Canning recipes, food preservation and food sales

[clodhopper]

I have also read in many reputable recipes to leave out stuff like Beans and noodles and add them when you are ready to eat the canned food. Pressure canning these things can make them mushy etc.

I don't can things with the goal of culinary perfection. Sustainable calories with enough variation to limit boredom. Canned soups are good on those cold days when you just want to heat up a quick lunch or when you are sick (stock rotation), who cares so much on the texture. I wouldn't serve it when the Queen comes to visit.

[rbeau30]

I don't can things with the goal of culinary perfection. Sustainable calories with enough variation to limit boredom. Canned soups are good on those cold days when you just want to heat up a quick lunch or when you are sick (stock rotation), who cares so much on the texture. I wouldn't serve it when the Queen comes to visit.

I agree with you there. We eat what we store and store what we eat.

While I may not be as picky... My offspring may not be too keen on eating some things (Also, when SHTF and that is all we have to eat, and they turn their noses up at the stuff I do have stored for calories, etc) then I guess my food storage will go a longer way for me then.

I definately would and do put the stuff that gets a little mushy *(beans, noodles, zuchinni, etc) after an hour and a half of pressure processing. I just figure that many people starting out into the canning and food preservation realm may want to be informed that things do not start out and end up the same way when you process recipes. They probably would be better to start out with something that is more like their recipe when they open it up to heat it up, to prevent getting discouraged. Something as simple as reserving the noodles to add to the soup until serving time may be a good trick for them. Also, many folks just getting into the canning world have expectations that the finished product will be much like a can of Campbells soup and I am trying to prevent them from being surprized.

I do however agree with you, canning is a great way to set aside some calories for when needed, and the shelf life on this stuff is amazing. I have soup stock and jellies/jams that are 100% delicious after 5-10 years.

Dairy stuff does not do well in preserved food... ick. However, One of the two things that I intend on attempting that I have not are canning butter, and dry heat canning (in the oven). I have read somewhere that this can be done with safe results. I do not like experimenting a whole lot with something like this, but It could be another tool in the shed to sock stuff away for when SHTF.


Having recently gotten into gardening and realizing that only a few zucchini plants can make more than I can ever eat in one season. I have a recipe with zukes that seems to have stood up to processing. I'll add it this weekend.

[clodhopper]

Also, many folks just getting into the canning world have expectations that the finished product will be much like a can of Campbells soup and I am trying to prevent them from being surprized.

Truth. I will look at canned goods in the grocery store for ideas on what else I can try canning, with the full knowledge that what I create will not look the same. I don't have all the fancy preservatives and stabilizers that get used in commercial canning, but then again, my canning doesn't have any of those chemicals and preservatives commonly used in canning, so win for me! I am always looking for ways to move what normally would be stored frozen, out of the freezer for no power required storage, so canning and drying. Kind of a challenge to figure out alternative storage to the freezer. Mostly driven by the freezer always being way too full.

I garden, but the clay soils where I live suck and the elevation doesn't help much. Mostly a salsa garden, lots of tomatoes, tomatillas, herbs, lettuce and peppers. We do a CSA with a farm that lets us select what we want. Most of that gets canned or dried, which covers nearly all the vegetables for the family all winter and all the dog food for the year.

[TheGrey]

I tried some Hawaiian cowboy candy relish. It didn't turn out like I had hoped. Wrong ratio of peppers to pineapple, too much pineapple. Also the liquid that seemed like extra should have gone into the jars anyway. It's ok but I hope the next batch is better.

Nice! I'm sure it'll still taste good. I've found there are several recipes with Hawaiian Cowboy Candy, variations involving pineapples and even hotter versions of peppers. I haven't made relish; just the chunks of peppers and pineapples. This last batch I made double the amount of syrup, since it proved to be a favorite part of the candy.

[TheGrey]

I'm posting a link for canning caramelized onions. I chopped up 10# last night, threw them in the crock pot for 12 hours with some butter and olive oil, and ended up using some for the beef stew I made for this evening. They are WONDERFUL and make the whole house smell amazing. I ran out of time to can them (I'll be using half-pint jars, pressure canning them at 14# for 70 minutes) but I can easily heat them up again to can tomorrow. It was easy as can be, and we'll use them in everything from scrambled eggs to roast beef sandwiches.

I'm posting a link because there are a lot of photos, and lots of additional information in the comments.

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/20...ed-onions.html

[Irving]

I purchased a large jar of nacho style jalapenos with the intention of just water bath canning them again into smaller jars. I've yet to do so, but I'll be sure to report my experience here once I do. I called Jerry to ask if this is something I should be okay to do and we couldn't think of a reason why not. If anyone else has any input, please share.

**What's holding me up is my lack of an actual water bath canner or rack. I have several large pots I can use. I looked online to see if I could water bath without the rack, and several people pointed out that people water bath canned for a long time before racks were invented. More than one person stated that they use a dish cloth in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot. That's likely what I'll try.

[Brian]

I'm posting a link for canning caramelized onions. I chopped up 10# last night, threw them in the crock pot for 12 hours with some butter and olive oil, and ended up using some for the beef stew I made for this evening. They are WONDERFUL and make the whole house smell amazing. I ran out of time to can them (I'll be using half-pint jars, pressure canning them at 14# for 70 minutes) but I can easily heat them up again to can tomorrow. It was easy as can be, and we'll use them in everything from scrambled eggs to roast beef sandwiches.

I'm posting a link because there are a lot of photos, and lots of additional information in the comments.

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/20...ed-onions.html

Holy cow, I had no idea you could can caramelized onions. We love onions. Mmmmmm

[Brian]

I purchased a large jar of nacho style jalapenos with the intention of just water bath canning them again into smaller jars. I've yet to do so, but I'll be sure to report my experience here once I do. I called Jerry to ask if this is something I should be okay to do and we couldn't think of a reason why not. If anyone else has any input, please share.

**What's holding me up is my lack of an actual water bath canner or rack. I have several large pots I can use. I looked online to see if I could water bath without the rack, and several people pointed out that people water bath canned for a long time before racks were invented. More than one person stated that they use a dish cloth in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot. That's likely what I'll try.

Yeah I think it's only to prevent heat spots and let the water equalize temperature all over the jar, so you don't scorch anything or break a jar due to direct heat.

You can also use a bunch of your old jar rings in the bottom of the pot, assuming you're like every other canner I know who has a drawer full of bent, broken, and rusted rings that you wouldn't use to actually can anything in. As long as you keep it flat-ish.

[TheGrey]

I purchased a large jar of nacho style jalapenos with the intention of just water bath canning them again into smaller jars. I've yet to do so, but I'll be sure to report my experience here once I do. I called Jerry to ask if this is something I should be okay to do and we couldn't think of a reason why not. If anyone else has any input, please share.

**What's holding me up is my lack of an actual water bath canner or rack. I have several large pots I can use. I looked online to see if I could water bath without the rack, and several people pointed out that people water bath canned for a long time before racks were invented. More than one person stated that they use a dish cloth in the bottom of the pot to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot. That's likely what I'll try.

I did the same thing! The massive jar of jalepeno slices was something like $2.50 at Sam's, so I figured, why not?

From what I understand, the rack helps to keep the jars from touching the bottom, as well as touching each other. It also helps you lift the jars from the pot, so you're not having to worry about accidentally touching another jar when you're lifting it out.

[Irving]

I thought about getting a metal trivet for a cast iron pot, as I'm bound to buy a cast iron pot in the future, but I bet it's the same price.