Canning Pics, Feel free to post yours!

[cheekysaver]

Cheeky can you explain what you mean by cucumbers/ no water bath and 10 min bath - do u mean 10 min I'm boiling water?

I just today did my 1 st batch of cucumbers ever! And I followed the recipe and it just said sterilize jars and lids, drop stuff in, put lids on and put everything in fridge. I did this and didn't get the lids to seal/pop so does that mean they must stay in fridge and be eaten quickly? My prior picking experience only involves water bathing beets and taking them out and watching the lids pop and seal. I thought pickles would turn to mush if I boiled them so wasn't sure.

Ok i see exactly what you mean.... don't worry about the seal. What you made is something called a refrigerator pickle. They still need 2 - 3 weeks to have the flavor get into the cukes. Refrigerator pickles have a shelf life of usually about 6 months in the fridge and they don't get water bath canned. The lid will probably never pop down on them because you need to have hot ingredients in order to create the vacuum seal. If you want pickles you can store on a shelf the ingredients must be hot ... or in the case of a cold pack like i did today it was water bathed for 10 minutes.

The vinegar content to keep things shelf stable is not the same process as canning... they taste great tho! In fact they are a great way to go for those that want to try canning without purchasing a canner. Doing some of these up in advance would make a great take along when you go to dinner parties... the Big Easy Chef is right... in 5 years will they remember someone that brought a bottle of wine or someone that brought some home made pickles.... LOL IF they last that long... everyone loves those so much they will go down fast!

[cheekysaver]

Pickles and the types

Old School is a hot pack and it has no water bath instructions because they were often not water bathed back then. (hot pack is when the ingredients are all hot)

Water bath canning. This is the recommended canning process. Today I put my salted drained rinsed cuke slices in the warm jars then topped them off with the hot brine solution. After that i put them in the water bath canner and brought it up to a rolling boil and timed it for 10 minutes... after 10 minutes i turned off the heat and let it sit in the canner with the heat off for 5 minutes and then removed the jars to cool. Read your instructions because the water bath processing time can differ.

Refrigerator pickles. These are put into sterilized jars to help keep things longer in your fridge. The lids may or may not seal and it doesn't matter because they get stored in the fridge for up to 6 months... some say they last longer you will have to decide for yourself on that one.


The old school method is a bit outdated and often i put them into a water bath for a few minutes just for my own peace of mind.

[intellg]

Impressive images. Normally the eatable items seems awesome in canners. It increase your kitchen beauty. I have many glass cans in my kitchen and I always try to find good food. The foods are easily available hence they can visible from open eyes. lol

[cheekysaver]

Ok this is how my bread and butter pickles turned out.

The brine tasted just like a good store bought bread and butter pickle. I think other recipes mess up by over complicating what should be a easy pickle. I can tell by the brine that I need to make more LOL ... the next batch with have half the jars filled with 1 jalapeno halved.. I won't soak the jalepeno in salt... i will just halve it and face the pretty insides to the outside of the jar so it shows what has the heat in it.

[intellg]

It really looking awesome. It give me idea how to put bread and butter pickles.

[sweetproserpina]

Great cannning everyone!

cheeky- great description of the different kinds of pickles. My girlfriend does the old school method for her pickles, and I always hot water bath mine- when we compare them I do find they have a bit of a texture difference. Mine are still crunchy, but do seemed a bit 'cooked' compared to hers. They are both equally yummy! I did 42 qts of dills this year.

A good tip that I do is make both water bathed pickles and refrigerator pickles. I eat up my fridge pickles first, and then break into the canned ones once the fridge ones are gone.. Makes them last longer.. we still manage to run out before pickle season again though, doh!

I've gotten though a bushel of peaches the past two days. 12lbs sliced into the freezer for puree later, and 12 qts canned. Plus a coffee can full of peels and pits for making jelly later. I canned half of those qts. with the baby in his backpack carrier, and had to do the rest last night in the wee hours after the kiddos were in bed. DH just had to go on a business trip smack dab in the middle of peach season! Argh...

Will post some pics when i get a chance..

[bluerose]

RSAS you can always use your pretty jars for something else,like stroring spices or dry foods(popcorn) cotton ball anyone?lol

[cheekysaver]

Great cannning everyone!

I've gotten though a bushel of peaches the past two days. 12lbs sliced into the freezer for puree later, and 12 qts canned. Plus a coffee can full of peels and pits for making jelly later. I canned half of those qts. with the baby in his backpack carrier, and had to do the rest last night in the wee hours after the kiddos were in bed. DH just had to go on a business trip smack dab in the middle of peach season! Argh...

