Canning Pics, Feel free to post yours!

[scouponer]

Question: I just found about 20 jars of stewed tomatoes that I made 2 years ago.... are they still edible?

[jasperandchar]

Question: I just found about 20 jars of stewed tomatoes that I made 2 years ago.... are they still edible?

Absolutely should be no problem, taste them 1st before putting in a sauce or what but as long as the seal is still in tact it such be great.

[cheekysaver]

Question: I just found about 20 jars of stewed tomatoes that I made 2 years ago.... are they still edible?

Canned items are generally good for 3 years before they begin to deteriorate in color and flavor. When your opening a jar even if you canned it two months ago there is a process.

First you look at the jar... does it look good? It seems silly but you can often spot a bad jar by discoloration... but not always so follow the next two steps.

Second you check to make sure it is sealed. The lid is concaved when it is sealed but if your not sure... pop the seal and listen while you do it. There should be a air sucking into the jar sound. If at this point the opposite happens and stuff oozes or sprays out of the can don't eat it... if you can see a jar has been leaking... don't eat it.

The last step is to smell it. If it is a batch of canned tomatoes it should smell just like canned tomatoes.

If it fails on any of these three steps above dump out the contents into the trash and wash up the jars for another day's use.

Seals fail sometimes... even with experienced canners. I check every jar open to be safe. If it was a item on my shelf for 2 years... i would open it using the above steps and enjoy it.

[cheekysaver]

Actually, beets need to be processed for a much longer than 10 min because they're so dense. Minimum processing time for beet pickles (pints or quarts) is 30 minutes: http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/pickled_beets.html

Your right the current recommended time is 30 mins in the ball blue book plus altitude adjustments. They are a hot pack into hot jars and they still require the full processing time. After all that work and mess and cost I recommend using the most up to date processing time. (30 mins)

[cheekysaver]

Hi Ladies! I was at the St Jacobs farmers market this past weekend and bought a flat of berries, and half bushel of peaches. Made strawberry pie filling (I'm not a big jam fan) after scoring some clear jel at a local Mennonite store. Lost some berries due to being overripe (they are now pureed in the freezer for smoothies) and lost a jar of filling that exploded in the canner. My first lost jar.. But I have 4 beautiful jars of pie filling, I can't bear to put them away yet 'cause I just like looking at them. Crazy?

Last night I canned the peaches, ended up with 8 quart jars, plus a little leftover in the fridge. Tried canning in a diluted juice mix, instead of syrup.. we'll see how they turned out. Again, they looked pretty on the counter this morning as I was leaving for work!

Will update with some pictures tonite.. Hoping to pick up a 10lb bag of beets at RCSS, they were out on the weekend and I'd love to put up some beets... Patty, or Cheeky, would you care to share your recipe? I'm not looking forward to the peeling, but can't wait to bite into them!

I am sorry to hear you lost a jar. I have had it happen too...but in the pressure canner. The best way to prevent that is to really check your jars over... nicks or a crack or scratch weaken the jar... when this happens it is a jar failure not a lid tightening issue... when you over tighten the lid it buckles. I can't promise it won't happen again but you lessen the odds by giving your jars a good look over.


10lbs of beets will get you about 12 X 500ml jars (i just did 20lbs and got 24 jars!) Mom did 30lbs... yeah we canned 50lbs of beets LOL... my hands are still a touch pink. (pictures to come!)

[Horndogg]

I did 5 500ml jars of pickled peppers this morning. I can't take a picture, my phone is too old.

I have a couple of questions.

Why does the peppers float to the top of the jars, and what do you do if the lids don't seal properly?

[cheekysaver]

I did 5 500ml jars of pickled peppers this morning. I can't take a picture, my phone is too old.

I have a couple of questions.

Why does the peppers float to the top of the jars, and what do you do if the lids don't seal properly?

It is not uncommon for fruit or veggies to float. They contain some air in them. After the 24 hours are up then you can tip them upside down to see if the peppers will go down lower. If you jars are still warm and they are not sealing you can use a towel or 2 and check to see if your rings are tight... sometimes they can loosen off during processing a bit... don't crank the tight they just need to be fairly tight. After 12 hours if they are cool and something didn't seal you can do 2 things... put it in the fridge and have it be the jar you test or you can put a new lid in hot water and get the seal ready... then you take off the old lid and replace it... then repeat the processing time. If the food is delicate like a pickle the fridge might be the best option.

Note... sometimes the jars still seal when they are barely warm... as long as your ring is snug don't panic.

[scouponer]

in the process of making monkey butter...a spoonful from the pan tastes delicious but sweet... i mean really really sweet. already thinking of options on how to use it. Maybe mix it with cream cheese and serve as a spread with biscuits or fruit (or on toast). will let you know how it goes. someone on the preppers website suggested it as a filling for cocoanut cake?

[JaxtensMommy]

Does anyone have any great canning recipes that don't involve sugar, for spreads and such? My son can't have any refined sugars and I am having a hard time finding any recipes for chutneys and what not!

[Patty Smyth]

Hi Ladies! I was at the St Jacobs farmers market this past weekend and bought a flat of berries, and half bushel of peaches. Made strawberry pie filling (I'm not a big jam fan) after scoring some clear jel at a local Mennonite store. Lost some berries due to being overripe (they are now pureed in the freezer for smoothies) and lost a jar of filling that exploded in the canner. My first lost jar.. But I have 4 beautiful jars of pie filling, I can't bear to put them away yet 'cause I just like looking at them. Crazy?

