Canning Pics, Feel free to post yours!

[scouponer]

@nicolthepickle - can you share your recipe for pickled beets?

Go to the bernardin website, there is a recipe there.

[cath007]

No pictures but since 3 years I get some spaghettis canned sauces,fruits ketchup(so so good!!),zucchinis relish and some beets from my aunties.it is so nice.

[scouponer]

Last week finally got around to canning the 10 lb bag of beets I got a while back for 1.99. Today did over 10 lbs of potatoes that I got for $1. Done for the season!😀. My loblaws has a bunch of lids....waiting impatiently for them to get pink stickered. Previous years they were clearanced in October! Hurry up already! Lol

[TrueNorthTreasures]

Do most people here do water canning or pressure canning? For those who do pressure canning, what kind of pressure canner do you have? I do a bit of water canning every year, but I would love to be able to can vegetables without the sugar, vinegar, salt, etc water canning recipes call for.

[scouponer]

Do most people here do water canning or pressure canning? For those who do pressure canning, what kind of pressure canner do you have? I do a bit of water canning every year, but I would love to be able to can vegetables without the sugar, vinegar, salt, etc water canning recipes call for.

I do both water bath canning and pressure canning. Actually I have a steam canner which I love and use instead of water bath canning. My pressure canner is the presto. If you get the presto do your self a huge favour and buy a jiggler to use instead of the weight. With the weight you literally cannot take your eyes off of the pressure gauge the whole time. Pressure canning can take a while depending on what you are canning so it is nice not to have to watch the gauge for an hour or more. Instead with the jiggler you still need to stay in the kitchen but you just need to listen so you can wash the dishes etc.
pressure canning is awesome it allows you to do so much more. Soups, sauces, veggies, meats. Pressure canned meat is awesome and super easy. Dh loves pressure canned potatoes. Lots more options for sure.
the other option is an all American pressure canner. It is considered by many to be the best, but also expensive. You can watch you tube videos on pros and cons of both.
I bought the presto at home hardware and the accessories later on amazon.
i would be happy to answer any questions .

[scouponer]

My mom loves pickled cauliflower so bought 6 heads when they were on sale for $1.98 and ended up with 9 pints. Off on another season of canning adventures.

[TrueNorthTreasures]

Thank you for the feedback and suggestions, @scouponer ! I have read positive things about the Presto and All American pressure canners; those two seem to consistently come out on top. An All American canner would be on my wish list; they are definitely an investment. Up until now, the biggest "splurge" I've ever made on myself was a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator! That was years ago, and I have never regretted it. We use that dehydrator a LOT in the summer and fall, and it has held up very well.

[scouponer]

Thank you for the feedback and suggestions, @scouponer! I have read positive things about the Presto and All American pressure canners; those two seem to consistently come out on top. An All American canner would be on my wish list; they are definitely an investment. Up until now, the biggest "splurge" I've ever made on myself was a 9 tray Excalibur dehydrator! That was years ago, and I have never regretted it. We use that dehydrator a LOT in the summer and fall, and it has held up very well.

if you decide to go with the all American make sure you measure the height of your stove top to your overhead exhaust fan. I have heard that some people find they are too tall and don’t fit..which would really suck. I would love the all american but can’t complain about the presto. It has been great.

envious of your Excalibur dehydrator, I have one of the round ones and it is fine but would love the bigger Excalibur....what do you dehydrate?

[TrueNorthTreasures]

Hmm, that's a good point, I hadn't even considered taking the height of the All American into account. Can you imagine spending that kind of money and then not being able to use it because it won't fit under the exhaust fan?! Yikes. Owning one is not in my near future, it's more scribbled on my mental wish list.

I dehydrate mostly carrots, tomatoes, corn, celery, kale, zucchini/summer squash, sliced (fresh) mushrooms, and apple slices. Some nights when we are both tired and don't feel like cooking, it's nice to able to grab the stash of dehydrated veggies and throw a soup together in a flash. I have also done raspberries in the past. The house smelled like Heaven, but it took SO long for them to dehydrate that I started to wonder if it was really practical. I've made a sort of fruit leather before, which was nice. Apparently, you can make crackers, too, but I have never tried that. I think peppers would be easy to do as well. I won't do onions or garlic in the Excalibur - I'd never get the smell out of the plastic - but I might experiment with dehydrating onion and garlic in the older round one we have (and I'd do it outside!).

Have you ever seen the YouTube channel called, "Dehydrate2Store"? I haven't checked it out in a while, but these are the videos that started it for me! This lady also has a website and a book now, too.

[walkonby]

Hmm, that's a good point, I hadn't even considered taking the height of the All American into account. Can you imagine spending that kind of money and then not being able to use it because it won't fit under the exhaust fan?! Yikes. Owning one is not in my near future, it's more scribbled on my mental wish list.

I dehydrate mostly carrots, tomatoes, corn, celery, kale, zucchini/summer squash, sliced (fresh) mushrooms, and apple slices. Some nights when we are both tired and don't feel like cooking, it's nice to able to grab the stash of dehydrated veggies and throw a soup together in a flash.

oh @TrueNorthTreasures you reminded me of the beefsteak tomatoes I sliced and dehydrated 3 yrs ago....Filled up 2 of the large mason jars and they were amazing in soups....they came back to tomato life once in the broth and the flavour was very delicious.
I didn't dehydrate anything this year or last...the normal produce prices were just not to my liking and the reduced racks often had either disappointing quality or they never had enough of one thing to bother processing.
Plus the consideration of what the cost of running my 4 machines would mean to my hydro bill.

[TrueNorthTreasures]

I love dehydrated tomatoes, the taste is intense and sweet! We usually cook down the large tomatoes for sauce and dehydrate the cherry tomatoes. Yummy!

I have seen blueprints online for building solar dehydrators, which I think would be neat to have. No electricity needed! Unfortunately, I have zero experience with building things; I'd have to hire someone to do it. Some of them are very large - YouTube has some neat videos on solar dehydrators.

@walkonby , you need to make some friends with big gardens! *L* To me, part of the joy of growing food is being able to share it with family and close friends.

[scouponer]

True north treasures if you do onions or garlic, cauliflower or cabbage definitely do outside. When I can tomatoes I take the skins off then save them and dehydrate and grind up to tomato powder to use in soups etc. I have seen dehydrate to store youtube videos

[maggiespice]

Did 8 jars of Sweet Cherries today and froze several bags as well.

[scouponer]

Did 8 jars of Sweet Cherries today and froze several bags as well.

@MaggieS spice...what do you do with these...just eat from jar? They look so pretty

[maggiespice]

Thank you so much.
Yes, you just eat them from the jar. I guess you can use them for recipes, but because I used a syrup, I think they would be too good for a recipe!
That is why I froze some as well, to use for cakes, pies and crisps.