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2006-08-10 11:32:02

SusieQT Posts: 20	Home Canning Anyone here ever do much canning? I have only done it a couple of times until now, and with tomatoes. But I just made a batch of cucumbers into dill pickles the other day and it was a lot of fun. I'll let you know in about 6-8 weeks whether they're any good. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] I plan on canning a bunch of hot peppers soon as well- I can't see any other way to store them, other than drying them, which I'm not big on. Before people could buy big freezers in the 50's, you had to can your fresh food or lose it. If any of you have seen a vintage refrigerator (pre-1960) you know how tiny the freezer compartment is. So basically, if you bought a side of beef or a bushel of sweet corn, you had to eat it right away or can it. There are a couple of methods you can use to ensure that you are producing a safe and appealing product: boiling water and pressure canning. I have a boiling water canner from my mother- a big pot you fill with water and then put full Mason jars in to seal. You use this method for acidic foods, like many vegetables and jellies. Besides water canning, there is pressure canning. You need a special pressure-cooker to can things like meats; I've never had any experience with this one. But most importantly, if you are interested in this most retro way of food preparation, you need to read up on it! Go to a reliable website, like Ball's www.homecanning.com , or the National Center for Home Food Preservation's USDA guide: <a href="http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html" target="_blank">http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html</a> Try it- you'll connect to the past in a big way, I guarantee it!

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2006-08-10 14:05:39

MissRoulette Posts: 5	Re: Home Canning All I've done is make chutneys and jams! But that is fun and I'll be making more jam this Autumn when all the blackberries in the hedgerows get ripe. I'd like to do some home canning as I'm interested in ways of preserving food and older ways of cooking but don't think I'll get round to it unless I manage to grow lots of veg myself!

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2007-10-21 18:52:30

KittenWithaWhip Posts: 34	Re: Home Canning I haven't done it in over two years, poor me, but used to do it quite a lot. I have a toddler now, and the last thing I need is a tyke puttering around the kitchen while a pressure canner is chugging away on the stove. That, and it's been 90 or more in my town for the last 10 months. We've had quite a year. I keep expecting it to get cool but it doesn't. Didn't rain much either. But enough about the weather. I have a few good recipes as well as some new ones I need to try, and the weather is just getting down to manageable levels. I hope to can up some beef stew, jams and vegetables within the next month. I may try my had an homemade ketchup, since tried some the other day and it blew me away, it was so tangy and clove-y. Dang. Now I'm hungry.

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2007-10-22 07:54:01

the_librarian Posts: 0	Re: Home Canning <!--quoteo(post=89625:date=Oct 21 2007, 09:52 PM:name=KittenWithaWhip)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KittenWithaWhip @ Oct 21 2007, 09:52 PM) [snapback]89625[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> I haven't done it in over two years, poor me, but used to do it quite a lot. I have a toddler now, and the last thing I need is a tyke puttering around the kitchen while a pressure canner is chugging away on the stove. That, and it's been 90 or more in my town for the last 10 months. We've had quite a year. I keep expecting it to get cool but it doesn't. Didn't rain much either. But enough about the weather. I have a few good recipes as well as some new ones I need to try, and the weather is just getting down to manageable levels. I hope to can up some beef stew, jams and vegetables within the next month. I may try my had an homemade ketchup, since tried some the other day and it blew me away, it was so tangy and clove-y. Dang. Now I'm hungry. Hiya! Gotta receipe on that? Or some ideas on how to do that for a clueless guy learning how to cook? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

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2007-10-22 10:19:19

KittenWithaWhip Posts: 34	Re: Home Canning Jam is the easiest thing to make, as you cook it up in a ratio of one pound sugar to each pound of berries, more or less. There are fifty bazillion recipes online on how to make it, it's so simple. If you're caning, though, I highly recommend getting the Ball Blue Book and following the directions as carefully as though you were building a nuclear bomb. Don't get any Cliff Notes versions of canning instructions from anyone. Coating with wax or turning jars over is practically witch doctoring when it comes to canning. I'm still looking for a good recipe for Apple Ketchup. I bought some years ago from a divine little company called the Victorian Cupboard. Oh I used it on everything! I have not been able to find it again though, and it's more than tomato ketchup with applesauce thrown in, which is what a lot of the recipes look like. Yick!

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2011-07-22 12:24:20

lindydivaus Posts: 11	Re: Home Canning Well, it's been ages! I've been canning now for a couple of years. Primarily it's jellies, marmalades, applesauce and the like; I don't have a pressure canner. Right now (at this minute) I'm processing sweet cherry pickles in a water bath--new recipe from the last issue of Better Homes & Gardens Canning. (Nice to see some magazines have stayed in touch with their roots!)

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