Canning...C/D?

I used to love it when we had a hot dry summer because that meant my then-partners italian mum would make sundried tomatoes. Home made ones are SO GOOD.

I'd love to can; my grandmother (now dead) canned everything from the back garden in glass Mason jars. I have no clue how to do it; I'd love to be able to make fruit preserves (jam and jelly are too sweet, I'm after a "just fruit" sort of thing, mildly sweetend)

Baking I love, especially my ginger chocolate-chip scones. I haven't baked in a while, too hot.

My baking goal for this fall is pastry - I'm gonna buy a shitload of Crisco (a good idea anyway) and make pastry until I get it right.

i've found with scones, that one must be gentle to the dough.

Always stop one step before you think you need to--in this way the perfect fusion of kyo and chi (in the form of shape and taste) are achieved. That is the secret of the scones anyway. Real pastry frightens me.

I also made some fig preserves this year from a friend's fig tree. I ate some of the results when I made it but haven't cracked open a jar yet.

V.I.L.E.

- Disgusted of Doncaster.

We used to make vast amounts of marmalade every year - the trick was to not cut yourself too many times as the oranges and lemons used to sting somewhat, plus blood isn't on the approved ingredients list.

I have 5 basil plants currently on the go and I've been wondering whether I should pesto-ise them before they get too yellow and droppy.

And it's really not hard, Nicole. Peeling stuff is what I don't like, so i skip that step. It's then just a matter of putting all the ingredients in a pot and simmering it for an hour or so, then ladling it into the jars.

I'm going to start canning! ("jarring," to answer Trayce) Interested in preserving homemade spicy giardinera (carrots, celery, cauliflower, olives, jalapenos, roasted peppers), pickled veggies (asparagus, okra, cukes), tomato sauce, and who knows what else. Oh, and soups.

It's surprising that this thread and the other, smaller thread were all the talk of canning on ILX. I figured ILXors as being into this kind of thing. Are there canners lurking out there?

The last few things I've canned turned out too salty (bread and butter pickles, green tomato relish) or kind of mushy and bland (pickled cherry tomatoes). But I'm a champ at peach butter...need to make another batch of that this summer.

How long do you keep canned foods? Or how long would you say is advisable?

The mental hurdle for me is believing that a mere individual can achieve sterilization. But as I understand, spoilage is clearly visible. Right??

There was a recent Judge John Hodgman podcast about canning w/Alton Brown as guest. Alton made a point about the difference between sterilization and sanitization (the technical definitions), and the latter is all the home cook needs to do. Which just involves boiling the shit out of everything and handling it safely. Don't listen to me, though, listen to the podcast or get a canning book or a friend who cans.

I kind of want to get into canning – pickled okra, yum.

Plus this is a nice and industrial-looking bit of equipment:

http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_430xN.69671853.jpg

pickled okra, yum.

OTM OTM

I am a serious canner. Last year I canned:

tomato sauce
salsa
peaches
strawberry jam
lemon curd
pickles
pepper jelly

and this summer, so far, I have canned

carrots
cherries
apples
strawberry jam
blueberries
yogurt (not actually canned, but temp. preserved in nice glass jars and frozen for ~ 2 months)
peppers and onions
ginger ale
root beer

I picked up a $20 version of http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Waterbath-Including-Chrome-Plated-4-Piece/dp/B00212IHBY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342662305&sr=8-1&keywords=canning+kit+ball at Target, and I've used it for everything. Jars go on sale all the time; they're reusable (except for lids, which I buy in bulk at discount stores).

My favorite fruit to eat canned is Bing cherries. Plus in canned form they look weirdly like human bellybuttons.

A couple of years ago we finally opened the last jar of peach butter from my first batch, from 1988. I had some plum jam from the same time that was fine for at least 15 years. The last jar smelled musty and we tossed it, but it was probably safe to eat.

Whoa.

xp - remy, I thought I would need a pressure cooker for...sanitizing/sterilizing jars? That's what my boss, who cans, told me when we chatted about it. (Note, I am actually going to buy a book, not just ask a ton of questions here.)

