Summer Canning and Food Preserving 2017

[RiverRock]

This year I want to try to stay on top of canning and food preserving. I primarily can, freeze, and use a dehydrator for summer produce.

Last week I canned six half-pints of rhubarb chutney. I tried a new recipe and it was so good that a few days ago I picked up a dozen samosas from a local Indian sweet shop so we would have something to eat the chutney with. I think it will also taste good with grilled meat or as a condiment on a charcuterie board with meats and cheeses. :yum

What have you been preserving?

[Mother of Sons]

I only got to make one batch of lilac jelly before the blossoms were gone. It's my favorite jelly ever. StrWberry season is coming so I will probably make a lot of strawberry jam.

[RiverRock]

I've never tried lilac jelly. I'm curious now. I really like floral gem candies, so I would probably like lilac jelly. :yes

When cleaning out my freezer last week, I found two ice cream buckets of strawberries mixed with sugar ready to be made into jam. I made the jam today and have 7 pints cooling on my counter. I used the long boil method which is tedious but makes a delicious jam with more fruit than sugar.

[The Tickle Momster]

Can you tell me more about the long boil method? I've never heard of it. :think

[kklibrarian]

I am in the midst of mayhaw jelly making right now. Next will be blueberry jams and preserves. Probably will do some watermelon rind preserves soon. Late July/August will be figs. The last sweet jam of the season will be prickly pear jelly in late August or early September. I make preserves and can year round and sell the bounty at farmers market. I am trying my hand at creating drinking and culinary vinegars infused with herbs I grow to expand my product offerings at market. Making your own vinegar is not very hard. It just takes time and patience. :)

[RiverRock]

I need to google mayhaw. I've had hawthorne bushes in my yard, but I only had tiny berries. It sounds like yours might be the size of crabapples. Interesting. :think

I tried to make herbed oils once, but the herbs started to rot. :sick Vinegar sounds like a better way to go!

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Can you tell me more about the long boil method? I've never heard of it. :think

It might be the method you already use. It's the method I grew up with my mom and grandma using. You cook the fruit with sugar and sometimes a bit of lemon juice, making sure to include some unripened fruit for pectin. After about 40 minutes of a low rolling boil you do a gel test before putting the jam into hot jars and sealing. To do the gel test I keep a plate in the freezer and put a small teaspoon on the "frozen" plate to see if the jam gels when cooled. This method uses less sugar than regular Certo/pectin added recipes, and is a slower paced process (there is good and bad in that ;)).

[The Tickle Momster]

Thank you! I would love to be able to do it with less sugar. I use the Ball Blue book but hate that most of the recipes are more sugar than fruit and so, haven't done much jams in ages. Do you use a ratio of fruit to sugar?

[RiverRock]

I use Bernardin books (I have two of them) for my recipes. If it is a certain fruit, I can tell you what my book suggests.

[The Tickle Momster]

I don't have anything on hand at the moment, so no rush. I'm hoping for strawberries soon.

I'll have bosc pears and plums later this summer.

[CelticJourney]

Ok, so I've made peach butter, blueberry butter, strawberry butter and apple butter. What's really good is peach-bluebery-strawberry butter:)

Has anyone ever made watermelon butter? Seems like it would take a couple of them but it sounds good.:shrug3

[Mother of Sons]

I think watermelon is a bit controversial because it's fairly low acid.

[Soliloquy]

I use Bernardin books (I have two of them) for my recipes. If it is a certain fruit, I can tell you what my book suggests.

Does your book have thimbleberry? The only thing I plan to can is thimbleberrry jam. If it doesn't, raspberry is probably the closest fruit.

Going to freeze lots of strawberries, blueberries, and huckleberries. Maybe make elderberry syrup.

[The Tickle Momster]

Well, I canned 31 pint jars of chicken on Thursday.

I needed freezer space so I long boiled some beef bones. Came away with 18 quarts of broth. Second batch is in the canner now.

I bought a flat of strawberries, but they turned into shortcake and 2 strawberry-rubarb pie. Planning to freeze one. Anyone have tips? I've never done it before.

[RiverRock]

I bought a flat of strawberries, but they turned into shortcake and 2 strawberry-rubarb pie. Planning to freeze one. Anyone have tips? I've never done it before.

I always freeze pies assembled, but not cooked. If the pan is small enough, I put the pie in a ziplock bag, if it is bigger, I use a plastic shopping bag. With the shopping bag I put the pie down flat to the bottom of the bag, and then lightly twist the handles before tying so it is somewhat fitted. I use sticker labels to write the type of pie and date before freezing. I bake the pies from frozen, but not in a preheated oven because the temperature change would be too drastic.


Does your book have thimbleberry? The only thing I plan to can is thimbleberrry jam. If it doesn't, raspberry is probably the closest fruit.


Berry Jam

9 cups crushed berries (2250 ml)
6 cups granulated sugar (1500 ml)

Cook 20 minutes or until it passes the gel test.

yields 7x250 ml jars

[The Tickle Momster]

I always freeze pies assembled, but not cooked. If the pan is small enough, I put the pie in a ziplock bag, if it is bigger, I use a plastic shopping bag. With the shopping bag I put the pie down flat to the bottom of the bag, and then lightly twist the handles before tying so it is somewhat fitted. I use sticker labels to write the type of pie and date before freezing. I bake the pies from frozen, but not in a preheated oven because the temperature change would be too drastic.


I already baked it. :doh I think I will use the grocery bag idea though. :yes :tu

[Soliloquy]

My grandma used to make a large batch of pie filling, portion it into freezer bags, and then freeze each bag in a pie pan. Once it was frozen she'd pop the bag out of the pie pan and stack them in the freezer. They'd then be frozen in the correct shape and volume.

