Canning?

I'm cheating and buying boxes of tomatoes from the farmer's market. The nine jars I canned last week were more red than the lady who was helping me had ever seen, thanks to gorgeous heirloom tomatoes! Next week I'm picking up two more boxes! *happy dance* Salsa, here I come!

Megan wrote: In the meantime... I cracked open my first jar of garlic jelly today, and oh boy, is it good!

Did you eat it on everything?

miinva wrote:I'm cheating and buying boxes of tomatoes from the farmer's market. The nine jars I canned last week were more red than the lady who was helping me had ever seen, thanks to gorgeous heirloom tomatoes! Next week I'm picking up two more boxes! *happy dance* Salsa, here I come!

Don't fret, you are supporting your local farmer! I did the same thing last week, I bought 36 pounds of tomatoes to put up a big batch of salsa all at once, though I am continuing to put up tomatoes as they come out of the garden. I picked a peck of toms yesterday and put up 4 pints of tomatoes and 3 pints of tomato juice. Also canned 4 pints of dilly beans and 3 pints of kosher dill spears.

Thank you That's what I keep telling myself.

How do you do tomato juice? I've thought about doing it because I love tomato juice and V8

When I prep the Gilbertie paste tomatoes, they are really juicy AND meaty. I peel them then take the seeds out and into the colander the seed and juice go, the colander is sitting a bowl straining the juice from the seed. I pour the seed into a small bowl. Then when I cut up the tomatoes (I don't can them whole) they go in the colander and more juice drains through, then I give the tomato chunks a good squeeze, more juice. This reduces the time I have to cook the tomatoes down to a consistency I want to can.
Now to prep tomato juice for canning, put it into a nonreactive kettle and heat to 190F, do not boil. For quarts, have clean jars ready and put 2 TBSP bottled lemon juice into jar. I add 1/4 tsp salt, fill jar leaving 1/2 inch head space, wipe rims and cap. For pints add 1 TBSP bottled lemon juice. Process in BWB for 25 minutes.
The juice will separate after cooling, but you just shake it up. YUM!

Thank you!

miinva wrote:
How do you do tomato juice? I've thought about doing it because I love tomato juice and V8

I have a chinois food strainer (the big cone-shaped strainer with a wooden pestle that fits in a stand). I have always made my tomato juice using that.

I wash and quarter tomatoes (no need to peel them), place them in a large kettle and simmer until soft. I place the chinois stand inside/over a large dishpan and carefully ladle the hot tomatoes into the strainer. When two-thirds full I get a firm hold on the handle of the strainer, and with the other hand I hold the wooden pestle by the knob on top, force it to the bottom of the strainer, and turn it round and round inside the strainer to force the juice and pulp through the strainer. The seeds and skins are left behind. When all the juice is extracted I dump the seeds and skins, and repeat the process until all the tomatoes are juiced. It works very fast and does a great job.

Then I follow the instructions in the Ball canning book to can the juice.

LOL, I should have been more clear in my post. The juice was a by-product of putting up the tomatoes.

You guys have really inspired me to give it a go! I tried this recipe with some of my okra.

Spicy Pickled Okra
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/08/spicy-pickled-okra-recipe.html

The recipe made 4 pints and was very, very good (if you like spicy pickled okra ).
I made these Monday. I gave one jar to my daughter. Bob and I broke into 1 jar Thursday night and almost finished it off! I think I was almost too late in grabbing a picture of them!



I will definitely try these again. I'm growing some burgundy okra for this fall and I'm thinking about trying them in this recipe.

Thanks again to all you canners out there for your encouragement and inspiration!
Jane

Go Jane!!!

Congrats, Jane.

I've only canned several years, but one thing I learned real fast: don't put labels on the jars destined for my use-they are a booger to clean off. Do your writing on the throw away lids as much as possible!

boffer wrote:Congrats, Jane.

I've only canned several years, but one thing I learned real fast: don't put labels on the jars destined for my use-they are a booger to clean off. Do your writing on the throw away lids as much as possible!

THANK YOU. Any tips for getting stickers off the jars???

Goo Gone or WD 40

a little vegetable oil will remove a lot of labels...

Thanks everyone!!!

Oooh, Boffer, I had not even thought about the sticky label! Writing on the lid sounds like a great idea and a good use of the many colored Sharpies daughter left behind when she went off to college. They seem to last forever!

Jane

Jane, I've never canned burgundy okra, so I'm not sure it would be the same, but I once tried making dilly beans from burgundy beans. It was not a pretty sight. The beans turned green as they usually do when heated, but the "dark" pigment sort of dissolved into the pickling water - maybe it set it, like adding salt to dye? They tasted fine, but definitely not worthy of giving away.

Your okra looks great.

Thanks Ander! I'm going to try cooking with them first to get a feel for how they might do.

Should be interesting!

Jane