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1:06 pm
September 10, 2009
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JeannieB
| | Columbia, South Carolina | |
| Superstar | posts 1453 | |
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Every time I make jelly it brings back great memories of my mama, it was one of the things that we loved to do. We always made a day of it, and I will always treasure the memories. My boys just don't get into the canning and jelly making -but they do like to give away some and brag a little bit.
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Don't cry because it's over—smile because it happened!
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2:38 pm
September 10, 2009
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WV_Hills
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CindyP said:
Suzanne said:
Here's the link to my updated how-to-can post on hot water bath canning:
http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/…..th-method/
Dede helped me, so I know it's right. 
I read your new how-to………
It says to never store jars with rings on. First time I've taken notice to that……… What harm does it do? I leave the rings on all my jars that I will need a lid (jam, jellies).
This is such a coincidence — I've only had a couple of jars fail to seal in all the years I've been canning, but I've just had one! I usually can, cool for 24 hours, take off the bands and wash the jars and bands, label the jars, and they go on the shelf. This time I didn't do the wash up for a couple of days — I've been sick, and washing jars wasn't high on my list of things to do when I dragged myself out of bed. I've finally feeling almost human again, so I unscrewed the bands, preparing to wash the jars, and I heard a soft 'poof' after taking the bands off a few of the jars. One of my half-pints of dill relish didn't seal! I'm fortunate because it didn't spoil — it should have been refrigerated, but it was sealed well enough to survive a few days on my table, and high enough in acid it wasn't apt to spoil in that short a time.
I don't know exactly why it didn't seal. The band looks clean, none of the contents spilled out in the canning kettle. I think the lid had a small ding in the side so it wasn't perfectly flat and round. Who knows. But I'm glad I didn't put it on the shelf and find it spoiled (or worse) a year from now.
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4:46 pm
September 10, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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It happens. And don't feel that it's because you didn't wash right away. I have had jars sit for a couple of weeks before washing and storing and no problems (usually when I have done some large quantity canning, finishing on a Sunday night and life gets in the way ASAP lol).
dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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6:08 pm
September 10, 2009
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Pete
| | WV | |
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Today I FINALLY got around to doing the Peppers in Sauce!! Hurray!! And it is yummmmmmy! Got 8 pints of peppers, 2 pints of the sauce sealed and cooling. Also the nearly full pint of sauce and the pepper/herb/olive oil/garlic/onion water are in the refrig. It just tasted too good to throw out. Not sure I want to drink it! But it should be good in a soup or stew. If this cool weather holds, that should be any day now.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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7:30 pm
September 10, 2009
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WV_Hills
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wvhomecanner said:
It happens. And don't feel that it's because you didn't wash right away. I have had jars sit for a couple of weeks before washing and storing and no problems (usually when I have done some large quantity canning, finishing on a Sunday night and life gets in the way ASAP lol).
dede
Oh, no. I know it had nothing to do with the amount of time they sat on the table waiting for me. I just mentioned it because it was different routine than I would follow. I merely meant to say that I might have noticed the lack of seal even earlier had I taken the rings off as I usually do after one day of cooling. I guess I'm just a creature of habit. I usually have to wash and store the jars fairly quickly because they cover every available flat surface — and I need my tabletops and counters back!
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9:22 pm
September 11, 2009
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okbarb
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Ok, enlighten me ladies, why take the rings off? Just because you can re-use them right away and the lids should be sealed? I never have given it a thought one way or the other and I'm a very amateur canner – one or two items a year every year for forever – BUT – I just keep buying lids and jars and I guess I'm just a canning idiot! Duh!
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There are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
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9:53 pm
September 11, 2009
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Pete
| | WV | |
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We just had this discussion, with several really terrific explanations, Barb! The short version is:
The rings left on mask a bad seal, and they rust if the threads are not cleaned off resulting in nasty rings and difficult to open jars.
The consensus seemed to be that we all put rings back on for transport or gifting.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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10:08 pm
September 11, 2009
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beeyourself
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mom always removed hers to use again and again…
I got a kick out of something I heard the other day. One of my friends had a friend that went to visit a friend…follow closely…and when that friend got to her friend's house, the friend with the house had been canning. (I've only had one glass of wine.) There were jars sitting everywhere – all over the counters, tables and floor…evidently, it was declared "somewhat of a strange mess" by the visiting friend. I just smiled…I remember canning season.
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10:58 pm
September 11, 2009
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Shells
| | Vancouver Island, British Columbia | |
| Superstar | posts 1184 | |
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so the friend of the friends friend … or the friends friends friend
Friend is a really strange word.
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11:02 pm
September 11, 2009
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beeyourself
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yeah…I've found that if you focus on ANY word it can become strange…but friend IS a strange word!
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11:02 pm
September 11, 2009
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beeyourself
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oh…I'm canning negative thoughts today…as in kicking them out!
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11:17 pm
September 11, 2009
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Shells
| | Vancouver Island, British Columbia | |
| Superstar | posts 1184 | |
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Don't mean friends are strange … just the word seemed strange for a moment.
