Canning Pics, Feel free to post yours!

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Originally Posted by scouponer

Could you have price matched? Although I don't see any advertised this week. Wow $15.99 that is crazy!

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hi @scouponer , NF does PM, yes, but I was not there to buy any, I was just passing through NF for one thing and saw the tomatoes and their insane price. Well I went back today as I was right near after dropping DD to class, and JUST had to speak to the produce manager myself to get to the real reason why so high of a price.
Now I am not sure if I believe him BUT he said these are a very special kind of Roma tomato, and actually they sell for up to $20.00 a case!!

It might be this one if I remember the type of roma he said it was, but not sure.
San Marzano

“San Marzano” tomatoes, originating from Italy, are a determinate paste variety that produces deep red fruit about 3.5 inches long. When eaten uncooked, “San Marzano” tomatoes may seem tasteless, but after cooking, both Sunset magazine and gardening expert Lee Reich agree they make the best sauce.


OR this one, they sound alike??

San Marzano Redorta

“San Marzano Redorta” tomatoes are an heirloom variety named for an Italian mountain. Not to be confused with the “San Marzano,” this cultivar produces fruit double the size of the classic paste tomato and can be eaten fresh, made into sauce or dried.

Either way, these are too rich for my blood, lol!! I'll just stick to the sale prices for regular romas, they make wonderful sauce I think.

Ah yep, the San Marzano are going to be more, for sure. Many canners like using San Marzano or Amish Paste, when they can get them at the right price. I just used the Roma as they were what was on offer at Loblaws and Freshco.

Thought I'd add my thoughts on the tomato/pricing discussion. Remember that this SC site is
generally about deals. That's not the frame of mind that many tomato canners, and
especially old-school Italian tomato canners, have. To them, price is secondary to quality
of produce. Also of extreme importance is seasonal timing...it is preferable to get early
to mid-August tomatoes, as they are believed to be 'meatier', with less water content than
September ripened tomatoes. A few weeks ago, I took my mom to get two bushels at
Fortino's for $17.99 each. They had a huge tent set up in the parking lot only for
tomato bushels, the prized small sized San Marzanos. Believe it or not, they were almost
sold out. Perfectly ripened, and with no waste, these bushels produced the optimal ratio:
23 jars of tomato sauce per bushel.

I am excited that I bought a WMF pressure cooker at Costco in August that is safe for flat top stoves. It was about $180 and these retail for significantly more.

Let my canning begin!

Pressure cookers are different from pressure canners. I didn't know WMF made presssure canners; what WMF model is it? I searched costco.ca and a WMF model didn't come up, must be in-store only.

Is that your first pressure cooker by the way? I found that once I made the switch to pressure cooking, I wondered what the heck took me so long!

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Originally Posted by kidsteph

I am excited that I bought a WMF pressure cooker at Costco in August that is safe for flat top stoves. It was about $180 and these retail for significantly more.

Let my canning begin!

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Sorry I agree with randal's post above. Pressure cooker can't be used for pressure canning. 2 different things. Please be careful!

I started reading this thread last summer and getting some ideas. This year I actually followed through and made some Salsa, Pickles and peaches. Thanks for the inspiration and all of the information!! :)

Attachment 292929

looks great! Take your canning rings off, though!

Just finishing up a batch of carrot fennel soup with cheap carrots, fennel and veggie broth.will do another batch tomorrow and move on to potatoes and beets. Sitting here watching the guage like a hawk...up and down up and down...need to get a jiggler!

That's the Bernardin recipe, right, and you're using a Presto pressure canner? Yep the 3 piece jiggler is totally the way to go, even though the price on amazon.ca is ridiculous compared to the price on Amazon.com. I did my beets this past weekend, 55 kg of 'em, plain, pickled and relish. Waiting to see if red potatoes go on sale; I can them and use for quick potato salads.

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Originally Posted by Randal Oulton

That's the Bernardin recipe, right, and you're using a Presto pressure canner? Yep the 3 piece jiggler is totally the way to go, even though the price on amazon.ca is ridiculous compared to the price on Amazon.com. I did my beets this past weekend, 55 kg of 'em, plain, pickled and relish. Waiting to see if red potatoes go on sale; I can them and use for quick potato salads.