I don't know if she froze pie crusts. :think. I never saw her do that. But I imagine you could do it the same way the freeze grocery store crusts.

[CelticJourney]

I think watermelon is a bit controversial because it's fairly low acid.I saw something on the net about adding apple juice. Does that help? OR has anyone tried mixing watermelon with some other fruit....thinking strawberries...or peaches...those are in season here now.

Any thoughts?

[RiverRock]

I already baked it. :doh I think I will use the grocery bag idea though. :yes :tu

I'm sure it will turn out great.

My mom and grandma canned pie filling, but I only used the canned filling they gave me for cobblers. I tend to make enough pies throughout the summer to always have them on hand when needed.

[Sparrow]

I've read not to can on an induction stove. Has anyone tried it??

[kklibrarian]

Thanks to climate change, figs are coming ripe now. I did six jars of whole fig preserves yesterday. Probably going to do another couple of jars today. I got blackberries from my sister and will be doing blackberry lavender jelly before market this weekend. I also have to get local strawberries so that I can make the fig/strawberry jam with the figs that were too ripe for preserves.

[Soliloquy]

I've read not to can on an induction stove. Has anyone tried it??

Glass top? Technically you're not supposed to. You'll void your warranty, if there still is one. The canner, filled with water, jars, and food, is too heavy. But I know people who do it with no problems.

I'd look up the manual for your stove.

[Sparrow]

I've heard it's more to donwoth the cycling of the burners and not preserving properly? I have a propane burner that is good for canning but it's so hot outside!

[bananacake]

Whole Foods had corn, 10 ears for a dollar. Can it be frozen raw? Or blanched?


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[The Tickle Momster]

Whole Foods had corn, 10 ears for a dollar. Can it be frozen raw? Or blanched?


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No idea, but I'm totally jealous of those prices! I haven't seen corn for less than 4/$1 in years!

[bananacake]

I haven't either! Whole Foods has these crazy sales every once in a while. I'll never forget getting chicken legs for 59 cents a pound last year!


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[The Tickle Momster]

I haven't either! Whole Foods has these crazy sales every once in a while. I'll never forget getting chicken legs for 59 cents a pound last year!


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:jawdrop

[Mother of Sons]

I can on a glass top. My stove manual says it's fine as long as the canner fits the burner. They say not to use a ripple bottom Canner but I do with no issues. Boiling is boiling.

[CelticJourney]

Saw this today on my facebook feed and remembered this thread https://thehomesteadsurvival.com/can-food-glass-cook-top/

[Soliloquy]

Freezing pies-- at the blueberry farm the other day they were selling frozen pies. They were not baked. Directions were 450° for 10 minutes, turn down to 350° for 30-35 minutes. They were 8 inch pies in disposable aluminum pans.

[RiverRock]

Does anyone have a recipe for pickled wasabi beans? I have beans cut to fit into 500ml jars, but I haven't found a good recipe yet for the brine.

[charla]

I don't do much preserving, but I have been making refrigerator dill pickles pretty much every week of the summer. They are so yummy to have on hand. I also bought cherry tomato plants by accident instead of the big tomatoes. We don't much care for cherry tomatoes so I've been freezing them to add to soups and sauces. Is there a foolproof way to loosen and remove the skins on the tomatoes before putting them in soups or sauces? I hate tomato skins ruining the texture of my smooth soups.

[RiverRock]

I don't do much preserving, but I have been making refrigerator dill pickles pretty much every week of the summer. They are so yummy to have on hand...Is there a foolproof way to loosen and remove the skins on the tomatoes before putting them in soups or sauces? I hate tomato skins ruining the texture of my smooth soups.

I might try refrigerator pickles because my plants are slowly producing and I don't think I will have enough to fill a canner full at any one time. Can you share your recipe and tips?

For the cherry tomatoes, I wonder if the skins will easily release when they are defrosted? Another idea is to put them all in a slow cooker, and after they are cooked you can strain out the skins. This is what I do to remove pits from small plums.

When I can tomatoes I cut a little x at the "pointy" end, dip them in scalding water, and then after they have cooled the skins slip right off. That sounds like a lot of work for cherry tomatoes, though.

[charla]

I loosely use a pickle canning recipe (3 cups vinegar, 3 cups water, 1 cup pickling salt, dill weed and garlic for the top of the jars) and for one quart jar of pickles, I usually boil together 1 1/4 cups filtered water, 1 1/4 cups vinegar, 1/4 cup canning salt, one peeled clove of garlic, a few peppercorns, granulated onion, and dill weed and sometimes a jalapeno that I've sliced but not all the way through so some of the heat can come out but not too much. While it is coming to a boil, I cut up the cucumbers (sometimes I use mini cukes and make them into spears and sometimes I use English cucumbers and slice them and then I stuff them in the jar. When the liquid comes to a boil and the salt is dissolved, I pour it into the jar to cover the pickles. Most of the time I have plenty of liquid and have to throw some away or I have to make a little extra. It all depends on how packed in the jar the cucumbers are. They are pretty good the next day, but they keep getting better, but we just can't hold out that long. :giggle

[RiverRock]

Thanks Charla, I am going to try to make refrigerator pickles when I have enough cucumbers from the garden. They have been slow to start, but there are so many flowers and the vines have exploded. I don't think it will be long before I have an abundance.

One of my jars of picked beans didn't seal. :yum

In the last couple of days I have blanched and have frozen 5 meal portions of cut beans and a large bag or long beans (I saved the most tender and narrow beans to keep long). My beans are producing like crazy so I might make more pickled beans in a few days.