Canning and Preserving

[lizziegrace]

My garden's going crazy. I have a small chest freezer (about the size of a dishwasher) but my garden size tripled this year.

I plan to can tomatoes and pickles using a water bath but wonder if investing in a pressure canner will be worth the $$. I was given 2 dozen quart jars and bought another 3 dozen jars for $6. I have to buy lids and rings.

Canning makes me nervous. I've checked out books from the library and I've read online. I just don't want to get in over my head.

Oh, and a second freezer isn't really an option. Our electric rates just went up over 10%.

Any assurances and/or suggestions would be great.

Also, I plan to store the canned produce on steps of the servants' staircase behind the kitchen wall. Temps there in the winter get very, very cold. (45 degrees). Is that too cold to store canned produce and sauces?

Thanks!

Oh, and an organic farm I frequent will have chickens at the end of the month for sale (frozen). I need my deep freeze for purchasing meat on sale.

[hippywife]

1. Hi sweetie. Glad your gardening is going like gangbusters!

Depends on what all you're planning to can. A lot of it can just go through a hot water processing in a stock pot.

Here's a good resource for you:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

Aren't you just enjoying the hell out of this? :hug:

Talked to my dad and mom last night. Hear you guys are having some intensively hot weather, too.

[lizziegrace]

2. It's been Oklahoma hot and Memphis humid here

I'll have squash, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, corn, pickles, and okra. Lelapin will be bringing a bushel of peaches back from SC. I'm also buying blueberries. That and the cost of a pressure canner.

I guess actually canning this stuff doesn't bother me so much as storing it in such a cold place in the winter (and very warm in the summer)

I'll check the link.

Thanks!!!

:hug:

[hippywife]

3. I just have the little freezer space

above my fridge but I've managed to freeze most things. You'd be amazed how much you can get in there when you need to. Tomatoes get canned. Squash gets sliced and lain out on a cooking sheet in the freezer, then bagged, as does corn and some berries. The rest of the berries are made into preserves.

Try to find a pressure canner in decent shape at a thrift store or garage sale if you can.

I really am proud of you, sweetie. You have taken your financial circumstances and done all you can to overcome them in any way possible. You should be very proud of yourself, too. I love you and Lyric both for your strength and accomplishments in the face of such adversity. :hug:

[lizziegrace]

4. Here are some photos

It all started like this:


And today it looks like this with Lelapin's help:

[hippywife]

5. You done good, babe!

Your garden looks wonderful. :hug:

[lizziegrace]

6. thanks sweetie!

:pals:


:loveya:

[Inchworm]

16. I second going by this guide

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html

I was a total rookie last year and faired well using it.

I did eventually find a pressure canner at a yard sale, so it opened me up to canning deer meat (which is often in abundance here).

I forget whether it was October or November but I challenged myself last year to buy NO food for the entire month. I did it easily and ate well. It almost inspired me to get chickens lol... I did miss eggs.

Your garden looks awesome!!

:*

[lizziegrace]

17. Thanks for the encouragement!

I think I might challenge myself to do the same once the chickens are bought.

:-)

[noamnety]

7. I'm not sure you need the pressure canner

It depends on what you are canning. I got a used 22 quart pressure canner (the kind with the weight) for about 20 bucks off craigslist.

The other thing that was a great purchase was a 6 dollar dehydrator from salvation army. Mine's running right now because the local store had entire cases of figs for 3 dollars, and two weeks ago (just before my tomatoes started ripening) cases of tomatoes were 4 dollars. Dehydrating's nice if your space is limited, and the investment's lower.

Alton Brown has a video of how to build your own dehydrator. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5912487412723519389#

[hippywife]

8. Sun dehydrating

would probably be the best for her since the electric rates just took a huge spike. I think I have some Mother Earth links thanx to my friend bvar if I can scrounge 'em up. :hi:

ETA links:

http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/92/92-4/dry_it_youll_like_it.html

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2006-08-01/Build-a-Solar-Food-Dehydrator.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1977-07-01/Make-Your-Food-Dollar-Go-Further.aspx

[Warpy]

9. Canned stuff in jars, even with a lot of liquid, will manage

temperatures down to freezing, but not below. I agree about not freezing your bounty, veg eats up freezer space astonishingly quickly.

Acid items like tomatoes and vinegar pickles can be done quite safely in a hot water bath. Just make sure the jars seal after processing (the centers dimple down instead of up) and the seals are good before you use them. In any case, boiling for 5-10 minutes will destroy any botulin toxin if you're really paranoid about it. If the jars don't seal after processing, just replace the lid and reprocess, they should be fine.

Non acid veggies need a pressure canner that will hold pressure at 15 pounds as the directions for each veggie state. I've found that some things can a lot better than others. String beans are better than garden peas (which really do much better frozen). Corn survives canning well, as do mushrooms. Forget about broccoli and asparagus in the canner, they're nasty. You can also can things like soups and stews, even with meat, in a pressure canner. While you can do spinach, I find the results are better if you use them in spinach pasta or something else where the spinach is mixed in and not served by itself.

