It's Canning Time

[pudly]

One way or another, you have to insure that all bacteria (particularly Clostridium botulinum) are killed when canning. There are two basic methods- using acidity or heat+pressure treatment. Heat+pressure is required in combo because botulinum does not die at 212. Pressure allows the water to get to a higher temperature to kill the buggers.

If done properly and the seal remains, the food will be usable for a good while. It will slowly deteriorate in flavor and nutrients, but still be safe beyond recommended "eat by" claims.

 

[nate77]

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

I guess botulism spores are in everything, but only thrive in low acid, airless environments. All salsa, and tomato recipes call for extra acidification, since tomatoes are boarder line, ph can vary between variety, state of ripeness, and growing conditions.

Like stated above, botulism spores are killed at above 240f, but most tomatoes are canned water bath, so you need the extra acid.

 

[bwframe]

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

Get on down here. Lots of beans to pick, wash, break. Potatoes to wash, peal and cut up. That's before the canning and it's prep gets started.

In the mean time, more tomatoes will be ripe next week. Pruning goes with picking along with a fungicide spray on top of fertilizer/tonic sprays every three weeks or so. And cucumbers and pickles and beets...

Oh, and haven't even touched on weeds or compost or bugs or varmints or rain yet...

 

[padawan]

Keep an eye out for roasts that are on sale. Great to can as chunks. You'll love canned beef in the middle of winter. Beef & noodles. MMM!

 

[PistolBob]

We can beef, pork loin, chicken breast, and boneless chicken thighs....that stuff makes the best stews, soups, chicken and noodles....you name it. Canning your deer meat is a better way to use all of the deer meat. Throw almost nothing away.

When we can tomatoes we never add vinegar. I just wash them well, skin 'em, and then stuff the jar full. Pressure can at 11 lbs for 12-13 minutes and they're good to go. Never ever lost a can of tomatoes or salsa.

Quick way to skin tomatoes: bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Kill the heat. Drop the whole tomatoes in the water for about 2 minutes, remove and immediately submerge them in cold water....the skin just pulls right off. No knife, no mess.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

I've been canning tomato juice and whole tomato the same way my mom and grandmother did without adding any extra acid to them. Nobody has ever gotten sick that I know of. We always add the vinegar to our salsa, but I love the vinegar kick it adds anyway. Not saying it's the safest way, but it has worked quite a while.

 

[goldtrigger]

Quick way to skin tomatoes: bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Kill the heat. Drop the whole tomatoes in the water for about 2 minutes, remove and immediately submerge them in cold water....the skin just pulls right off. No knife, no mess.

This technique works great on peaches as well. Used it on a batch of peach preserves and a batch of peach butter last week.

We also can meat. Pork loin when it goes on sale. Sirloin tip when it goes on sale. Very handy to have.

 

[padawan]

This technique works great on peaches as well. Used it on a batch of peach preserves and a batch of peach butter last week.

We also can meat. Pork loin when it goes on sale. Sirloin tip when it goes on sale. Very handy to have.

You would be amazed at folks who've never heard of canned 'meat'. I brought in some canned beef to a carry-in and those who turned their nose up at first thought it was delicious.

 

[rhino]

I actually like canned peaches and pears better than fresh. I've had commerically canned meats before, but never "home made."

 

[PistolBob]

We'd take a pint of venison hunks, a quart of the canned vegetable soup mix, add pint of diced tomatoes, and a pint of beef broth....bring it to a simmer, stirring ocassionaly...add hot peppers and cornbread to suit your taste. None better. Home canned meat is delicious and saves SO MUCH time. Canned boneless chicken thighs are dirt cheap and make the best chicken noodle soup.

 

[Jackson]

So, maybe a dumb question but... do you just cook the meat before canning or do you have to do something special to it or nothing at all?

 

[bwframe]

The meat cooks in the jar. I add 1/2 tsp of good beef bullion to my beef and venison. Chicken bullion to chicken and pork.

[video=youtube;yH_hRhT-Pns]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_hRhT-Pns[/video]

 

[1DOWN4UP]

The wife has been busy for 3 weeks.So far,40 qts of pole and flat italian beans,and they are still coming.14 qts of beets(pickled eggs yummy)40 qts of corn,20 qts of blackberries(extra yummy)pulped 10 qts of zucs for bread this winter,and tomatoes have not even ripened yet,and the peaches and pears are around the corner.Once again,she will threaten me with a divorce till the garden is done.Got some of the biggest candy onions I have ever grown about done.Gonna make a big batch is sweet onion soup.....yummy

 

[PistolBob]

So, maybe a dumb question but... do you just cook the meat before canning or do you have to do something special to it or nothing at all?

We can meat in pint jars. And we raw can...which means we cut up the meat, trim off the part we don't want (which is almost nothing), and then pack the jars full up to 1/2 inch from the top. We use the wide mouth jars. Then take a paper towel with vinegar on it and wipe off the rims of the jars, apply the heated lids, add the screw on rings, and pressure can it for however long the book says. (we do pork/chicken/beef/deer for 75 mins at 11 lbs)

When the meat jars are in the pressure canner, the food inside the jars cooks. Some folks add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each jar, we do not. Canned a bunch of chicken breasts once and put a small sprig of Rosemary in a few of the jars...the Rosemary Chicken was delicious.

 

[BuickGS]

I bought everything to try and can pickles this week. It is the first time ever canning all on my own. Used to help at home when they made jelly. Going to try that soon too. Trying to get the GF onboard too. Ive found that Walmart sells the jars the cheapest. Been watching youtube and reading the Ball Book.

 

[Cozy439]

I made a few trips to the garden and did most of the cleaning/cutting up. Wife did almost all of the canning/pickling. Beets, pickles, green beans, jalapeno peppers, hot/mild pepper rings and tomato sauce. It was a full Saturday

 

[voidsherpa]

I'm a canning noob and and water canned (pickled) a bunch of red chilies, thai moon, and cherry tomatoes that I had leftover. The recipe was for cherry tomatoes and had a .5 cup vinegar to 1 cup water ratio, but I used it for the peppers also not realizing till after the fact that they had a much higher PH. I have them in the fridge currently but should I pop the tops on them or should the PH be low enough with that much vinegar?

 

[bwframe]

I'm not sure. This is one of the sites I use for reference. Pickled Peppers, recipe for pickling and canning peppers

 

[PistolBob]

I'm a canning noob and and water canned (pickled) a bunch of red chilies, thai moon, and cherry tomatoes that I had leftover. The recipe was for cherry tomatoes and had a .5 cup vinegar to 1 cup water ratio, but I used it for the peppers also not realizing till after the fact that they had a much higher PH. I have them in the fridge currently but should I pop the tops on them or should the PH be low enough with that much vinegar?

Peppers usually require a much higher concentrate of vinegar....like 5 parts vinegar to one part water. How long did you process them? You're probably OK eating them out of the fridge for a few weeks but after that make sure you check for mold, spoilage, bad odors....if you even suspect some signs of it going bad...dump them and do not eat them. Your tomatoes ought to be fine...but always inspect them before eating. If you have rings on your jars, take them off. Leaving the ring on can sometimes hide the appearance of spoiled food. If it's bad you want the top to pop.

 

[voidsherpa]

Peppers usually require a much higher concentrate of vinegar....like 5 parts vinegar to one part water. How long did you process them?

15 minutes. I popped the top on the peppers and am just going to eat. Were only under vacuum and refrigerated for 3 days.