HOME CANNING

I had thought about freezing some precooked rice, could always stretch a prep while conserving energy, if there was a power outage, at least the first few days. Maybe try to cook it just enough to prevent gummy texture. Just a thought. By the way i did a batch of carrot cake/bread yesterday we tried it -yum yum.  Saved a small jar to taste in a couple months, of course mom will taste it alone could be   or   !

Hello Again,

 

Well everything is fine with the pressure canner now.

 

I let the canner cool down and opened the lid and inspected the gasket. Since it is brand new and the correct size, I couldn't find any problem with it. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry. It is working just fine this second time around.

 

As I was inspecting the gasket, the lids started to seal, that familiar popping sound that the lids make when the jars have formed a vacuum. I didn't think that was a good idea seeing as how I was going to process the jars a second time so I went back to the store and bought additional tops. I emptied the contents of the pint jars back into the pot, heated the contents up again and washed everything and started over.

 

I have several observations and random thoughts.

 

1) I removed the air bubbles from the pint jars before adding the tops. When I removed the pint jars to check the gasket, I noticed that the contents of the jars had begun to boil and there were "boiling bubbles" in all the jars. Why do we remove the air bubbles when there will be boiling bubbles formed later?

 

2) Why do we sterilize the jars before we place them in the pressure canner when the jars and the jar's contents will be sterile when they are removed from the canner 1.25 hours later?

 

3) I am asked to place the filed and sealed jars in the pressure canner which has 2 to 3 inches of simmering water in the bottom. When all my jars are in the canner the water level in 3/4" from the top of the jars (pints). Is this too much water?

 

I have had the jars in the canner now for 35 minutes and the pressure canner is holding pressure just fine.  Actually the gauge has risen about 2 degrees since I started so I turned down the heat just a tad.  It is almost at the very lowest my range will go.  I have the gauge at 12.5 or approx. 245 degrees.

 

David

Hi Dave, I use my old avery labels too. Where I can I just write on the lids with a black or red marker, can't reuse them anyway...

Linda, good point.  Boil the jars first, and still put them in the oven, any water left will evaporate...

honeybee wrote:   If found this interesting recipe - BUT I thought you could not can apples using waterbath method- COMMENTS PLEASE http://pierecipe.allrecipes.com/az/applepieinajar.as

I've been canning Apple Pie filling and also apple pie filling for fried pies for over 10 years, and I've always used the waterbath method!! Never have had a problem! I opened up a jar of filling for fried pies last weekend that was canned in 2004!!

One year, I did have a batch of applesauce to go bad but that was the first time and haven't had any to go bad since!!
    

davidrstack wrote: Hello Again,   Well everything is fine with the pressure canner now.   I let the canner cool down and opened the lid and inspected the gasket. Since it is brand new and the correct size, I couldn't find any problem with it. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry. It is working just fine this second time around.   As I was inspecting the gasket, the lids started to seal, that familiar popping sound that the lids make when the jars have formed a vacuum. I didn't think that was a good idea seeing as how I was going to process the jars a second time so I went back to the store and bought additional tops. I emptied the contents of the pint jars back into the pot, heated the contents up again and washed everything and started over.   I have several observations and random thoughts.   1) I removed the air bubbles from the pint jars before adding the tops. When I removed the pint jars to check the gasket, I noticed that the contents of the jars had begun to boil and there were "boiling bubbles" in all the jars. Why do we remove the air bubbles when there will be boiling bubbles formed later?   2) Why do we sterilize the jars before we place them in the pressure canner when the jars and the jar's contents will be sterile when they are removed from the canner 1.25 hours later?   3) I am asked to place the filed and sealed jars in the pressure canner which has 2 to 3 inches of simmering water in the bottom. When all my jars are in the canner the water level in 3/4" from the top of the jars (pints). Is this too much water?   I have had the jars in the canner now for 35 minutes and the pressure canner is holding pressure just fine.  Actually the gauge has risen about 2 degrees since I started so I turned down the heat just a tad.  It is almost at the very lowest my range will go.  I have the gauge at 12.5 or approx. 245 degrees.   David

Oh yes!  tell us how to make fried pies! I never heard of them!

The recipe I tripped across said to bathe them for 30, the apples went in and got cooked there I guess.

 

THANKS ALL!

 

About the canned butter...Is it supposed to taste the same as fresh butter? I tried my first jar today and I think I am the first here to say I didn't like it. Thought it tasted funny.  Only ate one bite.  Wonder if I did something wrong. They are all sealed good.

 

  Stopped at Salvation Army today to see what they had, found a lone box of quart sized Ball jars marked $1.79!  Twelve, all good.

Guess I will be making a lot of that apple pie  lol

 

 

Greetings Fellow Canners,

Thanks for letting us know about the chili Dave. I just got thru canning the butter. Little pings are filling the house right now.  It looks pretty, hope I like it better than Honeybee did.  Sorry yours didn't taste the way you thought it would Honeybee. I used Land o Lakes so I'll let you know when I taste it. I think I'll do the chili later this week....then if we get the recipe from countrygal for the fried pies, we'll have a mighty fine meal.

