Canning Pics, Feel free to post yours!

[Mystic]

Thanks for the tip - you are very intelligent~!

[NickiB]

I live near Aylmer, Ontario and you can purchase Clear Gel from the mennonite stores here. Also, they sell it at Coyle's in Tillsonburg for a good price.

Love me some pie filling!

Thanks so much for posting, I live in St Thomas and didn't even think of Coyles. What stores in Aylmer carry it? Would be much closer for me than a trip to Tilsonburg.

[NickiB]

I know how you feel! 2 Years ago when making salsa with my BFF I was in charge of chopping the jalepeno's and habanero peppers. 3 Peppers in without gloves and my hands started to sting. Put gloves on at the point and tried to trooper through. Within an hour it was so painful I tried milk, salt scrubs, you name it. Ended up having to hold an ice pack in my palm for 4hrs. Yes, 4hrs! And even after that it was still tender, but thankfully not unbearable like before!

Needless to say, I ALWAY wear gloves now!

A Warning about jalapeno peppers. The other day I attempted to can Hot Red Pepper Jelly. First off I had the wrong pectin, so I delayed making the jelly and made a trip to go get some liquid pectin.

I got everything out and set my big canner pot my new smooth top stove to boil, my small pot for lids on the stove to boil and proceeded to chop up the peppers. So far so good. I popped all the peppers in my food processer and pulsed a bit. Added the vinegar and it is then that I noticed my left hand was burning. I hit the on button on my food processor and turned around to wash my hands to try to get rid of the burning feeling on my left hand. When I turned back to my food processor, it had over flowed and I had vinegar and pepper juice all over the counter and machine. Ok clean up time!

My hand is still stinging, but onward I go. The canning water on the stove is just about boiling, and I pop the pepper mixture on the stove. It has to hard boil for a minute. As I wait for it to boil, my left hand is really stinging now, so I turn to my laptop on the counter and Google jalapeno burning hands. I didn’t look away from the stove for more than a minute when I heard that all too familiar sound of food over boiling on the stove. Oh my god, the jelly is boiling over and spilling all over the stove, including under the other pots. I quickly move the over-boiling jelly, turn off the stove and I see a huge burnt on mess of sugar and jelly everywhere on the stove and it is burning to a solid mass. My left hand is stinging like I have never felt before in my life. Before I do anything else I have to deal with my left hand. Back to Google, ok I wash my hand with Dove soap, nope that doesn’t help, I soak my hand with vinegar and water, nope that didn’t help, I wash my hand with bathroom cleaner, nope that didn’t help, I wash my hand with vim, nope that didn’t help, I soak my hand in milk, nope that didn’t help, I wash my hand with my husband’s automotive degreaser, nope that didn’t help, NOTHING is helping my hand.

Ok clean up time! I take everything off the stove and proceed to wash all the pots that have jelly burnt on the bottom of them, then I start trying to get the mess off of my new smooth top stove. What a mess! I wipe, I scrub, I use the smooth top cleaner on it and that isn’t helping remove the mess, I try vim, I try Lysol, I try my handy automotive degreaser, and nothing is helping to remove the burnt on mess on the stove. After hours of scrubbing the stove I got all but ¼ of the stove clean enough to proceed with the canning of the jelly. My left hand is still stinging but I have to get this jelly done.

Back to the chore at hand. Got the canner boiling with water again along with the lids in another pot. Back I go to the jelly, add the pectin, boil it (I am not taking my eyes off of it this time) and low and behold I have success. I can now fill my jars and process them in the hot water bath. Yeah I am done! I only got 5 small jelly jars out of the recipe but that is probably because the other jar is burnt solid on my new smooth top stove.

I spent the rest of the day and evening working on cleaning up the mess on my stove and I only got the mess off my wiping it and scrapping it with a straight blade knife and washing it and soaking and repeat. I started this process early in the morning and only got the stove clean just before bedtime.

I am a pretty good cook and really comfortable in the kitchen, but I had no idea that jalapeno peppers can burn you. Every time from now on I will wear gloves when I chop jalapeno peppers, or even look at them. I sure learned a good lesson today not only about jalapeno peppers, but also about keeping a very, very close eye on what I am cooking.


