The Canning Thread

smkranz said:

12 pints of sliced peaches today. Still have another 4+ lbs. to make into jam.

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Archeryrob said:

Why do you water bath and acidic food like tomatoes for 30 minutes in pints WITH lemon juice and jellies get 10 minutes and pickles? Not making sense to me. I a=make paw paw butter with less time in the bath, same with the paech butter my daughter just made

Preface, I've drank too much, Still canning, and was just told mom might pass soon and need to go see her tomorrow.

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smkranz said:

Five+ pounds of peppers yielded five pints of Cowboy Candy (Candied Jalapeño Peppers). The peppers included jalapeño, banana, some long hot green peppers I found at H Mart, and Red Chili (medium heat) peppers. There were 3 pints of brine left over, so I processed them in the canner along with the peppers.

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PaFrank said:

I'm sure canned deer meat would be wonderfui.

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tallen702 said:

Get a pressure canner, get a book from a reputable company (Ball or Atlas) or use the FDA guidelines you can get through most Ag extensions. You can can more with pressure than simple water-bath canning.

Water bath canning is only suitable for high acid items, jellies, jams, tomatoes, applesauce, pickles. If the PH is too high, you'll get botulism.

Pressure canning uses a locking lid and the increase pressure from steam to allow for higher temperatures to be reached than you'd get from boiling water at a single atmosphere of pressure. These higher temperatures combined with pre-set lengths of time allow you to ensure that all bacteria, mold, and fungal spores are rendered inactive which prevents you from accidentally killing anyone.

Dairy does not can well and is advised against. If canning a soup or stew that calls for dairy, can it without and add it back in when you go to reheat the product to eat.
Starches like rice, noodles/pasta, flour, cornstarch, cornmeal, arrowroot, and other common thickeners don't can well as the varying water activity and density prevents you from being sure that things are safe. The high heat also breaks down the starch where things like cornstarch and arrowroot are concerned. If canning soups, thicken or add rice/noodles when you re-heat the canned product before eating. Campbell's can do it because their industrial equipment heats so rapidly that the starch doesn't have time to break down.

Start out with simple stuff. Gazpacho, tomatoes, pasta sauce, salsa, apple sauce, jams, jellies, pickles, etc.

For pickles, make sure to use Ball "Pickle Crisp" when canning. It'll prevent them from getting soggy. It's just potassium chloride, but man it works GREAT

Follow directions for head-space. Much like C&R rifles, bad head-space will ruin your day. In this case, it causes product to gush out of the jar when it heats up, preventing a proper seal.

Wide-mouth is easier to load, but the bands and lids are less common in grocery stores.

Label and date everything after it cools. 18 months is the manufacturer's max time for most lids. USDA says 2 years. Most are still edible after that, but tend to degrade in terms of texture and color.

And because I can't say it enough, follow reputable books (Ball or Atlas) or USDA guidelines to stay safe.

I personally do dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, butternut squash soup, vegetable soup, pheasant soup (to add noodles to later), duck and vegetable soup (to add wild rice to later) pasta sauce, gazpacho, salsa, and half-runner beans (soooooo good once they've been pressure canned with chicken stock and bacon).


Edit:

I run a National Pressure Canning Company pressure canner from '46/'47. She's a temperamental little bitch, but she works good if you know how to treat her. Controlled completely by the amount of heat you put under it. Came to me from my grandmother along with jars. I have some of the depression glass blue Ball quart and pint jars that helped my ancestors survive the great depression on their farm in Roane County, WV.

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Archeryrob said:

My lunchs with work from home lately are a pint of canned deer and juice drained into a pot and mixed with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Add a bit of Worcestershire or some hot spice. Dump the meat ona plate and mash with the back of the fork to make it fall apart. As the soup/water heat up I dump the meat into the pot and heat. Put that over a cup of rice or potatoes.

That is some good and tender stuff!! I'm killing one just for canning. I can stroganoff and deer veggie soup too.

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BigT said:

What time is lunch and which day should I come down?

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Archeryrob said:

usually around 11:45. You want a jar to make it yourself? Its almost time for me to fill up more jars in month.

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BigT said:

No I just wanted a reason to invite myself down for lunch! And to show you my "new to me truck"..

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