Honeybee, fried pies are when you prepare pastry dough in the shape of a circle then put your apple filling (or whatever kind of filling you prefer) on one side and fold the other side over, crimping the dough together with a fork (or fingers) and then fry in oil.  Ummm mmmmmm good.

I can't believe I went this far in life without ever making them! 

 

The sound amazing!

 

I read one recipe that simply said, "use biscuit, doughnut or pastry dough, cut the thickness to taste" then went on about the frying.  Maybe sprinkle with sugar after frying.

Wish I had apples tonight! 

jo007athome wrote: 1. The boiling action continues after the jars come out of the canner, but The oxygen will be gone when they seal.

One more question. Whole chickens are really cheap here. I was thinking about buying some, cutting them, boiling them and the canning them in the broth. Has anyone done that? I see hamburger and beef cubes...sounds too advanced for me!

bellabecky wrote:   Okay, this book I'm using is soooo old that it suggests that I "Cook a batch daily while getting lunch during strawberry season." Right after that I guess I'll go on the porch and ring the bell so hubby can come in from the..uh, computer??

Sounds like agret set of cookbooks! Mine is the modern encyclopedia of cooking by Meta Givens updated 1957.Shows you every thing from how to set a table, plan menus to how to "grade" eggs, beef, chicken etc. And how to can with pix!

bellabecky wrote: It is a great set - minus the demonic veggie book! The recipe had me mix strawberries & sugar and set for one hour. Next I had to boil for 10 minutes, stirring the whole time, add lemon juice & boil 3 more minutes. After that they set for 24 hours. Finally, can them. I have to do it today. I am going to use the pressure cooker. But this book says to freeze the jams right after cans cool off. Doesn't say to freeze the preserves? I did the preserves.    I was just reading the section about canning meats. It says to kill the hog when your weatherman says: "Light frost tonight." Geez!

Dave,

Greetings:

countrygal wrote:      Fried Apple Pie Filling 1 gallon of apples, peeled and diced 4 cups sugar 1/2 cup white vinegar cinnamon to taste Mix all ingredients together in a large plastic bowl and let stand at room temp. for 8 hours. Then dump into a stockpot and cook over med-high heat until thick. Ladel into pint or quart jars. Process in a waterbath canner for 20 minutes. I have used the stockpot (instead of the large plastic bowl) to let the mixture stand at room temp. and it turned out just fine! Sorry, I can't remember how many pints or quarts a single recipe makes, but its not much! I'm thinking 3 or 4 quarts.

Dough:
5 1/2 cups self rising flour
2/3 cup shortening
Mix these two ingredients until it resembles cornmeal
add 1 cup milk, (I use 2%)
Mix together until moist. (the more you mix the dough the tougher the crust will be!...this is not a good thing!!) Roll out onto a well floured surface. as thin as you can without tearing it!! I use a dessert plate as a pattern to cut out the shape/size.
Spoon some pie filling onto half of the dough, fold over and seal edges with your fingers or a fork. I use an electric skillet with enough oil to cover 1/2 of the pies. Fry until lightly brown and flip and fry the other side.
    

Dave, I grew up on canned potatoes!  My mom would can them with string beans. They were awesome....but I checked with the Ball Blue Book of Perserving to see if they had a recipe for canning potatoes. This is it:

Potatoes - White or Irish

2 to 3 lbs potatoes per quart, salt (optional), water:

I've never canned potatoes, but my book is adament that they are HOT PACK ONLY.

It says to cube (1/2"), blanch 2 minutes, pack hot within 1" of jar top. Add salt (1/2tsp pints-1tsp qt), cover with boiling water (or broth), leave 1" head space. 10lbs pressure, pints 35 minutes - quarts 40 minutes.

Almost identical to ikays directions.





    

Greetings:

WOW! I was feeling good about my 1.5 pints of strawberry preserves I finished canning today! I gotta get busy.

I got a bunch of strawberries frozen. I'm freezing complete precooked meals, fruit, juice, butter, etc, and will use them first. I'm hoping electricity will last at least a month in case of a crisis.

I am going to get more strawberries and can them now that I've done my testers. I've only canned once and it wasn't completely successful. But now I have a pressure cooker and it seems to work better then the boiling bath method. Marion berries are ready here too.

I'm gonna try potatoes and meat, you are all such an inspiration!!

Mary,

I know you have been canning for 30 years.

 

I have read on this site about fat going rancid when you can so try to avoid fat when canning.  I know that some fat can't help but be included when you can meat . When you cook beef or pork you will get some fat no matter how lean the meat is.

 

I have cooked and am canning pork shoulder (Boston Butt) which is naturally fatty which is why it is perfect food for slow cooking barbeque.  A great deal of fat has come off the meat during the roasting process either in liquid form or solid form which was left on the meat after roasting and which I have discarded.

 

Question: The meat in the canning jars is still naturally fatty. Do I go ahead and can the meat? I plan on adding boiling stock to the meat before sealing and canning the meat. Or should I do something else with the meat like boil (I hope not) to render more fat out of the meat.

 

I plan on processing the meat at 15 lbs for 60 minutes.

 

Dave