Canning Pics, Feel free to post yours!

[iggysbabysitter]

I lost track of the numbers, but I did quarts, pints and half pints of hot red pepper jelly, warm red pepper jelly, hot crabapple jelly, plain crabapple jelly, rhubarb sauce, crabapple sauce, green pepper jelly, sweet cinamon pickled beets, and banana butter.
I'll use most of the applesauce and rhubarb sauce to dehydrate into fruit leather... it's better than store bought stuff because I control the amount of sugar, there's no food colouring, and I can play with flavours (apple banana rhubarb was good).
I also used the dehydrater to do a few quarts of mushrooms (found cremini on clearence), powdered some to add to soups and sauces, left some sliced.
30 lbs of onions are getting done this week, as flakes and powder it's so much more convenient to toss in a meal than cutting and crying every night lol. I had been cutting and freezing the onions, but I found the cheap baggies were releasing too much smell.
30 jars were used to do gifts in a jar... a bunch of dry mix for minestrone, dry mix for brownies and instant oatmeal. These were great when we were camping.

I'll use a lot of this as Christmas gifts, and I like knowing what to give to the diabetics in the family.

[Lynn11]

I am so impressed. Makes me want to get ot the cookbooks.
I preserved previous summer and we are still using the mustard pickles (a favorite), a few different recipies for pickles and salsa.I enjoy trying out new recipies to find the "perfect" one.
I froze beans and brocolli (from the garden) this year. Next year will be time again for the pickles and I have a "Grandma Conrads" mustard pickle recipie which I am anxious to try.
Great thread here.

[dutchmama]

I am LOVING reading this & looking through all the pictures! Make me wish it was spring, and I could be planting my garden

I am definately inspired by all of you who do such large quantities...I had a stage where I thought 'if I can get it cheap with coupons...is it worth the work'...but it IS! We grew up canning & freezing nearly all our fruit & vegetables for a year, as well as venison from my dad's hunting. It is the only way we survived as a farm family in the 80's!

The next thing I really want to try is baked beans in the pressure cooker! We go through LOTS of baked beans, and they never are *super* cheap. I figure I could do them for less than $.25/jar if I could get it figured out!

[Safyre]

Wow, all these pics, and I was proud when I canned Spicy Pickles!

Anyone who does Salsa- are you using pressure cooker, or hot water method? I've read some nasty things about botulism and that has scared me away from doing Salsa (Tomato based salsa)

[dutchmama]

I didn't pressure can anything on my list, including salsa & tomatoe sauce. It is totally safe if you do it correctly!

Make sure it is cooked properly, put into sterile jars, add vinegar or lemon juice for acidity, and hot-water-bath for proper amount of time, check seals to make sure they have sealed properly and you will be fine!

If you are worried about food safety, check the blog/FB page 'SB canning'...she is a stickler for safety

Wow, all these pics, and I was proud when I canned Spicy Pickles!

Anyone who does Salsa- are you using pressure cooker, or hot water method? I've read some nasty things about botulism and that has scared me away from doing Salsa (Tomato based salsa)

[2010ontest]

Wholey! You have been very busy! I can understand why you would need 2 canners to handle that amount. We were doing our prep work for canning and tossing it in that day ... but we changed how we are doing it because it was hard to get everything done we wanted to get done. Now as often as possible we are peeling in front of the tv relaxed at night... when we do stuff that way we can do 2 -3 times the amount of canning or just less on a much shorter time span. As long as we can have the prep work done everything else seems to just flow.

This is why I said summer I'm in my canning mood and winter I'm in my couponing mood
I have many jars, but we are 6 here. And we do it since many years now, so we found our way to do it and having fun all summer long.

I really like to go at u-pick farm to pick my stuff and process it right away. Hey hey, I'm happy this year I show 2 new u-pick farm at Patty close to her house October is always the "end" of the season for me with meat deals close to the thanks giving. In winter I do the "no-season" stuff like bean, chick peas, red kidney bean, lentil and other like that. I'm so happy with my re-usable Tattler lids now. I don't have to stress for lids, just have to re-use it

[sweetproserpina]

This thread is awesome! I really aspire to be like some of you gals who do so much! One year I'd like to have my canning all organized.. it probably won't happen until my kids are in school but.. I'll do what I can until then.

