refer to the Ball Blue Book for guidelines. It's only $5-6 NEW.

As for organizing, I often just run my dishwasher full of jars while I'm getting my supplies together and heating the water. Then they're still hot when I need them. My kitchen is so small that they take up too much space any other way. That's if I'm doing large batches. If I'm doing just a small batch, then I leave them in a kettle of hot, hot water on the counter.

I find it easiest to keep all my supplies like tongs, lid lifter, funnel, etc all in my smallest kettle tucked into my other kettles. They all sit with the canners on a shelf, so all I have to do is go to one area to find whatever I need. I often raided it to get the funnel for other things, so I finally bought an extra one so I wouldn't have to hunt it down every time. I keep my canning books with my other cookbooks so they're easy to find.

As far as leftovers, most likely you would need a pressure canner. Water bathing that type of food isn't a good idea, no matter how many people say "but I turned out just fine"! :rolleyes:

You and I are on the same wavelength on that, Burb. It constantly blows my mind that people won't can things properly-not only are you risking the health of your family for a little convenience, you're risking wasting an enormous amount of food that might come in handy when. I get shivers when I hear, "That's how my grandma did it and no one died," as though that's some kind of justification for taking shortcuts. That's like people saying "I breastfed my child in the front seat of a car in the '70s and no one got hurt," or "I worked skyscraper construction with no safety harness in the '50s and I didn't die." Doesn't mean it isn't stupid given what we know about safety these days.

Water bath canners are only sufficient for a small number of foods, pressure CANNERS are needed for the rest. Canning takes a lot of effort, and it's foolish and unsafe to waste your time by not doing it right. Point is, though, there are smart shortcuts you can take to make the process go smoother.

There. Rant done and on to canning fiddleheads and finishing my puff pastry (why I started making that again is beyond me...).

Canning
 

I read somewhere about using a turkey fryer outdoors to can. This would be best here in Fla so as not to heat up the house or overtax the air conditioning. Would that only be for the items that can be water bath canned? Anyone have how-to suggestions for this or another outdoor method?

Jan, I bought a turkey cooker for exactly that reason. I haven't actually tried it for canning yet, but plan to use the burner with my water bath and pressure canners.

About not having to process some things:
I have a book called "Stocking Up" from Rodale Press (printed in 1977) that has some jelly and jam recipes & some ketchup recipes that just say "pour in hot jars & seal".The ketchup recipe even says not to process.
I would be afraid not to though--it's too much work to take a chance on it ruining!

:haha: Key word there being "1977!" Glad to hear you're processing that stuff. A few years back I tried the method where you pour hot jam into hot jars, swrewed the lids on, and turned them upside down onto the lids without processing. It worked like a charm, and within 20 minutes, all the seals were down and tight. I thought better of it and put the batch in the freezer, but I can see how people would be tempted to cheat.
Have a good canning season.

The Extension Service revised canning rules around 1989. They did extensive research to come up with the safest way to process all types of foods. The rules for meat did not change. Open kettle was deemed unsafe. Tomatoes were moved from water bath to pressure canning. Mixed recipes were tested and are considered safe when followed exactly. There is a cookbook available from the extension service in one of the Southern states that has alot of great recipes. The Ball Book is up to date. Or you can get bulletins from the extension service. The Utah (and I think Indiana--not sure on that) extension service have bulletins available on their Web sites that can be printed if you can't afford to buy the book. I've been canning since I got married in 1960 and I keep up to date. When I go to the extension service to have the gauge on my pressure canner checked I ask if there have been any changes. When I have an old recipe that I want to can, I take it to the extension service and ask if it will work. Hey, we pay these people with our tax dollars, we should make sure they earn them. By the way, they are closing extension offices in a lot of counties or at least cutting staffing way back. I think our local extension lady is now covering at least 4 counties so I would suggest you call ahead and not just drop by as I assume this would be the same everywhere.

My mom used to do the upside-down jelly thing & she never
had a problem with it, but I tried it one time & it was a mess! Some of it leaked out & most didn't seal. I never tried it again.
My grandmother used to pour melted parafin on top of her's & it kept good. I wonder if anybody still does that?

tomatoes?
 

Ann-NWIowa

You said that tomatoes where moved from water bath to pressure. My wife got the blue bell book 2/3 years ago and it still had tomatoes in water bath. Fresh salsa from home canned tomatoes :) This year she plans to do tomatoe sauce and juice as well.

robert_jax
Still not able to post as myself yet...

