My Canning Cellar – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Thank you for visiting my canning cellar!

Salsa!  here’s the ingredients I used

10 lbs green tomatoes chopped 
 8 cups onions
 2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes
 8 lg red peppers chopped
 6 garlic cloves minced
 1 cup dried basil
 1 cup lime juice
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup  apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon cumin
4 tsp black pepper 
1 tablespoon sugar

• I washed the tomatoes and used the serrated knife to remove the stem part and any other blemishes, and used my food processor to chop them up, not bothering to remove the seeds or skin. I did the same with the onions and the peppers although I did remove the pepper seeds, and mixed them in the Mirro pot with the lime and lemon juice, the vinegar, salt, cumin, oregano, pepper and sugar. I let this all simmer for about 30 minutes, then I drained it all using the large strainer. I used the smaller strainer to weigh them on the postage scale. After it all drained, I used the funnel and a measure cup to fill pint jars to 1/2 inch head space. I wiped the rims using a vinegar soaked lint free cloth, put on the lids, and did just a tad more than finger tighten the rings, which I find makes them seal better for some reason using this canner. I water bath them for 20 minutes for my altitude above sea level. I used the jar lifter to remove them after letting them sit with the canner cover off for about five minutes to help the contents settle down, and then put them on a dish towel covered table. The dish towel is to avoid shocking the hot jars when put on a cooler surface.

I got 9 pints of salsa.

For the sauce I used the same equipment I used earlier, only this time I did not chop the tomatoes first.  Recipe linked below

As an FYI, the salsa and the sauce drained out a lot of tiny pieces of tomatoes so be sure to have a really good strainer in the sink or you may have a mess in your drain. 
Thank you for visiting my canning cellar. Talk soon. Stay safe.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/spaghetti_sauce.html

https://laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/farm/stainless-milk-strainer.htm

Pizza Sauce, Update on Evelyn's Jam

What I used for equipment was my presto precise digital canner, my electronic postal scale,  a dutch oven stovetop pot, a jar lifter, a canning funnel, a measure cup, a de-bubbler, a strainer, a wooden spoon, a dish towel, a vinegar soaked lint free cloth, small serrated knife. 

What I used for ingredients: 

10 pounds tomatoes

3 tablespoons oil, and I had some store bought fancy oil that I used, fancy meaning it was an Italian flavored one that I bought it at Big Lots on the after Christmas clearance sale in January

4 chopped onions

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning

3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

4 tablespoons tomato paste

lemon juice

I filled the dutch oven pot almost half full of hot water and brought it to a simmer, then turned off the heat and put one layer of washed tomatoes in it, just long enough for the skins to start slipping off easily. Before I put them in the water I had scored each of them on one end with an x using the sharp knife. I used the jar lifter to take them out of the water, it only took about 30 seconds in the hot water. I put the oil into the emptied dutch oven pot and cooked the onions and garlic until the onions were translucent, added the spices, and then added the skinned and cored tomatoes. I had weighed the tomatoes before putting them into the hot water using my postage scale. I used my immersion blender to smush it all down. I let this cook down about an hour, stirring occasionally with the wooden spoon, then added the tomato paste. I then ladled the mixture into the hot canning jars, using the measure cup and funnel, de-bubbled them, and for this I used my actual canning de-bubbler but I’ve also been known to use other thin items that are not metal…the metal could be mean to the jar and cause a break if one is too rugged with the de-bubbling… I added 3/4 teaspoon bottled lemon juice to each jar, not for flavor but to ensure the correct acidity level for safe water bath processing. Then I wiped each rim with the vinegar soaked cloth to be sure they were clean of any sauce, then put on the lids and finger tightened the rings. I water bathed these for 25 minutes. I had found several different pint times so I took the longest, and even though I did quarter pints I still used the pint time which is what’s recommended. When the canning cycle was complete, I removed the canner cover and let the jars sit in the canner for about five minutes, just enough to let them simmer down a little so they didn’t spit at me. I used the jar lifter to remove them and set them on a dish towel. I ended up with 7 quarter pints, plus enough left over to put on two pieces of toast and a couple of crackers.

https://nchfp.uga.edu

French Onion Soup!

What I used for equipment was a large dutch frying pan, a large stock pot, a cutting board, a sharp knife, a canning funnel, a de-bubbler, a two cup measure cup, dish towels, potholders, the jar remover tongs and I ended up needing 9 quart jars. I used the Presto digital canner, again not good with the planning, which meant I had to do this in two batches of four quarts with one quart left over for the next day’s lunch, and I used the pressure canning cycle.

