I like canning

[Raoul]

As a kid we weren't greatly endowed in the money department, but my grandfather had a farm in Blountville. We always had a couple of big gardens in the summer and the grand-kids of a certain age were enlisted in picking, preparing, and canning the bounty. It's how we managed to get through the winter.

It wasn't all work. The meals my grandmother fixed were some of the best home cooking ever. And usually the kids managed to have time for an unruly game of tackle football.

I've spent the day canning green beans from my garden and I've reminisced to my wife the whole time.

So to get to the point of my old man rant, how many others spent their summers in a similar way?

[Grand Torino]

We always can everything from our garden that we can. I wouldn't want to do it every day but for the several times we break out all the equipment we always have an enjoyable day.

[peejman]

We did some canning when I was a kid.  I remember it being terribly hot drudgery.  Now we recently got a hand-me-down canner and started doing it ourselves. While it was a good bit of work and took most of a day, the results were satisfying. 

[gregintenn]

I've 5 cans of green beans on the stove now!

[56FordGuy]

I want to be. Never done it and didn't put in a garden this year, but I want to go to the farmer's market and get some fresh vegetables to can. We have a pressure cooker and some sort of canning kit, I need to figure out what all of it is. 

[Raoul]

21 minutes ago, 56FordGuy said:

I want to be. Never done it and didn't put in a garden this year, but I want to go to the farmer's market and get some fresh vegetables to can. We have a pressure cooker and some sort of canning kit, I need to figure out what all of it is. 

Can the beans and fruit or jelly. Freeze the tomatoes, it's a whole lot simpler if you're gonna cook with them.

[peejman]

We freeze lots of tomatoes. Blanch and skin them, then put in freezer bags. We've also frozen corn basically the same way.  Wife made a batch of strawberry jam from the you-pick strawberry place earlier this year. 

[Mark A]

We usually blanch, peel, and freeze maters in the summertime and can our various sauces in the winter when adding heat and steam to the house is a good thing.

Today we canned jalapeno jelly, blueberry jam and peach pie filling. Love it when stuff starts to ripen. Also dehydrated somewhere around 16 pints of cherry tomatoes. My wife is a friend for them on salads and she has at least one salad every day.

Pepper jelly, pie fillings and stuff like that make good Christmas gifts. With all of us "kids" now in our 40's & 50's a gift like that is easier than trying to figure out what to get for people who already have too much junk.

I have lots of fond memories of helping my grandmother can. My grandfather on my mom's side was a crotchety old dude and we only got invited up when it was time to pick beans or go glean the corn fields. Then he couldn't get enough of his grandkids. Still good memories though...

[Dennis1209]

Wow, what timing...

Just waking up drinking some coffee, checking my email and my favorite forum before I start my day. Yesterday the wife was complaining about our chest freezer being all filled up with squash and particularly green beans, and can't get to what she wants. So, off to Wally World we go to get 'some more' cases of canning jars. Going to spend the day cooking and canning green beans and hope to get 28 quarts done but most likely just 14 quarts, since the process takes so long. 

It's been a bumper crop for green beans this year. I planted maybe about 50 linear yards and they just keep coming and coming. I've canned 60 quarts so far and the freezer is loaded with them. I've given away a bunch and tried to get a bunch of people over to help themselves to them, but they're too lazy to pick them even for free. 

Would like to can a lot of squash and zucchini but that hasn't worked out well for me in the past. In addition to the FDA not recommending or setting a standard for canning any squash, after the process the squash is useless for anything but 'maybe' a vegetable for home made soup. Floured squash fired with onion and green peppers is a meal in itself, and the wife makes a great white sauce squash receipt. 

 

[Dennis1209]

14 hours ago, 56FordGuy said:

I want to be. Never done it and didn't put in a garden this year, but I want to go to the farmer's market and get some fresh vegetables to can. We have a pressure cooker and some sort of canning kit, I need to figure out what all of it is. 

If you're just getting started with a caner study up on it, it can be a pressure bomb. Don't have the time to tell you about my first experience and my ceiling decorated with pretty little green beans years ago. Also get the Bible of canning, "Balls Caning Guide" and exactly follow those procedures. It's important to do it safely and not get hurt and/or poison yourself / family eating your processed food.  

