It's Canning Time

[Old Dog]

How do you make your kraut?

Pistolbob- sorry for the late reply, been busy in the garden. Did 30 more qts of green beans today. sauerkraut recipe is as follows- wash, quarter and core 20 lbs of cabbage, then shred it. I use an original kraut cutter. Once shredded, mix well with 1 and 1/8 cup of pickling or kosher salt. Pack tightly in a crock, glass jar, or food grade plastic bucket. Cover with cheese cloth (directly on kraut) top with a weighted plate so the juice comes up over the plate. Keep in warm spot for a day or 2 then move to a cool area (65*) for 5-8 weeks. Check daily and remove any scum that forms. There is nothing commercially made that compares!!

 

[bwframe]

Done a canner load of Tendergreen beans yesterday. I think the Blue Lakes look more appetizing???

It's salsa time, 16 pints day before yesterday. I'll be picking and canning the same sized batch tomorrow.

 

[Jackson]

What's the shelf life on canned veggies when properly canned?

 

[Beardown]

Nothing quite like homemade canned salsa. Not to be that guy, but if you're new to canning, make sure you use a tried and true recipe. Many university ag departments have recipes that have been tested to ensure the proper levels of acidity for canning. Otherwise botulism can occur. Or you can be like me and use a 60 year old recipe hand written on a newspaper scrap form your grandma.

 

[Old Dog]

Not sure of the recommended shelf life but I have green beans, tomatoes and juice from 2012 that are still fine. So I consider 3-5 years as acceptable. It really gets down to checking it before you use it. If it looks good and smells good when you open it, it is probably still good. If anything tastes "off" or has odd colors or odors it goes in the trash.

 

[bwframe]

One year, to many years. I get suspicious of multiple years on the shelf. Tomato products not as much, salsa I'm eating was canned in 2014. Bad tomato year last year.

Recently threw away some 3 year old pasta sauce and beets, mistakenly stored w/rings on in a humid environment. Rust and week seals made me nervous, but it was an easy decision with more of same more current, better stored.

Supposedly meat needs to be eaten within a year. I googled the timing on some 18 month old pork loin. Many said it could be trusted easily 2-3 years. Ate it and I'm still alive. Couldn't tell the taste difference from freshly canned.

The web is packed full of everything garden and canning related info. No different from INGO, never trust a single source, search for confirmations and always go slowly. I've been at this a while and still verify before preceding year to year.

 

[PistolBob]

What's the shelf life on canned veggies when properly canned?

When properly canned, they can go a couple years or more. I just opened a pint of canned venison hunks to put in vegetable soup and it was from the fall of 2013....still delicious.

 

[goldtrigger]

48 pints of green beans. More out in th garden, but they will go in the freezer.
Did a batch of peach preserves yesterday. Will do a batch of peach butter today!

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Are canning jars still all glass, or do they make them from polycarbonate or some other suitable polymers yet?

oh. My. God. Let's just go sip on some dioxin while we discuss this.
As stated above, there is no substitute for glass. And we make the jars right here in indiana. Winchester 's Ardagh (formrely Anchor ) plant and our Dunkirk Ardagh (formerly Verallia) plant. We make millions of pint and half pint jars, and tons of jelly jars in Dunkirk. In Winchester they mostly make quart jars. At least that's my understanding. Oddly enough, I only live 5 miles from the Winchester factory, but have never been inside.

 

[nate77]

Salsa tip.

Powdered citric acid adds acidity without the flavor of vinegar. 1/4 tsp per pint jar.
I also use it in my tomato juice, instead of lemon juice.

 

[PistolBob]

Salsa tip.

Powdered citric acid adds acidity without the flavor of vinegar. 1/4 tsp per pint jar.
I also use it in my tomato juice, instead of lemon juice.

Vinegar is a spoilage retardant....not sure that citric acid powder is.

 

[Leadeye]

Wife is about done with canning tomatoes for a while, I think we have enough to last for years.

 

[rhino]

How do canned tomatoes compare in terms of taste and texture to freezing them?

 

[Leadeye]

Having never eaten frozen tomatoes I can't give you a good answer, I can say that the tomatoes, juice, and salsa that she cans are good.

 

[bwframe]

So far this year has been good for my tomato goals. I strive to waste as little as possible. Out of my 15 plants, very little waste so far. Only a few have made their way to the compost and a dozenish given away. 25# picked this evening will be salsa tomorrow.

 

[TGUNTER]

I have been canning peppers, pickled cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini. While doing this years i just found a 5 year old can of venison stew. There was no damage to the lid and still sealed so I heated it up and ate it. Taste like it did 5 years ago so I guess at least i done it correctly. One or two more times and i will have this years worth put away. I try to keep two years worth at a time what do most of you try to store?

 

[Jackson]

The web is packed full of everything garden and canning related info. No different from INGO, never trust a single source, search for confirmations and always go slowly. I've been at this a while and still verify before preceding year to year.

I was hoping you'd just teach me everything I needed to know about it. :-)

 

[jasonh31]

Wasn't a great year for the garden. We did manage to can some green beans and some apple pie filling today. Hopefully we can get some more tomatoes soon.

 

[nate77]

Vinegar is a spoilage retardant....not sure that citric acid powder is.

Botulism can't survive in an acidic environment.

Tomatoes are on the boarder line of being acidic, so you have to add acid to be on the safe side. You can use vinegar, bottled lemon juice, or powdered citric acid. Citric acid has the smallest impact on the flavor of your salsa, and is also easy to use, since you just add a 1/4 tsp to the bottom of every pint jar before filling.

Another plus, is that since it is a powder, it doesn't add to the liquid content of the salsa, nobody likes runny salsa.

 

[rhino]

Botulism can't survive in an acidic environment.

Tomatoes are on the boarder line of being acidic, so you have to add acid to be on the safe side. You can use vinegar, bottled lemon juice, or powdered citric acid. Citric acid has the smallest impact on the flavor of your salsa, and is also easy to use, since you just add a 1/4 tsp to the bottom of every pint jar before filling.

Another plus, is that since it is a powder, it doesn't add to the liquid content of the salsa, nobody likes runny salsa.

Do you do that as a "just in case" you don't kill everything or it gets recontaminated before you seal the jar?