Will post some pics when i get a chance..

Peaches are a great deal of work! I have 9 quarts plus a 250ml of sliced peaches and 15 500mls of peach pie filling. You really need to set aside a good deal of time to do them. I found a cheater way that works for me. I have some 5 gallon food grade buckets... i stand by the stove with one bucket with ice in it... and i blanch the peaches and toss them into the bucket over and over until the bucket is full. In the second bucket i put in water and fruit fresh and i use a garbage bowl to hold the pits and peels.... i sit on my butt and peel then slice into the citric acid bucket. I can't stand up and do them all so this system works for me. I wouldn't mind having another 9 quarts on my shelves. To me the ultimate goal is having 52 of fruit on my shelves... one per week. LOL I know it will never last a year tho!

[RSAS]

RSAS you can always use your pretty jars for something else,like stroring spices or dry foods(popcorn) cotton ball anyone?lol

I think that is my plan with them. I was thinking dehydrated foods too.

I made 2 jars of blueberry pie filling as a super awesome smartcanuck, crochetlady, sent me 2lbs of of clearjel in a package train! For anyone looking for the stuff, she said she got it at a bulk store in ontario. The pie filling tastes fantastic and probably has a fraction of the amount of sugar in the commercial stuff!

[sweetproserpina]

To me the ultimate goal is having 52 of fruit on my shelves... one per week. LOL I know it will never last a year tho!

Same here! My goal was to have 50 qts with peaches and pears.. I think I'll shoot for 40 now instead.. we'll see And thanks for the advice-- I hate having to stand at the sink for ever peeling and slicing..

[ladydarcie]

[QUOTE=sweetproserpina;5609747]

I've gotten though a bushel of peaches the past two days. 12lbs sliced into the freezer for puree later, and 12 qts canned. Plus a coffee can full of peels and pits for making jelly later. I canned half of those qts. with the baby in his backpack carrier, and had to do the rest last night in the wee hours after the kiddos were in bed.

I am about to embark on canning peaches for the first time in 20 years and I feel like such a newbie. I did not know you could make jelly from pits and peels. You you mind telling how you do that?

Also a quick question about the hot water bath. Can the jars touch each other and the sides of the pot?

Thanks. You all are so inspiring.

[cheekysaver]

The canning jars can touch slightly if they are loose in the pot... don`t try and cram them in because they do need the water to go between them to get up to temp. I have never made the jelly so we have to wait for sweet ms sweets on that one.

[cheekysaver]

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)

[Mystic]

You guys will laugh, I had this beautiful old steel pot that I don't use. I was looking at the price of a new water bath canner package (this time of year they charge alot for that canner package!!). So I decided to give water bath canning a whirl with my old steel pot. I heated up the water in the "steel stock pot", to boiling - then I put at clean dish cloth in the bottom of the pot - then I loaded my jars into the water bath using water bath thongs (a really nice lady gave me an extra set). I did my first water-bath canning job - for zero $$$$. I had made a batch of salsa for $1.99 (tomatoes) & green pepper $.63 & onion $.60 and I got 6 jars of awesome tasting salsa

I'm going to go and look for a steel trivet - which hopefully doesn't cost more then a few dollars!! So, I'll have a new water bath canner for a few bucks. I watched a video on You-tube and this is how you make an old pot into a canner:

Here is the tea towell idea, I did cover my jars over with water:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAbfiQ2hbaA


Here is another idea, using lids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqxAFRFpvDY

I am now going to make a batch of corn relish, I'll be back later -

[cheekysaver]

You guys will laugh, I had this beautiful old steel pot that I don't use. I was looking at the price of a new water bath canner package (this time of year they charge alot for that canner package!!). So I decided to give water bath canning a whirl with my old steel pot. I heated up the water in the "steel soup stock pot", to boiling - then I put at clean dish cloth in the bottom on the pot. I did my first water-bath canning job - for zero $$$$. I had made a batch of salsa for $1.99 (tomatoes) & green pepper $.63 & onion $.60 and I got 6 jars of awesome tasting salsa

I'm going to go and look for a steel trivet - which hopefully doesn't cost more then a few dollars!! So, I'll have a new water bath canner for a few bucks. I watched a video on You-tube and this is how you make an old pot into a canner:

(PS I'll be back with the link)

Way to go! The dishtowel in the bottom of the pot works really well. I am still holding out for a great deal on a water bath canner. Until i find one i just use the pot of my pressure canner. If you can find one of those round cake racks they work great too... just put it in upside down because they won't handle the weight of the jars well.