Re: Canning Questions
zxcvbob
> Okay, we have some canning experts here... I haven't done any
> preserving or canning since I was a teenager, and my mother never used
> a water bath - she only ever made jam and chutney and high-acid sauces
> that preserved themselves. Now I read that EVERYTHING should be boiled
> for safety's sake... Anyway, I want to get some supplies to try it. I
> already have a set of nesting stockpots with the largest being
> 15litres. I have a round cake cooler that nests inside it and I use it
> for making steamed Christmas pudding (I can't use it for actual food
> because some of the metal on the rack annodised off in the boiling
> water and I don't trust it!) Can I use this pot and nesting rack to do
> canning if I buy a jar-lifter to get the bottles out again? If I need
> an actual canning rack, could I use that in the stockpot? It's all a
> big mystery to me, but we haven't got the space (or the money) to buy
> extra kitchen equipment unless I'm going to use them a LOT.
Notice that I crossposted to r.f.p
You can do boiling-water bath canning ("BWB") using a stockpot with a
rack in the bottom if it's deep enough to cover the jars. A jar
lifter is almost a necessity. A magnet-on-a-stick is also handy for
lifting lids out simmering water when you are ready for them. Both
are really cheap accessories you can buy wherever you get canning jars.
You can also do BWB canning in a pressure cooker/canner by leaving the
vent open so it doesn't pressurize. Just fill with boiling water up to
the shoulders of the jars if it's not tall enough to fully submerge
them. (Begin timing when steam starts pouring out of the vent)
What do you want to can? Some things need to be processed in a
pressure canner.
Bob
Kajikit
wrote:
I didn't know there WAS a preserving newsgroup... I don't want to do
anything fancy. I just want to do jam/jelly and chutney and stuff like
that that's easy. I adore chutney and it costs a fortune to buy, and I
go through salsa like nobody's business, so it would be fun to make my
own. If my stockpot will work it would save a lot of money and space,
both of which are at a premium in my apartment.
Okay, so assuming that the stockpot will work, what equipment do I
need to buy? Amazon has about twenty-five different 'canning supply'
sets at prices ranging from ten bucks to a hundred. Do you get what
you pay for? Or are they pretty much of a muchness aside from how
pretty they look?
--
My website - http://www.kajikitscorner.com
My cooking blog - http://kajikit.wordpress.com
My crafty blog - http://kajikit.blogspot.com
zxcvbob
>
> I didn't know there WAS a preserving newsgroup... I don't want to do
> anything fancy. I just want to do jam/jelly and chutney and stuff like
> that that's easy. I adore chutney and it costs a fortune to buy, and I
> go through salsa like nobody's business, so it would be fun to make my
> own. If my stockpot will work it would save a lot of money and space,
> both of which are at a premium in my apartment.
>
> Okay, so assuming that the stockpot will work, what equipment do I
> need to buy? Amazon has about twenty-five different 'canning supply'
> sets at prices ranging from ten bucks to a hundred. Do you get what
> you pay for? Or are they pretty much of a muchness aside from how
> pretty they look?
You want something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-10720-4-piece-canning-utensil/dp/B000SN0W7K
and a copy of the _Ball Blue Book_, or _Ball Home Canning Guide_, or
whatever they are calling it these days. It's an inexpensive
paperback that gets republished every couple of years. Should cost
about $6 or $8. Study the first couple of chapters.
(I don't know what that little spatula-looking thing is in the kit,
but the other 3 items are essentials)
You can probably buy all this at Walmart or Target or FleetFarm (etc.)
Bob
Virginia Tadrzynski
"zxcvbob" <zxc...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:7ldoviF...@mid.individual.net...
The little magnet on a stick to get the lids out of the sterilizing water is
actually cheaper if you go to a big box hardware store and buy the magnet on
a stick to pick up screws and nails. In the cooking aisles they give it
some high-faluting name and charge you double for the same thing. I do a
lot of 'kitchen' gadget buying in the hardware.....like a rubberized dead
blow hammer for a meat tenderizer....works wonders and is fully immersible.