Ohhhhhhhh I had one of those days L. Now after the fact I do see how funny this whole event was, but that jalapeno burn is a memory I will always live with.

[ladydarcie]

BTW the big easy chef is going to post my pickle pic on his web page... he is making a page where people can post the recipes of his they try and mine will be the first one! He liked the way i arranged the pickles in the jar. (you fit way more pickles in the jar the way i packed them)

Do you have a link to this, we would all like to admire your work on his page?

Also cheekysaver, I would like to thank you for all your advise you provide to us. You are so talented and so good at explaining your techniques to us.

[2010ontest]

great time of the year cheekysaver....busy busy busy at u-pick and canning as usual.

[sweetproserpina]

I haven't made the peach peelings jelly before, but I found the recipe on Pinterest (what don't I find on Pinterest these days, lol!) here's the link- peach peelings jelly.

Dh is back from his business trip, and DD starts school part-time so this week I can carve out some time for the u-pick and... tomatoes!!! Can't wait for the house to smell all chile sauce-y

Keep up the awesome work everyone- we will be happy as clams in january, when the snow falls, it's negative who-knows-what and we crack into our jars of peaches/salsa/pickles etc. Yum!

[cheekysaver]

Up i agree.. it will be cold... prices will be sky high... we won't have to leave our houses or worry about food recalls! We know exactly what went into our jars!

[cheekysaver]

Do you have a link to this, we would all like to admire your work on his page?

Also cheekysaver, I would like to thank you for all your advise you provide to us. You are so talented and so good at explaining your techniques to us.

He is making the page up in the next while. He is in the middle of making some BBQ vids atm.

[cheekysaver]

great time of the year cheekysaver....busy busy busy at u-pick and canning as usual.

It is nice to see you! LOL I knew you were busy canning. For those that don't know 2010ontest is really the canning authority... i just don't can as much as her so i have more time to post. Right now i am trying to can something about once a week.... not today tho... today i am going to grab a jar of turkey soup and add some noodles instead. (my lovely daughter was kind enough to share her cold!)

[ladydarcie]

I haven't made the peach peelings jelly before, but I found the recipe on Pinterest (what don't I find on Pinterest these days, lol!) here's the link- peach peelings jelly.

Thanks for the link to the recipe. I made more Hot Red Pepper Jelly today, some strained and some with the pulp in it, then I made peach pie filling and some peaches in a light syrup. I saved all the peach pits and peels and also the left over syrup in hopes I can use it for the jelly. I stuck it in the freezer, cause who knows when I will get a chance to can again, as it is back to work for me and my daughter is getting married next month and we are starting all the pre-wedding activities this coming weekend.

[Crochetlady]

Tomorrow morning I`ll be canning a double recipe of zucchini relish. I way under estimated the number of zucchini I have so I`ll be doing this for the next few days.

Note to self: wear gloves when chopping the hot peppers.

[cheekysaver]

Tomorrow morning I`ll be canning a double recipe of zucchini relish. I way under estimated the number of zucchini I have so I`ll be doing this for the next few days.

Note to self: wear gloves when chopping the hot peppers.

Cheating and using the food processor on hot peppers is ok too!

[Crochetlady]

I have a question about canning relish. I use the recipe from the Bernardin book. It of course says to use the water bath and I always have. I`m sitting here listening to the lids pop before the water is ready. Is the water bath really necessary?

[cheekysaver]

I have a question about canning relish. I use the recipe from the Bernardin book. It of course says to use the water bath and I always have. I`m sitting here listening to the lids pop before the water is ready. Is the water bath really necessary?

yup if they say to do it then it is... just put them in anyways they will still seal. (mom had this happen and i told her to process them anyways and it worked they all sealed)

Oh yeah... now mom doesn't put the lids on hers until the water is about ready... usually you put them in so the jars and the water are about the same temp then bring the water up to a full boil.

[Crochetlady]

yup if they say to do it then it is... just put them in anyways they will still seal. (mom had this happen and i told her to process them anyways and it worked they all sealed)

Oh yeah... now mom doesn't put the lids on hers until the water is about ready... usually you put them in so the jars and the water are about the same temp then bring the water up to a full boil.

Thank you...had 1 out of 14 that didn`t seal. I`ll put that in the fridge to be used first.