Category Archives: Canning

Food Storage You Tube Playlist

I’ve been lost on You Tube for two days.  I’m such a huge video person and realized (when trying to write out some information about food storage) that my channel was pretty lacking.  So, here it is.  It doesn’t have the entire scope of all the options I think of when considering food storage but I think it’s a good primer.  I know me.  I will be adding to it (unless I actually force myself to get off my rear and get some projects started/completed).

OH!  And I fixed the link (to the side of this post) for my main You Tube channel.

Homemade Corned Beef

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this!  I made homemade corned beef last year, leaving out the sugar and the pink salt, and it was fantastic!  I thought, well, I could make this, then can it so I know exactly where it came from and what was in it.  I haven’t gotten around to canning this because it usually doesn’t last that long!

Anyway, if you are interested (I wanted to see if I could and I did), here is how I did it:

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/home_made_corned_beef.html

And here is how to can it (ever since I canned that chicken, I prefer raw canning meats):

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/2011/05/canning-corned-beef-brisket.html

There you go!  Give it a shot (even if you only do one).  It really wasn’t as difficult as my brain said it would be!

Dried Fruit Jam

I just discovered (of course, when I’m pressed for time and making hubby’s lunch) that we are just about out of jam. And when I say out, I mean we have about 2 Tablespoons left! So, today is jam making day. 1. I will make jam out of a spiced plum sauce I have in the pantry. I made this years ago and it’s a wonderful plum/clove sauce but I haven’t used it for anything else. I bet it would taste wonderful as jam! 2. I’ll be making this but with a mix of dried fruits. I have dried apricots, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, apples (might not use them all) plus about a cup of frozen blueberries. Whatcha think?

http://www.foodinjars.com/2012/02/dried-apricot-jam-from-250-home-preserving-favorites/

Update:  O.k.  Next time, I’ll leave out the vanilla (unless the flavor becomes more subdued as it cooks … the book’s suggestion of orange liquor or peach brandy would have been much better) and this became freezer jam (the fruit by itself was so sweet that I only added 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of Splenda, which may still be too sweet but it’s too late now).  The tartness of the cranberries is just enough to make your mouth water but everything else mellows it out … this tastes like fruit leather.  It’s going to be awesome!

Roasted Peppers In Oil

Well, I have finally concluded that my peppers are not going to produce anything this year.  It is now September 11th and they STILL only have their second set of leaves.  So, I had to purchase some.  What I usually do is dice them, lay them on a cookie sheet, and freeze them.  Once frozen, I place them in a Ziploc bag so I can just grab a handful anytime I need some.  This works especially well for breakfast, when I’m usually starving and just trying to throw some quality food together.

This time, I’ve decided to do something different.  I’m making roasted peppers in oil:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-peppers-in-oil-peperoni-arrostiti-sotto-olio/detail.aspx

I’ve read of people doing this with vinegar but since my husband doesn’t like vinegar (and that might clash with whatever I am cooking) I will leave that out.  I’m also going to leave out the salt.  That way, anyone who needs salt can just sprinkle some on themselves.  I read somewhere that if I want to store these, I can put them in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes to seal the jars.

So, once hubby is fully awake and can fiddle with the electric ignitor, I’m going to broil 4 pounds of mini bell peppers!  I can’t wait!  🙂

Serving Size    1/6 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe    6

Amount Per Serving
Calories    270

Total Fat 28.2g, Sodium 196mg,** Potassium 132mg, Total Carbohydrates 4g, Protein 0.7g

Making Apple Sauce by Melana Hiatt

I was going through some of the old files I have managed to save over the years and ran across this saved web page.  Though the website is no longer in existence, I hope you will enjoy this page by Melana Hiatt as much as I do!

 

Making Apple Sauce

#1. On Monday clean out your freezer of all the unsweetened applesauce you saved last fall for use in quick breads and muffins and set it on the counter to thaw.  Mention to hubby that you could use those new quart canning jars to make applesauce if you only had a water bath canner.  Put applesauce in the refrigerator and listen to family complain all week about how crowded the fridge is.

#2. Wake up on Saturday and feel guilty about normally ignoring your family and make some of the best cattail pollen pancakes they ever had. Make plenty of extra silver dollar sized pancakes from the batter and make sure to mention to the kids how great these will be in the freezer since they will be able to get their own breakfast for some time this way.