[peejman]

I use the side burner on my grill as the heat source specifically to keep the heat out of the house, and the potential mess should it go horribly wrong, though we've only done water bath canning so far. 

The only way I know to preserve zucchini is to shred and freeze it. Then it can used for zucchini bread and added to sauces or casseroles as a veggie filler. Seems to work fairly well since it doesn't have much flavor. I've never cared much for yellow squash so we don't grow it. 

Yes, the "Ball Book" is a must have.  

 

We also got a dehydrator a while back but haven't used it much yet. I did one batch of chilie peppers that didn't get as crispy as I wanted.  I plan to try the usual fruits but hadn't thought about tomatoes. I'd like to try jerky too, but figured I'd start with easier stuff like fruit. 

[Dennis1209]

Before the garden started to produce I had intended on purchasing a real nice food processor, a food vacuum sealer and a dehydrator myself. But the way the political climate is and the things that are occurring, I reallocated those funds for a back up AR-15 and some ammunition. Oh well, next year. 

I did 14 quarts of green beans this morning. Sure is nice to be able to do 14 quarts at a time compared to seven with my old caner. Sure like that American pressure caner I bought. A tad expensive but it will out last me and then my kids.

[Raoul]

45 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

Before the garden started to produce I had intended on purchasing a real nice food processor, a food vacuum sealer and a dehydrator myself. But the way the political climate is and the things that are occurring, I reallocated those funds for a back up AR-15 and some ammunition. Oh well, next year. 

I did 14 quarts of green beans this morning. Sure is nice to be able to do 14 quarts at a time compared to seven with my old caner. Sure like that American pressure caner I bought. A tad expensive but it will out last me and then my kids.

I definitely recommend the vacuum sealer. It will pay for itself quickly.

[peejman]

9 minutes ago, Raoul said:

I definitely recommend the vacuum sealer. It will pay for itself quickly.

Indeed.  Catch a good sale on meat and buy a bunch.  Vacuum seal it in manageable portions and they keep a long time.  My parents bought ours for us in the first couple years of marriage. It'll be 15 years Thursday. 

[Raoul]

Yeah it's the best way to freeze leftovers.

We buy single origin roast coffee beans 10 pounds at time to get a discount and freeze it in 1 pound bags. Very minimal loss of flavor even on the last pound in the batch.

[Rightwinger]

The wife just bought a new pressure cooker last week.  This past week has been beans, tomatos (yuck), cabbage galore.  She made jelly out of elder berry she picked in the spring too.  She was very happy to hear the website I spend so much time reading has one of her favorite things to do presented.  That buys me some more free time here without gripes.....I'll just say I'm looking to see if there are any tips for her to look at.

[Raoul]

Just now, Rightwinger said:

The wife just bought a new pressure cooker last week.  This past week has been beans, tomatos (yuck), cabbage galore.  She made jelly out of elder berry she picked in the spring too.  She was very happy to hear the website I spend so much time reading has one of her favorite things to do presented.  That buys me some more free time here without gripes.....I'll just say I'm looking to see if there are any tips for her to look at.

Freeze those tomatoes, it's a lot less trouble. I peel and quarter them and put them in freezer bags of plastic containers. Perfect for cooking.

[Rightwinger]

I told the wife that but she is getting a bit of my thought process and is thinking of a no power for the freezer scenario more and more often.  She dehydrates and cans more than freezing now.

[Handsome Rob]

I can a bunch of venison every year. Usually any leftovers that are in the freezer from the previous season get cubed & canned. It's great insurance in case the freezer ever goes out & it's a fantastic way to use up the tougher cuts without having to grind it all by hand. 

I'm not a fan of canned veg, if I'm honest, although I do make & can spaghetti sauce/chili starter.

Fyi....a whole, quartered squirrel fits pintnt mason jar perfectly with just enough room for onion slices, a jalapeno & seasoning Can you say 'instant skwerl stew?' 

[A.J. Holst]

First read the title, "I love caning" 

Which I do, we also can...tomatoes, beans, jalapenos

The only fail was with end of season green tomatoes.

We do freeze blackberries, still got 2 qts from last year, need to find a moonshiner and work a trade...