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Yep amazon.ca price is ridiculous compared to US price! Actually it is a ball recipe and yes presto canner...wanted all american but couldn't justify the price.

also bought a dehydrator but going slowly. Can't get the onions to dry have been going since Sunday afternoon.. If they aren't done in morning I may just ditch them and try something else.

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Originally Posted by scouponer

Yep amazon.ca price is ridiculous compared to US price! Actually it is a ball recipe and yes presto canner...wanted all american but couldn't justify the price.

also bought a dehydrator but going slowly. Can't get the onions to dry have been going since Sunday afternoon.. If they aren't done in morning I may just ditch them and try something else.

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Have a quick look at Mrs Volfie's video, apparently blanching the peeled and chopped onions makes all the difference in drying times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lVzy76x_gE

She said without blanching them the first time she did it they took 3 days to dry!

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Originally Posted by Randal Oulton

Pressure cookers are different from pressure canners. I didn't know WMF made presssure canners; what WMF model is it? I searched costco.ca and a WMF model didn't come up, must be in-store only.

Is that your first pressure cooker by the way? I found that once I made the switch to pressure cooking, I wondered what the heck took me so long!

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Thanks for setting me straight! I did not know the difference between the 2 units. Yes Costco had WMF booth selling the units.

WMF pressure cookers look fantastic. Very jealous. I'd get one except I have two T-Fal Nutricook pressure cookers and can't justify it, darn. If I may recommend a pressure cooking site: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/ . The woman who runs it, Laura, is fantastic, really knows her stuff, is totally down to earth, always coming up with new things -- because of her, I now cook my boiled eggs and pasta in a pressure cooker. Yep. And her stuff is really healthy, she's totally light on the oil, sugar and salt. She rates WMF pressure cookers highly. I'm saving a fortune on electricity thanks to the pressure cookers -- good thing, because I have an electric stove, and in Ontario we ain't even seen the start of electricity price rises yet... I keep wondering if the rising cost of cooking fuel will make Canadians get over their aversion to pressure cookers.. it was my English rellies that convinced me to just get over it and give them a try....

Hey kidsteph, I subscribe to the University of Michigan canning newsletter, and here's an article about pressure canners versus cookers (and why electric pressure cookers aren't safe for canning whatever the manufacturer says) that just arrived in my inbox:

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/pressur...the_difference

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Originally Posted by walkonby

Have a quick look at Mrs Volfie's video, apparently blanching the peeled and chopped onions makes all the difference in drying times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lVzy76x_gE

She said without blanching them the first time she did it they took 3 days to dry!

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Yup took 3days with out blanching! Will try again with blanching! Frozen veggies has worked well!

Just finished canning 10 lbs of beets and dehydrated 6 pkgs of mushrooms and.12 peppers,

Did you pickle the beets or do them as plain? I did 120 lbs of beets this year; most pressure-canned as plain but 2 dozen jars of pickled as well. You should have seen the kitchen; we're still wiping beet juice off things here and there. What a mess despite all precautions etc. You can understand why people had summer kitchens to do their canning in.

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Originally Posted by Randal Oulton

Did you pickle the beets or do them as plain? I did 120 lbs of beets this year; most pressure-canned as plain but 2 dozen jars of pickled as well. You should have seen the kitchen; we're still wiping beet juice off things here and there. What a mess despite all precautions etc. You can understand why people had summer kitchens to do their canning in.

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just plain this year. Dh doesn't like pickled things and I have a bunch of jars of pickled beets, pickled mixed vegetables and spicy dilly beans. We don't eat tons of beets so I didn't want to do too many. Wow 120 lbs of beets...that is a lot of beets! I can imagine your kitchen was a sea of red. When I started canning this year dh said..this is why Italians have a 2nd kitchen in the basement. My kitchen is presently a disaster with boxes of jars and lids boxes of canned goods, bags and jars of dehydrated veggies, bags of onions and potatoes, plus the canner, dehydrator, tomato strainer strewn about. I wish I had a nice kitchen in the basement for these projects then I could keep the upstairs of the house tidy!...how long did it take you to process 120 lbs of beets? I am exhausted just thinking about,it!