#3. Clean up kitchen but leave a sizable stack of cattail pancakes on the back burner of the stove to cool since you are in a rush to go on a quick foray before it gets too hot out to look for more pollen. Tell youngest daughter to put the dog outside, make juice and clean up her room. Take oldest daughter and head for the canal.

#4. Find out when you get to the canal that a farmer has sprayed the ditches around his fields poisoning the water that drains into the gully that flows into the canal. Mentally stick several pins in the farmers voodoo doll and think about what you would tell that man if he was handy. Start riding home in disgust only to stop and pick two huge bags of red clover blooms to dry for teas and breads.

#5. Get home and find that the dog has drug the plate of cattail pollen pancakes off the stove and consumed each and every one of them. Resist urge to kick the dog since he loves your cooking and wonder when kids will come fully equipped with hearing and comprehension equipment.

#6. Get all the strawberries out of the freezer that you collected and stemmed last week and set them on the counter to thaw. Give dog evil eye of death when he starts to check the berries out to see if they are edible. Make enough noise to get hubby out of bed and mention the water bath canner and all the applesauce in the fridge.

#7. Get 4 bowls of strawberries that are in the fridge that where collected the day before and sit down to stem them. Realize the two bowls collected by the kids are absolute mush and un-stem-able. Dump mess in the French Press, leaves, stems and mangled berries and cover with boiling water.

#8. Follow pectin box directions for making strawberry jam. Add pectin to 4 cups of crushed berries and bring to a boil. When berries are boiling add 7 cups of sugar and bring back to a rolling boil. After boiling for one minute pour into sterilized jars. Lick fingers and realize you will have to eat the lint trap from the dryer to get the ultra sweet taste from your mouth. Wipe rims of jars and seal. Put load of laundry in washing machine.

#9. Dig around for an hour looking for a better jam recipe and realize you always used the 4+4+1 method with wild berries. (4 cups berries plus 4 cups sugar plus one box pectin. Mention to hubby that the applesauce will be growing legs soon and will attack us all in our sleep if you don’t get it canned.

#10. Make second batch of jelly using above method and dance around gleefully when it turns out perfect. Sit and listen to tops pop signaling the sealing of the jars and stare at strawberry juice/tea and wonder what on earth you are going to do with it. Hang clothes from washing machine on the line and start another load so that you can forget it and the cloths can sit until the next day.

#11. Chase hubby out of the house to take the kids for haircuts mentioning a water bath canner at least 3 more times before he gets out the door. Wipe off counters, wash all implements of destruction, scrub kitchen floor and and decide to make pancake syrup out of tea/juice setting in the French press.

#12. For every 1/2 cup juice add one cup sugar and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer 15 – 20 minutes to thicken and dig around for that syrup bottle you know you put downstairs with your other jars. Locate bottle, scrub off the label and pour syrup into bottle to cool. Taste and realize how good this would of been on the cattail pancakes. Resist urge to kill the dog.

#13. Take jar of jelly to neighbors and sit with her talking bad about men, dogs and taxes.

#14. Realize hubby and kids are home and give hubby passionate kiss in the kitchen for buying the water bath canner. Look deeper into bags and give hubby major brownie points for finding the rubber rings you needed for the antique glass top jars you bought at a yard sale last weekend. Tell hubby you would have an affair with him if he wasn’t already a married man.

#15. Take brand new cold packer to the bathroom and fill with water from the tap. Lug it to the kitchen and place on the stove to boil. Dig around for instructions for applesauce and give up when you are unable to locate one. Dig all applesauce out of the fridge along with the monster jar of apple butter you made last fall and the ginger/apple marmalade you made last winter. Dump all this in a pot and sample.

#16. After sampling mixture and add half a jar of cinnamon and who knows how much sugar. Stir and sample again. Deem mixture okey-dokey and begin to heat. Drag fan out of the bedroom and struggle for 15 minutes to find a plug-in to stick the cord into.

#17. Go into basement and collect jars for applesauce. Wash them in water so hot it takes the top layer of skin off your hands. Rinse jars, drain sink and refill with hot water. Place jars in water along with lids and rings.

#18. Get tired of waiting for applesauce to reach some sign of cooking and fill sterilized jars ahead of time. Wipe rims, seal and realize the scalding pot of water in your water bath canner is way to high and struggle to drag it over the the sink to dump half the water out.