The ingredients I used were 7 pounds of onions, 6 quarts of our own previously canned beef broth, 4 tablespoons of beef base and the brand I have is by Maggi,  4 teaspoons steak sauce and 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, and four tablespoons butter.

While my husband peeled and sliced the onions, I got the broth going. It was very simple. I removed the solidified fat from the top of each quart of beef broth and emptied the broth into the stock pot. I don’t know if anyone else would have had to remove the extra fat, but because my husband can’t tolerate it I just didn’t add it. 

I added the beef base, the steak sauce and the Worcestershire sauce. 

I brought it to a simmer for a few minutes then shut it off. 

I cooked the sliced onions in the butter in the dutch frying pan on medium low until they were translucent, and meanwhile I had my jars going through the warming cycle in the canner because I was going to be putting in hot food. It’s always hot food, hot jars, hot water OR cold food, cold jars, cold water. 

When the onions were done, I measured two cups into each quart jar, filled with the broth, de-bubbled, and added more broth to one inch head space. I wiped each rim with a vinegar soaked paper towel, put on the lids and finger tightened the rings. I processed each batch for 75 minutes. I had some siphoning during processing but all the lids sealed. 

When my processing is done, I always remove the canner cover and just let the jars sit for about ten minutes. This helps if any jars are really bubbling because it gives them that little time to settle down a bit. I have removed bubbling jars immediately and had them spit at me around the lids and rings in protest. And I always set the hot jars on dish towels to help avoid any shock of extremely hot jars on the colder work table. 

The next day I removed the rings, washed the jars to remove any grease from the siphoning, and after they dried I labeled them and put them down in my canning cellar. 

“When any vegetable is damaged, its cells are ripped open. The plant often then tries to defend itself by releasing bitter-tasting chemicals called polyphenols that can be off-putting to hungry animals trying to eat it. But an onion’s defense mechanism goes further, producing an even more irritating chemical, propanthial s-oxide, meant to stop the plant being consumed by pests.” 

It’s been a while since I recommended Jamie’s amazing jar openers, which he makes using 3D technology. I absolutely can’t use anything else because my thumbs give me so much trouble. He gave me permission to put his contact info in the show description. I have no relationship with Jamie, just love his product.

Thank you for visiting my canning cellar. Talk soon. Stay safe. 

https://nchfp.uga.edu

https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/soup/soup-other-soup/easy-pressure-canned-french-onion-soup.html

https://theconversation.com/why-onions-make-us-cry-and-why-some-dont-84486

Jamie’s jar openers:  mwright93434@roadrunner.com 

Thanks for visiting my canning cellar. This is where I don't tell you how to can but rather just how I can. Of course everyone will use his or her best judgement after researching.



http:/nchfp.uga.edu

Welcome to my canning cellar!

What I used for equipment was a dutch oven pot, my Presto digital canner, a cutting board, a serrated lettuce knife, a canning funnel.

What I used for the product was romaine lettuce, I can’t remember how much I had, but am thinking at least three bunches. I used 6 cups of apple cider vinegar, 2 cups water and 1/2 cup of pickling salt. 

I mixed the brine mixture together and let it come to a boil, then let it cool down. Then I packed the lettuce very tightly into 6 pint jars and poured the brine into each jar to the inch head space. I wiped each rim with a vinegar cloth, put on the lids and finger tightened the rings. I don’t boil the lids, but I do wash and rinse them and then keep them in clean hot water until I’m ready to use them. I’ve seen many different approaches to lid readiness and I feel this is what I’m comfortable doing.

I processed the pints using the water bath cycle and let them process for ten minutes. Processing time starts after the water comes to a boil, and with the digital canner, I don’t need to keep an eye on it as the processing starts automatically when ready. 

The lettuce of course is a green, and greens wilt. I was however surprised at how much it wilted because I had the jars really well jam packed. 

Now this was 6 months ago, but my husband just opened a jar to try. He said it tasted like lettuce but in a vinegary greens way. He ate it plain like one would spinach. He likes a lot of vinegar taste so it was good to him, but I found it too tart for my liking. And even though the lettuce wilted up to about 1/2 way in each jar, I definitely would do this again. 

https://nchfp.uga.edu/
https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/varieties-and-types-of-lettuce-article
https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/school-nutrition/pdf/fact-sheet-lettuce.pdf

Welcome to my canning cellar, season 2 episode 12. I don’t tell you how to can but rather how I can. Please do your own research as sometimes I will stray off into untested territories, and by untested, I mean by the USDA or the National Center for Home Food Preservation. I sometimes will go by the results from experienced home canners.