Last night I canned the peaches, ended up with 8 quart jars, plus a little leftover in the fridge. Tried canning in a diluted juice mix, instead of syrup.. we'll see how they turned out. Again, they looked pretty on the counter this morning as I was leaving for work!

Will update with some pictures tonite.. Hoping to pick up a 10lb bag of beets at RCSS, they were out on the weekend and I'd love to put up some beets... Patty, or Cheeky, would you care to share your recipe? I'm not looking forward to the peeling, but can't wait to bite into them!

Sorry I just saw this today.

I boil my beets in large pots, takes about an hour or more. Then peel them under cold water, I quarter them if they are on the small side or in 8's if they are bigger.

I put 3 cloves in each jar at the bottom(1 liter)

For the pickling liquid this is the recipe.

6 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
4 cups dark brown sugar
3 cloves in each jar.

Boil for 15 minutes, then pour in hot over the beets. I sterilize my washed jars in the oven at 250 for 15 minutes, then once they are filled and sealed I do them for another 15 minutes.

This recipe makes enough for 6-8 liters.

eta - forgot to say let them brew for 30 days before eating them

[cheekysaver]

Does anyone have any great canning recipes that don't involve sugar, for spreads and such? My son can't have any refined sugars and I am having a hard time finding any recipes for chutneys and what not!

Ok after some research there are 2 ways to try this... one is substituting in some agave but if he is diabetic that may not work either.

Here is a second way... i found a recipe for mango papaya chutney from a great source... i would take out the sugar and water and substitude in something like 1 1/4 cups of a low flavor unsweetened fruit juice... like pear juice. If you use your own nicely ripened pears you can run them thru a blender then strain the juice out... if too much pulp gets in for your liking then strain it a second time with a coffee filter over a canning jar... just twist on a ring to hold the filter and pour. Cook the chutney up as directed... this has lime juice and vinager in the mix so that will help preserve it. Taste it with a sterile spoon before you can it... add splenda if it is needed to taste and put it into your jars. Do this as a test recipe... i haven't tried it yet but i believe this will work just fine. Jar it up and process it as you would any other chutney.
http://thefrugalchef.com/2009/09/fru...apaya-chutney/

[NickiB]

Thanks Patty! Will test out the recipe this week!

Sorry I just saw this today.

I boil my beets in large pots, takes about an hour or more. Then peel them under cold water, I quarter them if they are on the small side or in 8's if they are bigger.

I put 3 cloves in each jar at the bottom(1 liter)

For the pickling liquid this is the recipe.

6 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
4 cups dark brown sugar
3 cloves in each jar.

Boil for 15 minutes, then pour in hot over the beets. I sterilize my washed jars in the oven at 250 for 15 minutes, then once they are filled and sealed I do them for another 15 minutes.

This recipe makes enough for 6-8 liters.

eta - forgot to say let them brew for 30 days before eating them

[coley3]

Hello ladies. I just finished doing up my crab apple juice and jelly. Now I really want to try my hand at making grape jelly again. Last year it never thickened up and was like water. Even though I used the right amount of certo. As I was doing up my crab apple jelly which needs no certo/pectin to gel. I thought hey maybe I could use this in my grape jelly to make it set. I looked it up on-line and it seems like people use the plain crab apple juice for its pectin properties for other jellies/jams etc. However in all my looking it doesn't say how much to use. So lets say I had 8 cups of grape juice. How much of my crab apple juice would I put into it?? I don't make my jellies with the huge quantity of sugar that's recommended. So I would have to taste test but I would probably use no more than 2 cups sugar with my 8 cups of juice. So what would you ladies recommend please. I would love for it to work out this year. Also have any of you made chokecherry syrup? I have looked on-line and don't like the recipes. Wondering if any of you have done it and what the ratio of sugar to juice plus what made it thicken to syrup consistency. Thanks

[coley3]

OK. I tried it myself and no luck. So I now need to re-boil etc my Grape jelly. After looking on-line some more it seems my lack of sugar is probably the problem. Seriously how can someone make jelly at 4 1/2 cups of liquid to 7 cups of sugar. 7 cups!! yikes. So I am now going to add certo. Not my first choice. However I am still not increasing the sugar. So let's hope between the pectin from the crabapples and the certo it will set up.

[slradcli]

OK. I tried it myself and no luck. So I now need to re-boil etc my Grape jelly. After looking on-line some more it seems my lack of sugar is probably the problem. Seriously how can someone make jelly at 4 1/2 cups of liquid to 7 cups of sugar. 7 cups!! yikes. So I am now going to add certo. Not my first choice. However I am still not increasing the sugar. So let's hope between the pectin from the crabapples and the certo it will set up.

]

Coley, if you're not going to use sugar for canning, you will never end up with a syrup as thick as commercial syrups. Adding pectin (like Certo) plus the natural pectin in crab apples will help but you'll always have a looser set than the grape jelly you buy at the store. That's not a bad thing! Also, be aware that since sugar is a preservative, low-sugar preserves won't last as long. Look into Pomona's pectin if you'd like to make more low-sugar preserves, they have proven recipes.