#19. Place jars in water bath canner rack and get disgusted when they keep falling over in the rack. Remove rack and place on counter. set all the jars in the rack with a heavy coffee cup in the middle to keep the 6 jars you have from falling over. Place in packer and walk outside.

#20. Walk around house and do not stop until you are standing in the middle of the pool. Sit down to drown out the sounds of your kids asking what is for supper.

#21. Twenty minutes later come up for air and walk back into the kitchen soaking wet and dripping to pull the applesauce out of the packer. Set jars on the counter to cool and give children the evil death ray look for asking again what is for supper.

#22. Order pizza and contemplate moving to the mountains and becoming a hermit.

Home Canning Milk

Thanks to Facebook, I found a great site! Here is her article on how to can milk at home. Now is the time to learn techniques that have been safely used for decades before the USDA eliminates this knowledge altogether.

http://razorfamilyfarms.com/cooking/canning-and-preserving-milk-at-home/

Canning Potatoes

Yesterday, I canned my first batch of potatoes. I will be canning both red potatoes and sweet potatoes. I purchased two 10 pound bags of red potatoes (I figured this was the best choice, since the only other option was russet potatoes) and two 10 pound boxes of sweet potatoes.

This was one of the easiest things to do! I left the skins on, cut them in half or quarters (depending on their size), and followed the directions here: http://jordansfarm.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/canning-potatoes/. They all sealed beautifully and only two sucked up some of the water (the jars are about half full of water) so those will be used first (miss paranoid here).

The 20 pounds of red potatoes filled 19 quart jars (with a few left over so I could enjoy them with dinner) and 20 pounds of sweet potatoes filled 14 jars (actually 16 but I did not want to pressure can 2 jars so mashed sweet potatoes were for lunch and dinner the next day).

Further down on the web page above page is instructions for canning sweet potatoes. That is how I will be doing the sweet potatoes tonight:

Sweet Potatoes canned:

Boil first for about 5 min. so as the skins will rub off.

Leave small ones whole/ or cut,

Pack into jars

Fill with water or med. syrup (med. syrup: 3 1/4 cup sugar and 5 cups water= 7 cups syrup)

Leave 1 inch head space, remove air bubbles

Pressure can 10 pounds for:

Pints: 1 hour 5 minutes
Quarts: 1 hour and 30 minutes

I packed in syrup but a light syrup instead. I went looking around for light syrup recipes that would allow me to incorporate honey. I found this page (http://www.pickyourown.org/sugarsolution.htm), and it turns out you can replace half the sugar with honey! That’s what I did!

I love fresh sweet potatoes but after seeing how the red potatoes bleached out (no longer red) I am afraid of blah, bland sweet potatoes. I have not tried the sweet potatoes yet but last night we had corned beef hash with the canned red potatoes. I cubed them, put plenty of oil in the pan, let it brown without moving it around much, then removed them from the pan. We added them back right before the eggs were set. They tasted wonderful! They did not have that canned potato smell when we opened up the jar, and tasted just like boiled potatoes right out of the jar!

I Got My Pressure Canner!


After 20 years of waiting, I have finally gotten a pressure canner! I am so excited I can hardly think straight. This was my Christmas present from my husband (in addition to loving me, I think it was mostly to get me to stop bugging him about it). It’s a Presto 16 quart.

The third day, I was re-canning some of my #10 cans of food. I never wanted to open the cans because I did not want to freeze the leftovers. I processed all foods for the recommended times/pressure settings and they all turned out really nice! All except my beets. They look bleached out but one thing I noticed as I was opening up the can of pickled beets. They use high fructose corn syrup! I’ll be making my own from now on.

My first big canning project is going to be chicken. Yeah, I know. Meat first? Yup. See, we buy a lot of whole chickens and load up the freezer. Canning most of the chicken will free up that freezer space for something else.

The majority of the time, we only use whole chickens for my husband’s tacos and enchiladas. Those recipes require us to boil, then de-bone the chicken so why not cut those steps out?

So I went searching around and found this great blog:

http://lovehugsandgiggles.blogspot.com/2008/11/canning-chicken.html

Then I’ll use the bones for chicken soup. Can you tell I’m excited?