Canning & Preserving 101

lisaphoto wrote:Someone suggested using no pectin, as ground cherries have a lot of it naturally

Wow, do they really? That's great! well, jam is usually softer gel than jelly...
Thanks for posting the recipe!!!

I remove them because that was how my Mom and Grandma canned. Guess I never really thought about it!

Lisa, I tried a batch of ground cherry 'jam' last year without pectin, and got ground cherry chunky syrup. YMMV, however.

Nonna.PapaVino wrote:Lisa, I tried a batch of ground cherry 'jam' last year without pectin, and got ground cherry chunky syrup. YMMV, however.

You can make your own pectin from apples if you don't want to use the boxed or bottled stuff, which usually requires quite a bit of sugar to set.

Thanks, CampRN, this website looks like a winner for easily made pectin: http://www.pickyourown.org/makeyourownpectin.htm Nonna

Nona on page 8 of this thread is another write-up of making your own pectin.

Thanks again, Camp. Now if someone can just tell me where to find some chokecherries to forage. My grandmother in the Salmon River country of Idaho made the BEST chokecherry syrup and jelly using homemade apple pectin. Western Oregon has elderberries, but I've yet to find chokecherries.

lisaphoto wrote:I was just reading a recipe for ground cherry jam, and the recipe calls for filling sterilized jars with boiling jam, inverting the jars for 5 minutes, and then cooling. Would this be a safe method even though you are skipping the water bath? And do you just sterilize the jars by boiling them in water? I am growing 5 ground cherry plants this year (if they all survive), and it is said they are heavy producers. I would love to make jam from them, but may not be able to invest in all the canning equipment this year, so I thought this would be a good alternative.

I would not utilize this method; while you can have success with it it may not be consistent. The boiling water bath is easy and reliable.

herblover wrote:

lisaphoto wrote: I would love to make jam from them, but may not be able to invest in all the canning equipment this year, so I thought this would be a good alternative.

I would not utilize this method; while you can have success with it it may not be consistent. The boiling water bath is easy and reliable.

+1

It's also a lot safer to use the water bath method.

Canning supplies (Jars, pots, etc. can often be found very cheaply at garage/yard sales, auctions, and even, gasp!, at the box stores. Our local Lowes didn't know what to do with their supplies last summer, so marked them all down. A local supermarket did the same thing just to make shelf space. I would also check thrift stores, secondhand stores, and the like.

The only caution is that a flat bottom encapsulated stock pot is best for ceramic/glass top stoves.
O/W, granitewear/enamelware works just fine.

I also suggest attending a canning class. At the class I attended, I was cautioned against being creative and using old recipes that have not been tested in modern kitchens by experts.

Tom

Bump

At Amazon today, the price on a 23 quart presto pressure canner is down to $75 and free shipping.

23 Quart Pressure Canner

Thank you camprn! Just saw this today - great price, so order has been placed. Now if I can just get enough green beans to grow... ha ha.

Hello, I am in Dallas and want to know how I can preserve my hot peppers. Can you help me. Thanks

jillintx wrote:Thank you camprn! Just saw this today - great price, so order has been placed. Now if I can just get enough green beans to grow... ha ha.

Hi Richard, and welcome! I'm just learning how to can, so I really do not know. We have a few people on here that have quite a bit of experience, so hopefully one of them will be able to help you. Sounds like you had success with growing hot peppers - that's great! My successes are slow to show up, but I am learning so much along the way and having a great time with it. I'm sure you'll get an answer on preserving hot peppers in a little bit - this is a very friendly, helpful group.

Happy gardening!
Jill

Richard, here's a recipe I've used to can jalapenos, though I've since added some minced garlic:

PICKLED JALAPENO PEPPERS
Altered by Nonna from Original recipe at COOKS.COM

4 cups vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup water
1 carrot cut into coins
Fresh jalapenos
Canning salt
Bay leaves, broken
Mexican oregano

Wash peppers. and slice 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Pack loosely in an 8 oz canning jar with a few slices of carrot; add 1/2 tsp mixed bay/oregano and 1/2 tsp canning salt to each jar.

Heat vinegar/oil/water to a boil and pour over peppers in each sterilized jar. Wipe jar rims with cloth dipped in boiling water. Place jar lids and rings, and tighten rings.

Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

NOTE: The oil is essential to this recipe.

I took a lot of eggplant out of the garden this morning and this particular vegetable is of course best when fresh. The only way to can it safely is pickle, and I didn't want to do that. So, we are dehydrating about 5 pounds of eggplant.

hi camp

those are some pretty eggplants im not fond of the taste of them.....but....we tried to grow some last year because i think they are so pretty and i wanted to try fresh out of the garden to see if the taste improves that way

the plant grew a few of them ....but something loved them more then i do and ate the inside out....you couldnt even tell that it was hollow until you picked it

so i never did get to taste a fresh eggplant.....maybe i will try again next year....it might do better now that we have a small green house too

this is our first year of dehydrating and im really enjoying it!...so far we have only dehydrated herbs, spinach, kale, swiss chard and onions....it really is a nice way of presearving (SP?) and it works out if you only have a small batch of something too....

hugs
rose......

oh forgot to ask....do you put them up in a jar after they are dry?....and do you do anything special to the jar like put in a oxygen absorber or anything like that?

I abhorred eggplant before I tasted a fresh one out of the garden. there is just nothing like it. I will keep the dehydrated pieces in either a plastic zip closed storage bag or an airtight glass jar. I do not use any kind of desiccant (silica gel pack) inside the package.

Camp, do you know anything about the pressure cooker you listed at the top of this page:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000BYCFU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=cayeon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000BYCFU

Is it of decent enough quality?? Other suggestions?

RoOsTeR wrote:Camp, do you know anything about the pressure cooker you listed at the top of this page:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000BYCFU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=cayeon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0000BYCFU

Is it of decent enough quality?? Other suggestions?

It's a Presto and good quality for the money! They have been making pressure cookers/canners for generations.

In reading the wiki link, I see they have other interesting and unrelated subsections of manufacturing. Who knew?

This one's pretty darn nice too. http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/All-American-921-21.5-quart-Pressure-Canner-Cooker/4396171/product.html?cid=202290&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&kw={keyword}&adtype=pla and there's one on ebay right now.

Schnikies! That's a little deep for my currently shallow wallet

My mother just happened to be here and I showed her the pressure cooker. She pretty much said the same...they've been around forever and her's is also a Presto. She's really trying to egg me on into getting started in canning.

RoOsTeR wrote:Schnikies! That's a little deep for my currently shallow wallet

My mother just happened to be here and I showed her the pressure cooker. She pretty much said the same...they've been around forever and her's is also a Presto. She's really trying to egg me on into getting started in canning.

Well, you should listen to your Mamma! She KNOWS! Nothing quite like opening a can of summertime tomatoes or peaches in January!

Yes I should! She's a very smart cookie I remember all the canning going on in my younger days. I also remember pantries and cupboards full of all kinds of good stuff not only at our house but my grandmothers and great grandmothers as well.
I'm in the planning stages for next years garden and really wanting to be able to grow more in hopes of putting up more

Your eggplant looks great camp

Re: Presto and All American canners. I've owned both: a Presto for about 20 years, and for last 10 years an All American, which has been a very reliable, easy-to-use canner. The AA doesn't use a rubber seal; it has big screws that seal the lid to the body and reminds PapaVino of the seals in the submarine he served aboard in 50's. As to these canners: I'd recommend either one.

10 pounds of fresh eggplant, after dehydration, fits into a quart jar.