The best thing about a pressure canner is that it's big enough to do whole capons and large, tough roasts if you have to cook for a crowd.

Pressure canning might not save you a huge amount of money, but it beats seeing stuff you grew and can't eat go to waste.

[pengillian101]

10. Maybe that stairway can serve as a root cellar.

http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-19-173,00.html

Such a problem - too many vegies :applause:

Hope that link helps.

Regarding a pressure canner - I used to work (in 1970 and I quit in a week) at Presto the premiere pressure cooker company so I can say that canners are safe IF you go the directions 100% - BUT, be sure if you buy a used one, replace all the rubber gaskets and have the pressure rocker piece tested. The canner itself will lasts lifetimes of use. The rubber dries out and the seal is gone - that's when it's dangerous. The rubber gaskets need replacing. If the rubber seal is flexible, then that canner is very safe.

If you have never canned before, using a hot water bath method might be less scary as a first step. That works great for tomatoes. Just be sure to sterilize according to directions.

HAVE FUN!

Again, that cool stairway might serve as a good root cellar.
http://oldfashionedliving.com/rootcellar.html
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-5-19-173,00.html

[lizziegrace]

12. I've wanted to put a root cellar in the basement

the house I'm renting is 160 years old and has 4 rooms in the basement. 2 of them would make good root cellars. The problem? Money. My unemployment has run out and I need surgery on my right rotator cuff. I'm essentially without the use of my arm. Makes life so interesting. :(

I insulated the stairwell last winter (it's been closed off at the top of the stairs). I'll put a thermometer in it this winter to see how cold it really gets in there.

Anyway, I've bookmarked the article. Maybe some day things will turn around.

[Warpy]

14. A friend of mine tore both rotator cuffs in a car accident

She was able to avoid surgery with rehab.

Look into it. If you do the exercises faithfully, you can strengthen the muscles in the area and allow the tendons to heal.

She just had to have her daughter help her dress for a few months until she did heal.

[noamnety]

15. That's good advice

and I did get a replacement rubber gasket for the used canner I picked up. My rocker piece is the weighted kind - no moving parts. It's a little old fashioned, the dial would be nice so I could see the pressure, but the weighted kind never has to be recalibrated (from what I've read).

All the same, the first time I used it I was a complete wimp, hiding around the corner in fear and peeking out to spy on it waiting for it to blow up. :D

I've gotten comfortable with it since then - and I've learned to appreciate it as a regular pressure cooker as well.

[hippywife]

11. Just put up some tomatoes.

Not many. Wish they'd all ripen at the same time. LOL And just cleaned and cut about a gallon bag's worth of green beans Bill just brought in. Gotta blanch those and freeze 'em on a cookie sheet then bag 'em up.

Then I have to blanch some corn that I bought. We ate the stuff we grew already.

:hi:

[amerikat]

13. I have a similar situation. So many veggies get ripe at the same time.

I have 3 raised beds at my home much like you have, where I grow crops and herbs for my own consumption and share with neighbors, friends, and family. I also have a community garden plot.
The plan for my community garden is to grow mostly tomatoes and peppers to give to our
local food bank and the WIC program.

I have never canned but knew it was in my future, so I picked up couple of pressure canners at yard sales and thrift shops.

I have two pressure canners. One is a Mirro, kind of small as pressure cookers go. the other is an
"All American", built like a tank. One of our community gardeners has offered to give a workshop
on canning and there are many instructional videos available online.

I also have a very small freezer so freezing is not really an option and we have the highest electric rates in the entire country(National Grid another British Company much like BP I think).

Dehydrating is a good option. I dehydrated tomatoes a couple of years ago. they were excellent.
I called them tomato chips as they were crisp and they held up well in a vacuum bag. You can also dehydrate other veggies such as onions, garlic, herbs and just about anything that you could put in a veggie broth.

Two good books are "The Ball Big Book of canning" and "putting food By". both available from any major bookstore or your local library.

Happy canning and thanks for doing good things for our food supply.

[Retrograde]

18. Canning can be intimidating the first time you try, but it's worthwhile

Especially if you have more shelf space than freezer space. I use a pressure cooker to can stock roughly every three months.

The most important thing about canning is Follow the Instructions, no matter how often you do it and think you know what you're doing. The Ball publication and the USDA guide other posters mentioned have directions for most common items. The other most important thing (yup, there are two of them) is to make sure everything is scrupulously clean before you start. I run my jars and stuff through the dishwasher on "sterilize" so they're done just when I need them (I used to boil them in a separate pot), and make sure they all seal properly before they're put away.