You're right, Robert. The USDA canning guide still allows for water bath canning tomatoes, but you must add citric acid, lemon juice, or vinegar to them before processing. This is because modern tomatoes have significantly lower acid content than the older varieties--you need a pH below 4.6 to safely can with a water bath. Pressure canning is what's recommended by the USDA, but only because it yields a fresher tasting and more nutritious product.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...ions_usda.html

As far as the parrafin goes, that's out, too. It's a shame because it really is pretty, but it's a no-no.

thank you everyone for mentioning the usda guidelines, i have had great luck talking to extension agents for canning

what im really getting at is the turkey cooker thing for canning,
these work great !!!
when i can pickles or tomatoes( i grow heirlooms only, so no worry about the lower acid types) i usually do the water bath outside , it works well , and doesnt heat the house up , however, i do have one caveat, make sure the jars have cooled before bringing them inside, i had some crack when canned outside, and then brought into the AC cool house !

good luck , and safe canning, the Ball book is cheap , and has great recipes !
, they keep you current with all safety practices,

i have jack o lantern jelly recipe which is from an old book , that i use every year, i brought it to the extension agent, and she says its still fine, it makes a great marmalade out of punkins and concentrate oj, so the acid is still high , i would post it, but then i would have to go and find the book .... dunno where it is right now ....

I'm so glad to find this thread on canning. I have a question that nobody seems to have a answer to. I have been canning for about 5 years and have never had a problem. Last year while canning (hot water bath) tomatoes, I would have approx. one jar out of 5 break while in the bath. The jar would break around the bottom, not shatter. It usually happened about 5 minutes after the water started boiling. I made sure the jars were hot when I packed the tomatoes in them. What a mess! Does anyone have any suggestions on why this started happening all of a sudden? I didn't have any problem with food that I canned with the pressure cooker......
Leay

Leay, sounds like you may have a 'Hot spot" on the botton of your canner. The bottoms do wear through in spots, so the heat is much higher right at that spot and will break the jar. Eventually the canner will develop a leak at that spot. Maybe time for a new one?

Our extention office is one that has been scaled back they let go the only person that knwe how to test canners. The nearest extention office with one is 1 1/2 hours away. (Although they do have the equipment at ours.)Is there anybody else that can test them? I was thinking of trying the farmers co-op. Anybody have any ideas, I don't want to take any chances, I did go ahead and replace all the seals, but I have no idea if the gage is correct. Thanks Lyte

It scares me to death that my mother in law seals her jars in the oven. I've given her a brand spankin' new Blue Book but she insists that her "mom always did it that way and she's 90, so it must be okay." :(

I've refused to eat her home canned food. It's caused quite a big problem between us, and it's sad, but I just can't bring myself to eat it.

Sounds like a thread of Felix Ungers! :eek:
Good grief there is a big difference between doing things safely and
being psycho bacteria-phobic! The world (and your body) is full of creepy, crawly things - it's as nature intended and you'd die without them. You will never get rid of everything. Build up some immunities like your supposed to!

In a few years you'll all be croaking off at a young age because of nutrient deficient food!!
You can't cremate your food and expect it to be good for you.

Grandma has more years of "proof" behing her than the USDA does. They keep modifying their so-called scientific findings all the time, too! If they are so correct, why do they keep changing?


It reminds me of the days they thought it was good to "sterilize" the soil before planting!

Thanks for the tip. I had never thought of that. My canner is around 7 years old and gotten ALOT of use. I'll be shopping for a new one this year!
Leay

Minnikin, I have to ask you to please reconsider calling people "psycho". It really isn't a kind thing to say at all, although I'd like to believe you are attempting to be funny. Or perhaps this thread struck a nerve and you are feeling defensive? :confused:

And there is a huge difference between being phobic about bacteria and such, which I am not, and just wanting to follow safe procedures so I don't KILL my kids.

Botulism toxin is nothing to take lightly. Ingesting it'll do a heckuva lot more than just smooth out some facial wrinkles!

I was talking about this thread and another one from this site at work. I mentioned that one of you had said something about canning milk and that I wanted to make cream tomato soup to can. The gals hit the ceiling... "YOU CANT CAN MILK!!! THAT WILL KILL YOU"

OK, experts... what is it.

i have jack o lantern jelly recipe which is from an old book , that i use every year, i brought it to the extension agent, and she says its still fine, it makes a great marmalade out of punkins and concentrate oj, so the acid is still high , i would post it, but then i would have to go and find the book .... dunno where it is right now ....[/QUOTE]

ok , i found it

Ingredients:
1 medium pumpkin, peeled, shredded ( hand grater works fine)about 3-4 cups
2 cups sugar
4 Lemons and lemon zest
4 Oranges and zest
1 12 oz can oj concentrate


Instructions:
Cut up one medium pumpkin, peel and slice in food processor or grate by hand. Use 2c sugar to 4 c pumpkin, add the lemons and oranges to the pumpkin and cover with the sugar add oj concentrate.cook on medium heatheat until pumpkin is clear. makes 2 pints, jar while hot, cover and water bath can for 25 minutes.