For the plain beets, about 100 lbs of that, we processed them all in one day. We have 3 Presto Pressure canners, so as soon as one was done, it came off the burner to cool naturally and another loaded one took its place, but it was a long day for sure, dawn to dusk, then collapse into bed. But we can have beets now once a week for the next 12 months, for 16 cents a pint, and to boot they are ready to eat, just heat and serve. Canning is a lot of up front work for sure, but then you have instant meals the rest of the year so you get your time back and more because when you are running a canner loaded with 18 jars of chili, you are making 18 meals at once. Sweet.

Tomorrow gonna do the Ball carrot and fennel soup, triple the batch, while carrots are still cheap. Great for lunches. I worked out the nutrition on that and that stuff is only 48 calories (1 ww point) per cup, amazing.


Our dining room is the same kind of disaster as your kitchen. The table is 10 feet long and you can't see the surface, every inch is covered in something canning related.

What's happening with the onions and potatoes in your kitchen? I wanted to can a bunch of red potatoes for salad potatoes, but Valumart was sold out and I doubt they'll ever have them in so I can use my rain check. Still need to do a year's worth of pickled onions yet, the proper English ones are pushing 10 bucks a jar now in the British stores, so it's worth doing if you can get the malt vinegar cheaply enough.

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Originally Posted by scouponer

Just finished canning 10 lbs of beets and dehydrated 6 pkgs of mushrooms and.12 peppers,

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Originally Posted by scouponer

just plain this year. Dh doesn't like pickled things and I have a bunch of jars of pickled beets, pickled mixed vegetables and spicy dilly beans. We don't eat tons of beets so I didn't want to do too many. Wow 120 lbs of beets...that is a lot of beets! I can imagine your kitchen was a sea of red. When I started canning this year dh said..this is why Italians have a 2nd kitchen in the basement. My kitchen is presently a disaster with boxes of jars and lids boxes of canned goods, bags and jars of dehydrated veggies, bags of onions and potatoes, plus the canner, dehydrator, tomato strainer strewn about. I wish I had a nice kitchen in the basement for these projects then I could keep the upstairs of the house tidy!...how long did it take you to process 120 lbs of beets? I am exhausted just thinking about,it!

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http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...bum/4_19_3.gif

Congrats on getting that much done!

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Originally Posted by Randal Oulton

For the plain beets, about 100 lbs of that, we processed them all in one day. We have 3 Presto Pressure canners, so as soon as one was done, it came off the burner to cool naturally and another loaded one took its place, but it was a long day for sure, dawn to dusk, then collapse into bed. But we can have beets now once a week for the next 12 months, for 16 cents a pint, and to boot they are ready to eat, just heat and serve. Canning is a lot of up front work for sure, but then you have instant meals the rest of the year so you get your time back and more because when you are running a canner loaded with 18 jars of chili, you are making 18 meals at once. Sweet.

Tomorrow gonna do the Ball carrot and fennel soup, triple the batch, while carrots are still cheap. Great for lunches. I worked out the nutrition on that and that stuff is only 48 calories (1 ww point) per cup, amazing.


Our dining room is the same kind of disaster as your kitchen. The table is 10 feet long and you can't see the surface, every inch is covered in something canning related.

What's happening with the onions and potatoes in your kitchen? I wanted to can a bunch of red potatoes for salad potatoes, but Valumart was sold out and I doubt they'll ever have them in so I can use my rain check. Still need to do a year's worth of pickled onions yet, the proper English ones are pushing 10 bucks a jar now in the British stores, so it's worth doing if you can get the malt vinegar cheaply enough.

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I shared all you did with some friends and we all agree Job well done!!

http://smileys.emoticonsonly.com/emo...n_wave-967.gif

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Originally Posted by Randal Oulton

For the plain beets, about 100 lbs of that, we processed them all in one day. We have 3 Presto Pressure canners, so as soon as one was done, it came off the burner to cool naturally and another loaded one took its place, but it was a long day for sure, dawn to dusk, then collapse into bed. But we can have beets now once a week for the next 12 months, for 16 cents a pint, and to boot they are ready to eat, just heat and serve. Canning is a lot of up front work for sure, but then you have instant meals the rest of the year so you get your time back and more because when you are running a canner loaded with 18 jars of chili, you are making 18 meals at once. Sweet.