-ginny
Wilson
magnet on a telescoping handle collapses to the size of a pen. These are
very strong for the size and double for getting rings you drop behind the
stove ;-)
--
Wilson 44.69, -67.3
Marilyn
I think the little spatula-looking thing is used for getting the bubbles out
of the jars before you put the lids on. Personally, I use the plastic
handle from a bowl scraper/spatula. When the rubber or silicone part wears
out, I toss that and keep the handle.
> You can probably buy all this at Walmart or Target or FleetFarm (etc.)
>
> Bob
--
-Marilyn
Melba's Jammin'
Kajikit <kaj...@jagcon.com> wrote:
> I didn't know there WAS a preserving newsgroup... I don't want to do
> anything fancy. I just want to do jam/jelly and chutney and stuff like
> that that's easy. I adore chutney and it costs a fortune to buy, and I
> go through salsa like nobody's business, so it would be fun to make my
> own. If my stockpot will work it would save a lot of money and space,
> both of which are at a premium in my apartment.
>
> Okay, so assuming that the stockpot will work, what equipment do I
> need to buy? Amazon has about twenty-five different 'canning supply'
> sets at prices ranging from ten bucks to a hundred. Do you get what
> you pay for? Or are they pretty much of a muchness aside from how
> pretty they look?
AFAICS, you don't need anything more to get started----although I strongly
recommend a canning funnel (large bottom opening to accommodate chunky
stuff and big pieces going into the jar) and a jar lifter. You want to
move your jars into and out of the canner with straight up and down
movement so you don't tilt the jar. Regular tongs make it a little more
difficult to manage that, IMO.
Get the Ball Blue Book -- maybe $6-7. Or the Complete Book of Home
Preserving by the Jarden/Ball folks--there are about 17 different salsa
recipes in it.
I recommend using a tested and blessed recipe for salsa, Karen; the old
ways may not be acidic enough to satisfy current recommendations.
Tomatoes are now considered to be borderline safe for simple waterbath
processing and when you throw low-acid vegetables (peppers and onions)
into the mix, you're swimming in murky waters. Make half (or a third)
of a recipe to see if you like it. There's a new BBB out this year -
it's the 100th anniversary for it. And check out www.uga.edu/nchfp for
the most current info on the whole topic of food preservation.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller - Who Said Chickens Have Fingers?
10-30-2009
Melba's Jammin'
zxcvbob <zxc...@charter.net> wrote:
> You want something like this:
> http://www.amazon.com/Ball-10720-4-piece-canning-utensil/dp/B000SN0W7K
>
> and a copy of the _Ball Blue Book_, or _Ball Home Canning Guide_, or
> whatever they are calling it these days. It's an inexpensive
> paperback that gets republished every couple of years. Should cost
> about $6 or $8. Study the first couple of chapters.
>
> (I don't know what that little spatula-looking thing is in the kit,
> but the other 3 items are essentials)
Without even looking at it, I'm betting it is to release air bubbles
from a mixture. Oy. A chopstick (or a plastic picnic knife) will do
the same thing.
zxcvbob
>
> I recommend using a tested and blessed recipe for salsa, Karen; the old
> ways may not be acidic enough to satisfy current recommendations.
> Tomatoes are now considered to be borderline safe for simple waterbath
> processing and when you throw low-acid vegetables (peppers and onions)
> into the mix, you're swimming in murky waters. Make half (or a third)
> of a recipe to see if you like it. There's a new BBB out this year -
> it's the 100th anniversary for it. And check out www.uga.edu/nchfp for
> the most current info on the whole topic of food preservation.
Here's the salsa recipe I use. I use all jalape�os and/or Serranos
(with the seeds) for the peppers. I like it hot, and they don't have
to be roasted and peeled. Two pounds of wimpy grocery store jalape�os
will give a nice "medium" salsa.