Go for it! I did some jam last week (hot water bath, which is easier than the boiling parafin method) and I'm looking forward to using it this winter.

[kestrel91316]

19. If canning scares you, stick with high-acid foods that only need boiling water bath canning.

Pressure canning, while perfectly safe if you follow directions closely, is not for people who fear it or can't or won't follow instructions to the letter.

I have been pressure canning for 20 years. Have even canned meats, corn, soups, all the "dangerous" stuff. But with my degree in microbiology I understand that botulism is easily prevented if you use proper technique. There is also a large margin of safety built into the processing when you do it right.

[Lifelong Protester]

20. Checking in here with my two cents...

I used to can, and intend to get back in it.

Start out with the tomatoes, and don't just do plain tomatoes, you can find canning recipes for soup, stewed tomatoes, pickled tomatoes, sauces of all kinds, even tomato jam. The hot water bath is pretty easy, just make sure you put your finished, just-out- of-the-water jars down on a towel (not a cold or even cool counter top). You can even put a bit of vinegar or acidic acid (I can't recall the brand name, but you can buy it at the store) into each jar if you are worried that the tomoatoes are not acidy enough. Sometimes if you add peppers or onions it messes with the ph, but we never had problems. And my mom was a fanatic about following the directions!!

Make sure all your stuff is clean, I used a little bleach in my hot water (we never had a dishwasher for sterilizing).

Listen for those 'pings' of the lids sealing!

A farmer friend of mine (who is my CSA person) says to not be scared of canning and the directions which seem so intimidating. She says to remember that the early days of canning at home, the directions were written for folks with limited means and sometimes abilities, so the folks at Ball and Mason and all the other canning companies, put a lot of extra stuff in the directions, hoping folks would follow MOST of the rules!

My family canned any and everything that came out of the garden. It is a great feeling to see those jars lined up in the winter.

Do NOT use any old mayo jars~they are really not manufactured for re-use, and I had more than one break on me. Good luck! Great pics of your garden.

Oh, and I bought a food dehydrater this year to give that a whirl. I've got some tomatoes and onions done, and hope to do corn and peppers.

[lizziegrace]

21. I did it!!!

8 1/2 pints of peach marmalade. So far, every lid is concave. Tomorrow I have to can the rest of the 1/2 bushel of peaches I bought. Thanks so much to everyone for your advice and encouragement!

[Lifelong Protester]

22. Good for you! All jams and jellies, for the most part, have so much

sugar that they can't spoil!

I'm laughing at my last night's post~I meant to say CITRIC acid, not the redundant "acidic acid". Better go off to bed now!

[lizziegrace]

23. Meh... Don't worry about it.

I knew what you meant. ;-)


'night!

[Warpy]

26. It is usually ascorbic acid

and one brand name is Fruit Fresh, IIRC. Ascorbic acid is Vitamin C and it prevents fruits from darkening. A lot of people use it for drying, also, but I've found it unnecessary. Surface oxidation doesn't affect the taste of preserved fruit, so I've always saved my money.

[Lifelong Protester]

31. Great tip and I think in the recesses of my brain I remember

Fresh Fruit IIRc.

Just purchased a food dehydrator, and have done some nice thin tomato slices, some torpedo onions, some peppers, and celery leaves. I have not used any prep on them, other than to peel the tomatoes.

Any tips to pass along on dehydrating?

[hippywife]

24. Yaaaaaa!

Great job, girl! :thumbsup:


I had two jars of tomatoes I canned last week unseal on me yesterday. Thinking back and seeing the lemons on the counter, I realized that I had forgotten to add lemon juice. The tomatoes were just not acidic enough on their own.

What's next? What ya gonna do next? :D

:hug:

[Warpy]

27. I've never added lemon juice. Tomatoes are acidic enough on their own

and even the so called low acid tomatoes are just as acidic as their standard brethren. They're just higher in sugar and that neutralizes the sharp taste of acid.

Tomatoes unseal for three reasons: a flaw in the lid, a microscopic bit of tomato guts on the rim, or inadequate processing time that didn't heat the contents enough to drive most of the air out of the jar.

[Lifelong Protester]

32. yeah, if you look at the seal, you'll usually find a seed stuck to it

if the jars unseal, that is.

[lizziegrace]

29. Can the rest of the peaches

and some sweet relish.

The tomatoes are late this year (good thing!)

I'll be freezing green beans, corn and blueberries.

[japple]

25. Wow, that's beautiful marmalade! It brings such a feeling of

satisfaction to see those jars in the cupboard, doesn't it? I always leave mine on the counter for a couple of days just so I (and family) can admire them.

[hippywife]

28. LOL!

I do the same thing with leaving them on the counter. It is such a satisfying sight.

Whatcha readin', gal? :hi:

[lizziegrace]

30. Thank you!

It was a lot of work but worth it. It's a shame my daughter doesn't like marmalade. ;-)