Oh good Grief!. :no: :no:
I wasn't specifically calling anybody "psycho"- it was hyperbole. It was intended to point out that there is a difference between being careful and unhealthy obsessing.

Some of us now realize that our "Grandma's" were far wiser than they have been given credit for. I was siding with the knowledge gained from generations of "staying alive" over placing total faith in some government agency that doesn't stick to it's own claims from year-to-year.

I resent your insinuation that I was somehow advocating that you "KILL" your kids or take "botulism toxin lightly".

Oh, I almost forgot to thank you, Dr. Therapy, for your diagnosis. Who knew that an opinion that differed from yours was called "defensiveness"? Since we're playing the psychoanalysis game here, maybe I can point out that your
reply was ever-so-slightly "anal".

why not can milk?, the whole point of canning is to kill the germs and seal the food away from new germs, milk requires pressure canning, and it changes the quality a gread deal, but if the stores can sell canned milk why would correctly processed homecanned milk harm you? Anytime foods are mixed it can change the time it takes to correctly process it, I would prefer the tomato paste canned separate from the milk then mixed during meal prep.

Like Thumper said, milk can be canned in a pressure canner, and the result is much like evaporated milk from the store. It's great for baking, puddings, soups, custards, etc. In a pinch it can be drunk straight (usually diluted), but it's nothing like regular milk.

I just did 4 quarts of chicken stock this morning. With the 200 necks I'll get on Sunday when we have the chickens slaughtered, I should be able to do about 30 gallons at least. Better get some more jars... :rolleyes:

About the breaking jars. Do they break in the water bath or when you're lifting them out? Sometimes you can accidentally knock a jar and the bottom will come off. Too quick change in temps can be a problem i.e. a breeze blowing on the jar as you lift it. Jars rattling against each other in the canner can cause breakage. I set jars from the canner on a towel to temper the coolness of the countertop. I've learned to lift jars straight up from the canner and hold them for a moment before moving them to the countertop... because if the bottom comes off its best it doesn't do so all over me. Through the years I've found no rhyme or reason for breakage. I'll go years without it happening at all then have several break close together. I've had both new and old jars break. Its a major disappointment to lose a jar let alone several after all the work put into canning, but it happens.

The canning book Ann is talking about is from Georgia, 'So Easy to Preserve' and it's an excellent resource. Our state Master Food Preservers program uses it as part of their curriculum.

I believe part of the reason the guidelines were/are changing is because of 'bugs' becoming more resistant to being wiped out. It's not that the old ways were bad, at the time they weren't, but things change. Look at what antibiotics have done to the bugs that cause human and animal illnesses. Even though I was raised with open kettle canning and other such methods I no longer use them. I also think that in this world of sue-happy folks the Extension people need to be more cautious than before so they tighten the canning guidelines. Personally I follow most of the guidelines although instead of cooking them for the suggested times I pour boiling water over the potatoes and put the lids on.
When I took the MFP class we were told we could bring in a favorite canning/preserving recipe. Mine was a 9-day sweet and sour pickle. The recipe calls for leaving out alum because it's one of the aluminums. I still use it for crispness instead of the pickling lime. Perhaps if we ate pickles every day I'd change but for now I don't see a reason since we don't eat that many pickles.

Just my 2 cents worth.

LisaBug

Thanks for posting the recipe!!
 

ok , i found it

Ingredients:
1 medium pumpkin, peeled, shredded ( hand grater works fine)about 3-4 cups
2 cups sugar
4 Lemons and lemon zest
4 Oranges and zest
1 12 oz can oj concentrate


Instructions:
Cut up one medium pumpkin, peel and slice in food processor or grate by hand. Use 2c sugar to 4 c pumpkin, add the lemons and oranges to the pumpkin and cover with the sugar add oj concentrate.cook on medium heatheat until pumpkin is clear. makes 2 pints, jar while hot, cover and water bath can for 25 minutes.[/QUOTE]


Thanks!! I love doing stuff with pumpkins. Sounds wonderful.
Kathleen