If I'm using fresh tomatoes and they are especially juicy, I add a
8-oz can of tomato sauce. Not necessary with Roma (etc.) tomatoes.
My next experiment is to use a #10 can of whole tomatoes or crushed
tomatoes -- less than $3 from Sam's Club.
/Bob
Chile Salsa
(from USDA bulletin 539) yield: 6 to 8 pints
5 pounds tomatoes
2 pounds chile peppers
1 pound onions, chopped
1 cup vinegar (5%) [I use 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 bottled lemon juice]
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper [I also like to add a big pinch of dried mint]
Roast and peel peppers if they have tough skins; remove seeds and
stems, chop. Scald and peel tomatoes; chop. Combine all ingredients
in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into
pint jars, leave 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in
boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Kathi Jones
"Marilyn" <return.t...@address.unknown.net> wrote in message
news:hcspcs$jur$1...@tioat.net...
you guys are gonna freak when I say this, but I don't even do that! I pick
the jar up and knock it on the counter a few times - bubbles rise to the
top...
Kathi
Melba's Jammin'
"Kathi Jones" <kat...@storm.ca> wrote:
> "Marilyn" <return.t...@address.unknown.net> wrote in message
(snip)
> > I think the little spatula-looking thing is used for getting the
> > bubbles out of the jars before you put the lids on. Personally, I
(snip
> you guys are gonna freak when I say this, but I don't even do that! I pick
> the jar up and knock it on the counter a few times - bubbles rise to the
> top...
>
> Kathi
I'm tellin' Elizabeth, Kathi! Yer gonna git it!
George Shirley
I do too Kathi, smack it on a folded tea towel on the counter.
Marilyn
news:oO-dnS6c1tjhFW7X...@storm.ca...
>> I think the little spatula-looking thing is used for getting the bubbles
>> out
>> of the jars before you put the lids on. Personally, I use the plastic
>> handle from a bowl scraper/spatula. When the rubber or silicone part
>> wears
>> out, I toss that and keep the handle.
>
>
> you guys are gonna freak when I say this, but I don't even do that! I
> pick the jar up and knock it on the counter a few times - bubbles rise to
> the top...
>
> Kathi
Freak out is right! Yikes.
--
-Marilyn
Kathi Jones
"George Shirley" <gsh...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:GM2dnSfBtOAqE27X...@giganews.com...
just gently of course... :)
oh, I feel so much better, now that I've got that off my chest! LOL
Melba's Jammin'
"Kathi Jones" <kat...@storm.ca> wrote:
I've made a notation in my files.
George Shirley
> In article <MLydnfzABL2BdmnX...@storm.ca>,
> "Kathi Jones" <kat...@storm.ca> wrote:
>
>> "George Shirley" <gsh...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
>> news:GM2dnSfBtOAqE27X...@giganews.com...
>>> Kathi Jones wrote:
>
>>>> you guys are gonna freak when I say this, but I don't even do that! I
>>>> pick the jar up and knock it on the counter a few times - bubbles rise to
>>>> the top...
>>>>
>>>> Kathi
>>> I do too Kathi, smack it on a folded tea towel on the counter.
>> just gently of course... :)
>>
>> oh, I feel so much better, now that I've got that off my chest! LOL
>
> I've made a notation in my files.
Do not cause problems, the Father Inquisitor is watching you.
gloria.p
> Kathi Jones wrote:
>> you guys are gonna freak when I say this, but I don't even do that! I
>> pick the jar up and knock it on the counter a few times - bubbles rise
>> to the top...
>>
>> Kathi
>
> I do too Kathi, smack it on a folded tea towel on the counter.
You're gonna freak even more when I say I never noticed bubbles
in jam or jelly and if I had, I think I'd just ignore them.
Are they harmful if you're not looking for blue ribbons?
