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1:46 pm
October 10, 2009
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Good to know Ross. Much easier to do it that way. Thanks for that tidbit.
4:03 pm
May 6, 2010
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Somewhere along the way I came across this canning rule of thumb. Hot jars, hot content, hot canner. Cold jars, cold content, cold canner. Bring the temp of the cold up slowly to allow everything to come to the same temperature.
2:19 pm
September 2, 2008
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That's right tsmith, if you don't do it properly, you could have breakage.
5:35 pm
December 14, 2010
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If you are doing raw pack canning of meat it will be cold meat into cold jars and should then be into cold water everything will get sterilized during the hour and a half of processing.
5:17 pm
August 24, 2011
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I wonder what the advantages to canning would be for me and my family. I don't have a garden and if I did, I don't think we'd produce enough of anything to can (very little space). Would it be financially prudent to buy produce to can myself? I think canning would be a lot of fun (work) but is it just going to be a big expense? It looks like getting started could be expensive since I don't have any canning equipment. Should I start doing it or is it a waste of time?
5:54 pm
February 10, 2009
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Boiled Water Bath canning for food that is high enough in acid is pretty low expense. A large pot with a rack and the jars… possibly from yard sales or just start small with a couple cases of new jars. If you know where your tomatoes or veggies for pickles, fruit for jams and jellies or applesauce and fruit butters etc are coming from and know that they are pesticide free, and you can control the ingredients, that's a good start.
Making some fancy pickles and jams that you just can't find on some grocery store shelf to me is a HOOT! Go look at some gourmet shelves and see what sort of fun you can have! That's one of my favorite things really… though being able to go get a jar of tomato sauce you made yourself for supper is darned good too! Both are equally doable on a low budget.
Pressure canning for low acid foods or meat products is a bit more of an expense, but again, you are controlling the ingredients, including salt, sugar and additives. You can work your way up to that phase though!
5:05 am
June 1, 2010
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Cassie: When I started I used my 10 quart stock pot, a metal trivet to stand the jars on, and pint jars (quarts were too tall for the stock pot + 2" water) for a year or two to see if I liked the results. I had to buy only the wide mouth funnel and the jar lifter. Like BEG suggested, I made fussy jams and jellies that were very expensive in stores. Sort of boutique-y goodies. Then I moved into more substantial foods.
6:26 am
May 23, 2010
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When raw packing meat, do you pour boiling water over them or straight from the tap? Then, cold water in PC and bring temp up?
7:11 am
February 8, 2009
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Raw packed meat can be from cold refrigerated temp to almost room temp as you pack jars. Water from the tap works fine. The water in the PC doesn't have to be cold. You can start with warm water. It just shouldn't be really hot or boiling so that when you put in the cool/cold freshly filled jars there's no thermal shock = cracked jars.
Carrie – YES it IS worth it buying produce to can yourself if you shop wisely. Meaning find bulk food at good prices. When I can buy a 25 lb. box of tomatoes for 5 to 8 dollars and that will give me 20 pints of tomatoes, heck yeah! I work full time and found several years ago that it is smart for me to purchase such deals on a Thursday or Friday so that I can process on the weekends.
dede
1:00 pm
August 24, 2011
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Thank you all for the responses. I think it would be fun to do some canning. My husband would likely enjoy it with me. We made blueberry freezer jam and I kept thinking I'd love to be able to make "real" jam.
We have a self contained roasting oven. I was thinking that could work for the water bath canning. I wish I knew someone who would let me watch them can so I could see it done and ask questions.
4:36 pm
December 14, 2010
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Cassie said:
Thank you all for the responses. I think it would be fun to do some canning. My husband would likely enjoy it with me. We made blueberry freezer jam and I kept thinking I'd love to be able to make "real" jam.
We have a self contained roasting oven. I was thinking that could work for the water bath canning. I wish I knew someone who would let me watch them can so I could see it done and ask questions.
I would invite you into my kitchen and spend a day going through the details if we did not live on opposite coasts. This slide show is the best I can do until I find some videos. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/multimedia.html#graphics
9:30 pm
May 6, 2010
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Hi – want to PC chili – is it safe to add beans? If so should commercially-canned beans OR dried beans (cooked) the best?
Thanks!
11:18 pm
February 10, 2009
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Hey Teresa, it's safe to add them, you can do it either way. I suspect it's best to add them already cooked as you said to the chili because of the absorption of liquid otherwise. Always PC to the longest time of any ingredient in the mix.
Don't worry about asking twice, better not to, but not a world ending thing and I bet you're trying to get things done before it gets too late huh? 
11:23 pm
February 8, 2009
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and Teresa, just be sure to not add a lot of beans. It's a density issue – you want to have some beans and soupy chili going in the jar. If you like lots of beans in your chili, the best bet is to can beans separately and add a pint of beans and a quart of chili to a pot when opening and heating. Ask us anything anytime anywhere OK?
dede
10:03 am
May 6, 2010
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thank you BOTH, appreciate the reassurances.
10:22 am
December 14, 2010
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I have a chilli recipe that pleases us but the peppers don't keep their bite through the heat of the canning process. It just seems to loose its carefully built taste and texture so I freeze my chilli. The rest of my soups I can and I also can dried beans for future use in my chilli.
2:13 pm
September 2, 2008
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Sometimes for a quick chili dinner, I use a jar of salsa, it will replace the peppers, some of the tomatoes and onions that are needed for a good chilli. I just add beef and beans, then either a jar of canned tomatoes, to tomato sauce. Has anyone else tried this?
2:00 pm
April 20, 2011
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I like to can chili beans, enchilada sauce, etc. My favorite Chili powder has always been Grandma's Chili powder. In the past 6 months the company has decided not to sell it anymore. My problem is that some chili powders end up having an off taste when the product is canned. Do any of you have any special chili powders that you use and rave about? Thanks!
7:59 pm
October 5, 2010
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Any body can winter squash soup. i was looking on line and found a recipe. I thought you couldn't can pumpkin so how can you can winter squash soup?
8:07 pm
February 10, 2009
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You cannot can packed mashed pumpkin, though you may can cubed pumpkin and squash. Also, you shouldn't can dairy so if your recipe needs cream, then no, that would not turn out well. It's the denseness of solid packed mashed pumpkin that means it isn't likely to get hot enough to kill the badnasties, even in a pressure canner. If your squash soup is of a thin enough consistancy, say, no thicker than spaghetti sauce? It may be acceptable…
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