Abbott, did you try to post a pic?

A pressure cooker will speed up water-boiling, and will reduce the amount of time that canned goods must be heat treated to kill bad bacteria. Ostensibly, this will help them preserve some structural integrity and nutritive properties, but I've had no complaints w/o. I'm afraid of pressure cookers –– one exploded on my cousin's arm, and gave him third degree burns.

Necessary 'soft' supplies: citric acid, those little squeezy lemons from the produce aisle, pectin, and yeast for fermentation.

Abbott, did you try to post a pic?

????

When you posted this

Plus this is a nice and industrial-looking bit of equipment:

― Team Safeword (Abbbottt), Wednesday, July 18, 2012 8:44 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

remy, I was talking about using a pressure cooker for sterilizing jars b/c they allow water to get hotter than boiling temperature in order to kill botulism.

Pressure cookers aren't big enough for quarts, are they?

It's a sweet pair of canning tongs from where I sit.

Strange b/c I see nothing at all. Wm? remy?

Wm, idk, I'm asking questions, but I remember my mom used a pressure cooker and removed the jars w/ big ol' tongs, and my boss said she used one too, so I thought maybe they were vital to the process. Apparently not!

I am really feeling like I should pick up canning because it's been in my family for generations. It's make my grandma proud, and there are almost no tasks I can say that about.

the tongs pic is there

I can with a giant pot called a canner. It's that black speckled with gray enamelware and has a rack that holds a dozen quarts at once. I heat it up on my induction burner - boils fast and works great.

Check with your county extension for lots of canning resources.

Hey! I can finally see the tongs!

There definitely seems to be some learning curve, so I won't try to wing it too much b/c I don't want botulism or gross food. I've always wondered what a "county extension" office is.

They're super helpful with all kinds of different things!

Does Cook County have an extension office? That seems like more of a rural thing. Jesse, call 311 and ask about canning.

Call Rahm Emanuel.

Call Rod Blagojevich.

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cook/

Home canners down here, which means everybody above a certain age, take a minimum to moderate amt of care about jar sterilization, but don't sweat the botulism risk unduly. My mother sterilized many many batches of jars with a trip through the dishwasher and not boiling them in the processor.

I saw the UIC thing but thought it was a school thing, not a county thing. I don't know. Why am I even posting in here? Canning is scary and dangerous.

*jots down: don't...sweat...botulism...risk* Got it, thanks!

That's too close to real life to be funny.

OK, so I just called my mom to ask her about her methods, and not only does she just sterilize jars via the dishwasher, she doesn't even process canned tomatoes after jarring them up. She cooks them for about 75 minutes, the same amount of time that the dishwasher runs. As soon as the dishwasher finishes, the jars come out while they're too hot to handle without help and are filled with just-under-boiling contents immediately, lidded with new (never used) boiled lids immediately. Nobody dead yet!

Never used lids is something a canner should always use! It's okay to reuse the lids once a jar is opened, but never to can with.

yes. i will only reuse the rings if they are rust free, too.

Here we go National Center for Home Food Preservation

That is an excellent link chock full of resources - thanks

Looks like we will have lots of apples this year. I started sorting through my canning jars/supplies already. Thinking about getting some more of these Leifheit jars because they are such a cool shape.

Oh, those are cool.

I'm excited! I'm going to one day get to an Ace Hardware during their business hours (rather, when they're open, which is different from the business hours!) and get my granny on!

Oh - you know what store I want to go to? Farm and Fleet. I need canning stuff and I want to buy 50 pounds of safflower seeds for my special cat litter box (which is made specifically for use w/ safflower seeds in place of clay, but the seeds are expensive from the box company). Alas, no Farm and Fleet in the big city.

Look for Tractor Supply or Ranch and Home, but yeah, either one would be outlying.