Are they nucleation sites for mold or bacteria or sumthin?
gloria p
Melba's Jammin'
"gloria.p" <gpue...@comcast.net> wrote:
> You're gonna freak even more when I say I never noticed bubbles
> in jam or jelly and if I had, I think I'd just ignore them.
>
> Are they harmful if you're not looking for blue ribbons?
> Are they nucleation sites for mold or bacteria or sumthin?
>
> gloria p
Not in jam and jelly and elsewhere only if they're moving.
Melba's Jammin'
> You're gonna freak even more when I say I never noticed bubbles
> in jam or jelly and if I had, I think I'd just ignore them.
> gloria p
IMO it's hard to avoid some bubbles in fruit butter. The bane of my
fruit butter efforts.
Kathi Jones
"Melba's Jammin'" <barbsc...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:barbschaller-5169...@news.iphouse.com...
uh oh, I'm in trouble now........ ;)
Kathi
jimnginger
> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> > I recommend using a tested and blessed recipe for salsa, Karen; the old
> > ways may not be acidic enough to satisfy current recommendations.
> > Tomatoes are now considered to be borderline safe for simple waterbath
> > processing and when you throw low-acid vegetables (peppers and onions)
> > into the mix, you're swimming in murky waters. Make half (or a third)
> > of a recipe to see if you like it. There's a new BBB out this year -
> > it's the 100th anniversary for it. And check outwww.uga.edu/nchfpfor
> > the most current info on the whole topic of food preservation.
>
> (with the seeds) for the peppers. I like it hot, and they don't have
> will give a nice "medium" salsa.
>
> If I'm using fresh tomatoes and they are especially juicy, I add a
> 8-oz can of tomato sauce. Not necessary with Roma (etc.) tomatoes.
>
> My next experiment is to use a #10 can of whole tomatoes or crushed
> tomatoes -- less than $3 from Sam's Club.
>
> /Bob
>
> Chile Salsa
> (from USDA bulletin 539) yield: 6 to 8 pints
>
> 5 pounds tomatoes
> 2 pounds chile peppers
> 1 pound onions, chopped
> 1 cup vinegar (5%) [I use 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 bottled lemon juice]
> 3 tsp salt
> 1/2 tsp pepper [I also like to add a big pinch of dried mint]
>
> Roast and peel peppers if they have tough skins; remove seeds and
> stems, chop. Scald and peel tomatoes; chop. Combine all ingredients
> in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle into
> pint jars, leave 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in
> boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Be careful in making such recipes UNLESS you taste them as you are
going along.
2 pounds of chile peppers, of the type many of us grow now, are too
hot but are all in
vogue, would simply be too hot to eat. I have 2 neighbors that grow
such hot peppers all
the time but won't eat a single one of them. The only people in their
yards that will eat them
when offered, are the uninformed who are laughed at when they put one
of those "pretty little
peppers" in their mouth.
The habaneros, Caribbean reds, scotch bonnets, grey ghost peppers,
Thai peppers, etc. (and a hundred others) must be measured
in GRAM quantities for such recipe, and not pounds.
If you include sweet bell peppers in that amount, no harm done. If you
use all Habaneros, you
will have an interesting jar of salsa but no one (oh, maybe there will
be a few) will be able to
eat it. Those who do eat it that can't take it will swear at you under
their breath for pulling what
they will perceive as a dirty trick on them.
Jim in So. Calif.
itsjoannotjoann
>
>
> Be careful in making such recipes UNLESS you taste them as you are
> going along.
>
>
December.
zxcvbob
It's about right using all supermarket jalape�os (the big juicy
jalape�os without much heat.) The heat they do have asserts itself
after cooking. Add some serrano peppers or home-grown jalape�os for
more heat. Or use part banana peppers or bells for less heat (wimp).
I have a #10 can of crushed tomatoes and a pound each of jalapenos and
serranos; gonna try it this weekend when Wife is gone. She hates the
smell of peppers and vinegar when I make salsa. Also I gotta find
some pint jars. There's empty quart jars all over the house, I should
round those up...
Bob