I had both white and brown rice and I canned them in separate jars as my husband prefers the white and I prefer the brown. 

The ingredients I used were rice, just rice, oh and water to cook it in. I used three 1 pound bags of long cooking brown rice and three 1 pound bags of long cooking white rice. 

The items I used were two large dutch oven pots, a measure cup, a long thin handled wooden spoon, a canning funnel, a jar lifter, and my digital canner.

I cooked each type of rice according to the package instructions. I did not rinse or drain either  after cooking. 

Using the canning funnel, I filled each warmed jar with the hot rice, and I used pint jars. Each cooked bag of white made 4 pints full and each cooked bag of brown made 3 pints full. At first, I made just one bag each, but for the second and last round, I cooked two bags of each at a time. The white rice was rather clumpy at the bottom of the dutch oven pot so I kept about two pints worth out and froze that. Rice freezes rather well.

After filling each jar I used the handle of the wooden spoon to both push it down and remove air. Even though I packed them pretty well, each jar ended up compressing a bit. I then wiped the rims with a vinegar paper towel, I finger tightened the rings and I fit 7 jars at a time in the Presto digital canner. I should’ve thought ahead and used my larger stove top canner to do more at a time. 

I processed each batch at 20 minutes on the pressure canning cycle.

https://nchfp.uga.edu

https://www.foodandwine.com/news/7-things-you-never-knew-about-rice

Tomato Soup!

tomatoes, probably 14 various sizes, whole, peeled, just top part of core removed 

2 cups bottled tomato juice

1 onion, diced or minced as small as you'd like

9 tablespoons butter, divided

2 cups half and half

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon basil

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

For equipment I used a strainer, a dutch oven pot, my immersion blender, a wooden spoon, my digital canner, and ended up using 7 pint jars with lids and rings.

Put tomatoes and tomato juice in pot to cook down. Use immersion blender to smooth out. Add onions and garlic that were softened in 3 tablespoons butter, and then add basil, sugar, salt, pepper.

Make roux with half and half and flour in 6 tablespoons butter. Use immersion blender to smooth. Add to the tomato mixture. 

I filled the warmed pint jars, wiped the rims, put on the lids and finger tightened the rings. I processed these using the water bath cycle for 30 minutes. It was very easy, the hardest part was the handling of the freezing cold tomatoes.

Home canned sloppy joes!

The ingredients I used were 4 pounds ground hamburg, 2 cups chopped onions, 6 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, 3 cups ketchup, 1/2 cup water, 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 4 tablespoons brown sugar and 4 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard, not dry mustard. 

The items I used were my Presto Precise digital canner, a canning funnel, a de-bubbler tool, a vinegar soaked paper towel, a jar lifter, and 5 pint jars with lids and rings. I also used the largest frying pan I have and mom’s old dutch oven pot.

First I got my jars warming in the digital canner, and put the lids to just rest in a pot of hot water just to soften up the rim material. I don’t boil my lids as my research says there’s no need to. 

I then got all the hamburg cooking with the onions. I didn’t break the hamburg up as much as I did when I canned plain hamburg as I thought maybe this on top of pressure canning would allow the meat to stay a bit less mushy. I also didn’t cook the hamburg completely through, maybe about 90% done. Then I drained the meat and onions, keeping the drippings to add to the dog’s and cat’s food. I dumped the meat mixture into the large dutch oven pot and added all the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for about ten minutes. 

By this time, the warming cycle was done so I pulled out my jars one by one and filled them using the canning funnel. I left them just below the one inch headspace mark because experience tells me that it could bubble up quite a bit. I ran the de-bubbler tool along the inside of each jar and topped each off as needed. I got 5 full pints plus about 1/2 cup left over to put into the fridge. 

I wiped each rim with the vinegar soaked paper towel, put on the lids, and finger tightened the rings. Because this is a meat product, I had to process the pints for 75 minutes. 

Welcome to My Canning Cellar, Season 2, Episode 9.

Welcome to Season 2,  Episode 8



https://www.walmart.com/ip/Salsa-Mix-Mild-3-Of-1-06-Oz-Pouches/124953903

https://nchfp.uga.edu

https://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/snacks/dips_and_sauces/history_of_salsa_sauce_the_mexican_connection.html