Canning


 
In the next 1-2 years i will have a garden and would like to learn canning. Anyone have info on this matter?
Books for beginning?
Which kind of canner, i.e. Pressure canner or so?
 
When I do (and it's not often), I use the hot water bath method. I think 8 quart jars (maybe it's 7, been a while) fit in the canner. Never failed yet. I also use the "old fashioned" crown jars with the glass lid/rubber rings. Just familiar with them is why.
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My wife does it here and there. Around here its mason jars. Those crown jars look awesome though. She mainly makes jellies and things like that. She usually makes huge batches of jalapeno jelly to give away at Christmas.

Edit: I guess they don't make those any more? My wife would be all over those jars!
 
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My wife does it here and there. Around here its mason jars. Those crown jars look awesome though. She mainly makes jellies and things like that. She usually makes huge batches of jalapeno jelly to give away at Christmas.

Edit: I guess they don't make those any more? My wife would be all over those jars!
Nope. BUT go to auctions and you can usually find a box or two of them. They stlll make the rubber rings for them as well.
 
Your tax dollars at work (link below). Especially note the need for pressure canning low-acid foods such as green beans. You may hear stories of "we always canned our beans in a water bath, and it worked just fine." Maybe so, but I wouldn't take the risk. Pressure canners are not expensive.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html


 
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As Larry linked, there are loads of free resources available from the government and various universities. The Ball book is also excellent.

You need to understand that one method does not work for all things. High acid foods like tomatoes and many fruits can be safely canned using just a hot water bath, but the vast majority of foods must be pressure canned to ensure all bacteria are killed off and the food is safe. This is not something where you want to just wing it. Botulism is exceedingly nasty and can cause permanent organ damage, assuming you survive at all. I don't mean to scare you, but just be aware you need to follow instructions carefully.

I think most people start with the simpler things like tomatoes and pickled peppers. You can get the necessary equipment at most hardware stores and it shouldn't set you back more than $40, not counting jars. If they find that rewarding then they'll branch out into pressure canning. A good pressure canner is expensive so this approach makes sense. Canning is a LOT of work so you should be sure it's something you want to pursue before spending a lot of money on it.

As to canners, I personally prefer the All American pressure canners from Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry. They are exceedingly well built, looking like they'd be more at home in a laboratory than a kitchen, and do not require a gasket. This can be a key thing because pressure canners will last for generations if properly cared for and gaskets are wear items that can be very difficult to find decades after the canner has gone off the market.
 
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Why do they call it canning when jars are mostly used?

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I got a book on canning but haven't tried it.
 
Why do they call it canning when jars are mostly used?

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I got a book on canning but haven't tried it.
I thought everyone knew this. :p
" Commercial food preservation began shortly after Francois Appert developed the boiling water method. Although glass jars were often used initially, they were difficult to seal and expensive to ship. The first tin canister was patented in 1810 at approximately the same time that Appert developed his method. Commercial canning in tinplate canisters soon became common, because it was easier, less expensive and safer to preserve food in the tin canister. Soon the word "canister" was shortened to can and canning became a common term for commercial food preservation. The term stuck even after John L. Mason invented the jar with the threaded screw and matching lid. With Mason's invention, there was an easy, effective and safe way for the homemaker to preserve food in glass."
source:
http://kokomoperspective.com/lifest...cle_2fc19e78-3335-5d25-b714-feb7871c72a6.html
 
OT:

I should've known you'd know about this stuff :)

I got my dad & brother an Excalibur dehydrator for Christmas this year, I planned on making some Jerky & sharing your recipe with them, my brother sent me this one so we're going to try this too! He sent another link with one that had jalapeno, & lime juice as ingredients & I thought "why not". Worth trying at least for a partial batch.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/142948/docs-best-beef-jerky/

My step brothers like to bottle Elk, luckily I've never had to try any of that.
 
Thanks everyone. I've been doing some research and the ball blue book seems to be a starting point. Canning isn't something i plan on doing very soon. We're putting our house on the market in july, and looking to move out to the country. We've had enough of the suburbs. So with moving,selling, settling in, it's gonna be a bit before we plan and plant a garden. I like to do my research in advance. I dont mind the work that comes with canning or caring for a garden. Especially when i can enjoy the rewards that come after the hard work. Gardening and planting will be alot of fun. Our friend has a tiller to prep the garden. Thanks again
 
My wife grew up on a farm. They grew or raised almost everything they ate.

We grow a lot of food. We usually pick what we want to eat or can. The rest of the family comes over a couple times a week
and picks mostly strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans.

We have well over 100 jars (pressure cooked) on the shelves right now. I even can (water bath method) wort for yeast starters for my home brew.

Until you actually get a book why not give this site a read: http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html
 
Two tips while you're planning for canning. When considering a pressure canner, think about capacity. This is somewhat going to depend on what you plan on canning. For jellies and jams, pint jars are likely to be most practical. Quart jars will likely go bad before you can use all the contents and half-pint jars are too small to be worth the effort. Half-pints are more for when you want to share your efforts with others. For tomatoes, fruits, and most other things you're likely to can, quart jars will be the most practical. If you plan on canning a lot of tomatoes, look for a canner that will take a good load of quart jars.

The other thing is canner height. I unknowingly bought a canner that was too tall to fit on my stove. Be sure you have enough clearance. I ended up using the propane burner and stand from a turkey fryer kit whenever I used the canner. As it turned out this was somewhat a blessing as canning season was near the hottest time of the year so moving all the hot stuff outside wasn't such a bad move.

If you're going to do tomatoes in large quantity you might also want to think about an automated peeler/seeder. They can save you a load of time and give you a better end product. I have a small one that has a lot of plastic parts. It was cheap. It fundamentally works okay but isn't well designed for large production runs. If you're putting up several gallons at a time you probably want a larger model that doesn't clog up with skins so easily.
 

 

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