A dehydrator is on my wishlist- I often peek at kijiji hoping I'll find one cheaply, no such luck yet.

I can for all the reasons listed above.. taste (and you can't buy vanilla strawberry jam in the supermarket either!), being able to support my local farmers by using all local ingredients, cost (I've costed out my dill pickles and I can make them for about $1 a quart, and that's buying cukes too, most of my fruit is free, or seconds, I live in a pear orchard, and in niagara's fruit belt in the country, plus there are a lot of fruits that can be gleaned too.) my costs are mostly pectin and sugar, and jar lids..

Would love to see more pics!

[cheekysaver]

I had a question about the Pineapple jam today in my mail box. Someone asked for the recipe and also expressed concern over preserving pineapple. So first things first here is the website we got the recipe off http://baking.about.com/od/flavoredb...eapple-Jam.htm . Now for the second thing... I checked into the National Center For Food Preservation and preserving pineapple is just fine. Here is the link http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_02/pineapple.html . There is also a recipe in the Ball recipe book for pineapple and it is all good. I am so glad the person that pm'd questioned it. There is nothing more important then safety. Pineapple is suitable for water bath canning due to the acid level in the fruit.

[hopesdreams]

I have canned Salsa & Tomatoes for 15 years. Using the hot water canning method.
Never had any food illness.
Like dutchmama commented you have to do it the safe way.

[Safyre]

Thanks Hopesdreams and dutchmama - I'm new to canning, no one in my family cans so I had no real 'expert' to check with.
I'm horrible for following recipes - basically, I don't. So I worry I won't put enough acidity in it to be safe. My own fault for never following an actual recipe I suppose, but its much more fun to just throw in this and that and see what happens.

With that said , I am off to make homemade dog biscuits (with whatever I have in the house that is dog safe lol)

[jasperandchar]

I've made black bean & corn salsa this year in the pressure canner!

Wow, all these pics, and I was proud when I canned Spicy Pickles!

Anyone who does Salsa- are you using pressure cooker, or hot water method? I've read some nasty things about botulism and that has scared me away from doing Salsa (Tomato based salsa)

[jasperandchar]

last year I made dandelion jelly & lilac jelly they were amazing!

[julie81]

This is a great thread! This was my first year canning and I am hooked. I have a 900sq foot garden and I grow all our own veggies and berries. I grew 21 different veggies this year. I had so much in the freezer that I had to start canning or buy another freezer. I live on a cranberry farm and I am surrounded by blueberry farms and wild blackberries so most of what I can is free and fresh. I think I have enough to get us through to May. I plan on doing more next year. I guess I will need that extra freezer after all. I love that I haven't had to buy any produce since early June. The garden is still full of carrots, onions, brocolli, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, spinach and cabbage. I want to do more winter gardening next year as well. I stay home with my kids so I have time to do it, It does get pretty hectic though. But otally worth it. I think it is great for my kids to see where food comes from. I even taught my four year old the difference between the male and female flowers so she could hand pollinate the zucchini. LOL

[NickiB]

I love this thread! I just started canning with my BFF about 3 yrs ago... we started with salsa the first year, which we do every year, but have also done pickles, hot pepper jelly, and chili sauce. There's only 2 of us in my house, so I normally end up with more than I need, but there is something just so satisfying about making your own preserves...

We also do jam, but it's traditionally always been freezer jam.. I think with the success of the hot pepper jelly, we will work on trying some new hot-water bath options.. I've been pinning away some recipes from Pinterest for some interesting flavour combinations!

I'm also excited to try out a food dehydrator.. it's on my wishlist for Christmas, along with the Foodsaver sealer.. which if those wishes come true, I'll also need to add a bigger freezer!

[LIVE SIMPLE]

I REALLY need start canning ...
Love all your pics