Tomorrow gonna do the Ball carrot and fennel soup, triple the batch, while carrots are still cheap. Great for lunches. I worked out the nutrition on that and that stuff is only 48 calories (1 ww point) per cup, amazing.


Our dining room is the same kind of disaster as your kitchen. The table is 10 feet long and you can't see the surface, every inch is covered in something canning related.

What's happening with the onions and potatoes in your kitchen? I wanted to can a bunch of red potatoes for salad potatoes, but Valumart was sold out and I doubt they'll ever have them in so I can use my rain check. Still need to do a year's worth of pickled onions yet, the proper English ones are pushing 10 bucks a jar now in the British stores, so it's worth doing if you can get the malt vinegar cheaply enough.

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I started dehydrating potatoes this morning, did about 1/2 the bag in slices. I have found that dehydrating is a lot less work than canning and when done they take up a 1/4 of the space so I like that. Will see how they turn out. Debating about buying more of the potatoes while no frills has them on sale for $1.97 for 10 lbs of Yukon gold. Lob laws was selling them for $5.99...can you believe that? The onions I will dehydrate probably most of them. Will save some for cooking. Might make some pickled onions with some red onions I have. Dh won't eat pickled things except the odd pickle which I haven't canned. I was going to can ground beef but now I think I will dehydrate it as I am a bit leary of dry canning and have seen videos where people can it with liquid but they say it smells a bit like dog food so I think I will dehydrate it which is also a lot less work. As for the carrot fennel soup, I used one fennel and 2 cups of celery but find it a bit bland so wished I used 2 fennels instead. Thought it might be too fennely with 2 but I think it would be okay. Also I didn't add pepper as I don't like and didn't have white pepper and I heard that black pepper can turn a bit bitter so as a pepper freak I add when I heat up. I made Dh go into the fruit cellar to see what was going on in there...I was afraid of dead mice and bugs but wasn't too bad. Debating about storing the canning in there..but not sure if it is a good idea. Any thought anyone? Otherwise I will have to get some more shelves built to store everything. Good luck finding your red potatoes.

For the carrot fennel soup, I've just written to Ball to ask them if they think the celery swap would be safe, I'll let you know if I hear anything. Yes I was surprised too that the fennel is not too much; I don't include the fronds though as they are more liquorice tasting. For the stock I use all vegetable stock (I freeze in tubs the water out of my jars of home canned veggies and use that.) For added flavouring, here's what I do from the "safe creative" list:

• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon dried ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

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Originally Posted by scouponer

I was going to can ground beef but now I think I will dehydrate it as I am a bit leary of dry canning and have seen videos where people can it with liquid but they say it smells a bit like dog food so I think I will dehydrate it which is also a lot less work. ..... Also I didn't add pepper as I don't like and didn't have white pepper and I heard that black pepper can turn a bit bitter so as a pepper freak I add when I heat up.

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I won't can ground beef dry because the top person in the home canning field in the world said to me, you don't wanna do that, highly unsafe, and as it's her job to analyse and understand all the lab reports, why would I go against that? I do can lots of ground beef, though, in water. I don't think it smells like dog food; smells great to me. I use it a lot for quick Wednesday night tacos, quick pasta dishes, as a layer in heated dips, etc, and I freeze all the water off it in tubs, it's great instant beef stock. I do extra-lean; I grab it on manager mark downs, and let it build up in freezer until I have enough for a canning run.

I use loads of black pepper in canning, and it never occurred to me that it acquires a bitter taste. Try some. Be cautious with white pepper, though. I love white pepper, got the taste from my English grand dad who loved it, but I used it in the Ball / Bernardin pea soup when I was out of black, and it really came out as a very pronounced white pepper flavour, which I loved, but others who aren't keen on white pepper to start with did not like that batch of pea soup at all, lol. More for me :}

Dehydrating sounds like a great way of storing potatoes, maybe in slices for potato scallop like you get in those packages? No Frills this coming week, 2.97 for 20 lbs. I see?