Do you have the draining Smart Catbox? because I got tired of buying those damned saffflower seeds and switched over to giant sunflower seeds from Amazon which had free prime delivery and worked just fine. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007R4IK4/ref=wms_ohs_product)

Yes, I do. Thanks, Jaq. I'll check that out. They drain as well as the safflower seeds?

I guess you already answered that question.

I have a bag of sunflower seeds at home that I got to feed the birds at my new apt. but the birds never came. Not even pigeons. At least the cats will get some use out of them.

They do - they are bigger but drain well. Sometimes there are stems/sticks in the bag - easy enough to pick out though. Don't let them go down the drain - I used to wash the box out in our giant shower, but ended up with sunflowers sprouting up through the drain cover once. I was surprised they could grow after being so abused by our cats.

So what are you going to be canning this year? I didn't plant anything, but will do apple butter if the tree produces like it looks like it's going to and if I get a deal on tomatoes I'll do tomato paste probably. Possibly will make some kind of pickled something too. If I get ambitious.

If anybody else is interested, I'd set up a canning swap sometime around October...

Oh, I just looked up top - pickled veggies and spicy giardinara mmmm.

I am interested in getting in on this ILX canning action, but not until it cools the fuck off in this swamp.

Funny, I called my mom yesterday (before I had read any canning references on ILX) and canning came up! She got into canning when we lived in lolUtah, where it was de rigour and my childhood BFF's had an orchard a block from our house. My favorite was her plum preserves, which for some reason she does not remember making at all! But she did! How could I make up homemade plum preserves?

Anyhow, there was also canning of tomatoes (low risk due to acidity iirc), peaches, rasberry jam. Mom insisted that she had canned sour cherries, but that is bullshit because the sour cherry tree was in our yard in Indiana, and that was pre-Mormon-influenced canning time. Those cherries got frozen and later appeared in a family delicacy known as Cherry Loaf, which I would request for my last meal.

Those sound so good! I want to plant an italian plum tree now specifically to make plum preserves, even though this is a rental. If we move I will have to dig up my tree and take it with. Would also eat this Cherry Loaf, it sounds delish.

4 u quincie - quince jelly I canned 4 years ago:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3018/2959447039_6223fc53df.jpg

So gorgeous and I can't even imagine how good it tastes! I have never had quince, I think?

I used to wash the box out in our giant shower, but ended up with sunflowers sprouting up through the drain cover once.

Whoa. That's funny, but it provokes a visceral disgust in me.

Sounds lovely to me, personally.

This makes me want to go to someone's house in the country and have a canning weekend in the fall and bring my loot back with me.

yo i just ordered a pressure canner

I have flirted with the idea of canning, but I don't even undertake baking projects.

i am gonna start a phøtø blåg on the cheese board when it comes. won't be able to can for real until saturday probably.

I support all these cannings

i can't decide what apparatus to get to press/strain tomatoes into crushed tomatoes

I used to make homemade passata by boiling and pealing the tomatoes, de-seeding them and putting them through a strainer. I just give up - it took me way too long and if you can't find some decent quality tomatoes to start with - just futile!

well i don't want to peel and seed--the thing should strain those things out. my mom used to use a foley food mill but i'm looking at a strainer that cranks by hand or with motor. i also have a kitchen aid mixer and could get an attachment but not sure. i'm either going to pick my own or buy a couple boxes.

i'm afraid i'm about to spend a lot of money because i love acquiring kitchen things and i am bad

I have this thing: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000BYDR1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Amazing for tomatoes, berries, apples. Helped me turn 30 lbs of apples into apple butter a few years ago.

This makes me want to go to someone's house in the country and have a canning weekend in the fall and bring my loot back with me.

― check the name, no caps, boom, i'm (Laurel), Wednesday, July 25, 2012 5:19 PM (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hey now my partner has a house in "the country" so I guess this came true!!! Gonna dig in so much this fall, can't wait for long pants and open windows and stewing things.

The unfortunate thing about canning imo is that it always has to be done when the fruit is ripe ie July & August which is the last time you want to be boiling things for hours in your kitchen.

Not bad, but can't hold a candle to The Earl of Liverpool.