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6:32 am
September 12, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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beeyourself said:
mom always removed hers to use again and again…
I got a kick out of something I heard the other day. One of my friends had a friend that went to visit a friend…follow closely…and when that friend got to her friend's house, the friend with the house had been canning. (I've only had one glass of wine.) There were jars sitting everywhere – all over the counters, tables and floor…evidently, it was declared “somewhat of a strange mess” by the visiting friend. I just smiled…I remember canning season.
Sad that "somewhat of a strange mess" wasn't "wow what a wonderful stash of great food" LOL.
But yes, anyone who doesn't understand canning and preserving what's fresh while it's at it's peak of goodness (AND availability) would surely find it a "mess".
Dede
who loves those temporary "messes" LOL
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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1:55 am
September 14, 2009
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kathy
| | Buna, Texas | |
| Big Chicken | posts 58 | |
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 Caramel pear preserves. Thin little transparent lengthwise strips simmered in white and brown sugar and slice or two of lemon. If I just had some cake or ice cream to put some of these warm ones over! The tree is loaded again this year. It's a gazillion years old and it still produces more than a group of canners would know what to do with. Also dried pear slices with a light sugar dusting and a few peels for some potpourri. Does anyone have a good recipe for simmering potpourri?
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7:18 am
September 14, 2009
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
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I'm going to be doing some simmering potpourri posts coming up–I've been saving dehydrated fruit and peels for that.
Okay–question–why is it so common in the U.K. to not hot water bath jams, jellies, butters, etc? I've seen this, not just in my comments, but on U.K. blogs. They think it's odd that we hot water bath and, well, I think it's odd that they don't, and I'm just wondering how this comes about that it's common to not use the hot water bath processing. Is that really safe? Is that an old-fashioned method (just putting the hot ingredients in the jar, putting the lid, waiting for the pop of the seal, then leaving at that)?
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7:28 am
September 14, 2009
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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When Mom used to can……….jams and tomatoes weren't BWB, they were I think she calls it "hot kettled", bring everything to a boil and cook, keep it boiling and put into hot jars with hot lids, then everything seals. I talk to her about BWB, and she says "you don't need to do that, we never did, and we haven't died….." She also only BWB green beans……..I told her about PC those, and she gave me the same reply. I just let it go………I want to be safe, it doesn't take that much longer!
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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9:00 am
September 14, 2009
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Pete
| | WV | |
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Suzanne, my guess would be that in the UK there are not as many climates within which canning is done, and it is generally much cooler than many parts of the US. When I was a kid (a bazillions years ago), there wasn't a great deal of water bath canning done either. "Hot pack" was what they did most often, and that melted paraffin thing for really high sugar stuff like jams and candied things.
Somewhere along the line, here in the US we became overly cautious about germs. A good thing? Maybe. Who wants a lot of extra germs!? Are we avoiding them so much now that we no longer develop immunities? I dunno. One possibility is just that when you are growing your own veggies and fruits for consumption the majority of the germs on them would be ones with which your body is already familiar.
Back to the original question, it might be interesting to discover how canning/food preservation was done in other parts of the British Empire just to see if the techniques were different in the warmer climates…
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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9:22 am
September 14, 2009
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wvhomecanner
| | North Central WV | |
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| posts 3017 | |
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I think there are various reasons. There is no equivalent to the USDA outside the US in regards to testing, for one. There are members of groups I belong to in the UK and other places that are ordering the BBB and canning equipement from US sources because they want to can safely and using the best info available.
I think of it as similar to when butter was thought to be the best thing to put on a burn or when folks believed that a person having a seizure needed something put in their mouth so that they wouldn't swallow their tongue. NEITHER was true, but it was the best we knew at the time.
No one really likes being told that something they have done for years isn't a good idea or isn't safe.
I have heard the "we aren't dead" line for years LOL.
I have always figured that we need to learn something new every day :)
Dede
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"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." ~ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss ~
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9:41 am
September 14, 2009
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Pete
| | WV | |
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Sad reality of that "This is the way we always have done it" routine is that a lot of food can be wasted. We have a friend who still cans things like chicken noodle soup by the hot pack method. We made the mistake of making over her efforts, so she now brings it to us regularly. If it wasn't packed that day, we just get rid of it.
I even once showed her the results of one of her jars. She just will not learn! Oh, well. She can do what she wants with her food. We are not required to consume it. Meanwhile, as we stock our pantry, she is not seeing a need to provide us with as much stuff!
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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10:39 am
September 15, 2009
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JeannieB
| | Columbia, South Carolina | |
| Superstar | posts 1453 | |
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My mama and Aunts did not use the BWB for high acid foods, tomatoes, pickles or jelly. And the didn't use a PC, just the old speckled canning pots. I don't like to take chances, and don't trust the 'just smell it' method to check if canned food is still good. Nothing is worth taking a health risk, and food poisioning is not something I want to deal with.
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Don't cry because it's over—smile because it happened!
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