What is the fruit cellar like, just dirt? One important aspect of jar storage is washing your jars really clean before labelling them and putting them away, otherwise unsightly mould can grow on the outside of the jar. It won't hurt the food inside the jar, of course, but you will have your work cut out convincing anyone that sees that otherwise, lol.

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Originally Posted by Randal Oulton

I won't can ground beef dry because the top person in the home canning field in the world said to me, you don't wanna do that, highly unsafe, and as it's her job to analyse and understand all the lab reports, why would I go against that? I do can lots of ground beef, though, in water. I don't think it smells like dog food; smells great to me. I use it a lot for quick Wednesday night tacos, quick pasta dishes, as a layer in heated dips, etc, and I freeze all the water off it in tubs, it's great instant beef stock. I do extra-lean; I grab it on manager mark downs, and let it build up in freezer until I have enough for a canning run.

I use loads of black pepper in canning, and it never occurred to me that it acquires a bitter taste. Try some. Be cautious with white pepper, though. I love white pepper, got the taste from my English grand dad who loved it, but I used it in the Ball / Bernardin pea soup when I was out of black, and it really came out as a very pronounced white pepper flavour, which I loved, but others who aren't keen on white pepper to start with did not like that batch of pea soup at all, lol. More for me :}

Dehydrating sounds like a great way of storing potatoes, maybe in slices for potato scallop like you get in those packages? No Frills this coming week, 2.97 for 20 lbs. I see?

What is the fruit cellar like, just dirt? One important aspect of jar storage is washing your jars really clean before labelling them and putting them away, otherwise unsightly mould can grow on the outside of the jar. It won't hurt the food inside the jar, of course, but you will have your work cut out convincing anyone that sees that otherwise, lol.

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potato slices dehydrated nicely about 5 lbs filled a quart jar. Just have to buy some oxygen absorbers for all the dehydrated stuff, plus for storing dry goods as well. I think celery would be okay for the carrot fennel soup, I'm not worried about it. In think it was processed long enough to be safe. My fruit cellar has a concrete floor. Small room under our porch. Has shelves and outside venting. I don't think it gets too cold. May have to investigate temps during winter before putting all my hard work inside.
I am looking for a recipe for vegetarian chili, basically tomatoe sauce, beans and veggies to can. I can't imagine it would be a problem but can't find an approved recipe. Dh is vegetarian and loves chili so I would like to do a bunch if I can find a recipe.

for the chili, you *might* be able to treat it as mixed veg in tomato sauce, and process for the longest ingredient. As long as there is a canning recommendation for each ingredient (so no zucchini, no celery, no eggplant, etc.) and then process for the longest ingredient, which might be the beans. http://www.healthycanning.com/home-c...ed-vegetables/ I say *might*. I'd ask Ball or Bernardin or the NCHFP for guidance. It's free to ask! Interesting challenge feeding DH ... vegetarian that doesn't like pickled things, hehe. BAck in the day, when I made (non-canned) veggie chili, I put corn in, and called it "chili con corny". Cocoa powder is nice in chili.

Finishing glazed carrots thought I would try something different. Did5 pints so. Ot too much just for special occasions. Did the rest as plain carrots.. Just finished dehydrating more potatoes and then a variety of hot peppers and made my mom more strawberry freezer jam yesterday. She eats it by the spoon so going through it. Will give as part of Christmas gift. Will dehydrate more mushrooms today and figure out what to do with the next 10 lb bag of potatoes sitting in my kitchen.

what prep do you do to the potatoes before you dehydrate them? I have a dehyrator and I think that it would be something I would use

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Originally Posted by kerrylj

what prep do you do to the potatoes before you dehydrate them? I have a dehyrator and I think that it would be something I would use

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I peel them, slice or dice them blanch for a couple of minutes and into cold water drain thoroughly and put in single layer turn on to 135 degrees. I usually start them in machine around 8 pm and let them go overnight. Usually dry in morning. The slices should be crispy and translucent. Let them cool thoroughly and store in jars. Apparently if you don't blanch them they will turn really dark.