With a Special Welcome to Frankenoid's Saturday Garden Bloggers!
First, a link for both U.S. and Canadians as a resource:
http://www.homecanning.com/
I've found that the biggest point of resistance to home canning is that of the dreaded "fear of spoilage". Oh, sure, it is possible to mess up, but it is also possible to mess up changing a diaper! (Yes, I have a son....those of you with kidlets will appreciate the comment...).
From that link:
Food spoils when enzyme, mold, yeast and bacteria growth is not controlled. Proper, safe home canning procedures control the growth of spoilage microorganisms, allowing us to keep food beyond its normal storage period.
So lesson one is: Get control of yourself.
Let's start with tools.
Waterbath canning is where you put food into jars with lids and then boil them in a big pot for "X minutes", take them out, let them sit and "voila!": home-canned products. So a waterbath canner, also known as a canning kettle, is required. These are not aluminum, they are enameled, steel or iron.
These kettles are BIG honkers so they can hold quart jars or pints. They come with a lid and a jar rack so you can lower and retrieve the filled jars. ( Psssst - They are useful for other reasons also. Dying fabrics and soaking feet come to mind).
Next: jars - of all the tools in this project, I consider these the most important. Ball, Kerr and Mason all sell canning pints and quarts. Run them thru your dishwasher or wash them in hot soapy water. No nicks, no imperfections allowed.
Cleanliness is key. Keep them warm. I usually run the dishwasher with the jars in it while I'm prepping the products. NOTE: you can try re-using jars from pickles or mayonnaise, but be careful! They aren't built to do THIS job. I use them for jellies or something of that ilk).
Next: lids and rings. Both are also provided by Ball, Kerr and Mason companies. The ring is threaded aluminum, usually goldish colored. That really isn't the most important part. It's the lid. If you look at the bottomside of one, it is rubberized on the outside, oh - maybe 1/4 inch. THAT's the key thing. In the process you'll go thru, that rubberish part ends up sucking up against the edge of the jar and forming the seal that keeps all the bad gunk out. I can't describe the sound of the "Schthunking" as the jar cools and things retract, but it is a very satisfying sound of success. That's why you throw those lids away after opening the jars, that rubber won't ever reseal. Never, ever, ever re-use them. The rings? Sure, they are reusable. (Other countries use rubber rings in their process. I know nothing about using them).
I also have a jar lifter, but a good pair of tongs works too. Hot pads and and couple of towels are really the only other things I use for basic canning tools.
Reminder: We are talking hotwater bath canning, the following will apply to pickles also, but does NOT apply to pressure canning. That is a different ballgame.
The Chemistry of it:
Besides the heat and proper handling of the jars, the contents in those jars drive whether this will work. Acid, salt or sugar are key factors.
For example, low acid tomatoes are lousy canners. Freeze those. There are certain ingredients you cannot compromise on. If a recipe calls for 5-6% vinegar - that IS your acid, that's it, no exceptions. If it calls for canning or pickling salt instead of table salt, they ARE preferable, but it won't hurt the actual product if you don't. The juice may be cloudy, the pickle not so crisp, but they'd do if you were hungry enough. That acid and salt is what keeps the heebie jeebie germs away.
The easiest things to can are tomatoes and fruit. NOT strawberries though, they may be OK in a fruit mix, but they are really gross otherwise. (Hey, I'm writing this! I get to express my own opinion!).
Economically Speaking, Why Do This Anyway?:
Unless you are raising your own food, or have access to free produce, there really isn't a reason to can other than taste, quality of product and being able to control the ingredients. Personally, that's enough for me.
Ditto for favorite fruits. The only other reason is to make good use of fresh food that would have gone to waste.
Well, that was the reason last year. This year, it just may make economic sense. That's another story. Those are the basics. From here I'll walk you thru an actual canning session of both tomatoes and a fruit one. OK?
So come with me on the adventure of tomato and fruit canning!
Tomatoes:
High acid, not much needing to be done except the prep of the tomatoes. Ready a sharp paring knife.
Fill your waterbath canner to a high enough level that there will be at least one, and preferably two inches of water above the jars when loaded into it. I figure three quarters full of water for sure. Start the boiling of the pot!
Two things to know. If you are going to can them with skins on (preserving the vitamins), just remove any spots you see. Imperfections can be breeding grounds for ickies that can wreck your work (or so my Mom said). Trim off the bottom speck on the tomato with a paring knife, trim out the core - especially the whitish part. You don't have to be a perfectionist with that. You can quarter, rough chop, seed them or not. Doesn't really matter. You'll get more in your jar if you don't keep them whole.
If you don't want the skin on them, dip the tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds. This time varies depending on the type and ripeness of the tomato. Once you have dipped them, douse them in iced water to stop the cooking process. Now use that paring knife and peel the tomatoes.
Dip and peel one at a time or Douse a bunch and Ice a bunch. Not a problem one way or the other. The idea is quick heat and quick ice. (This technique will apply to certain fruits so remember it).
Take those hot clean jars out of the dishwasher or sink and stuff the tomatoes in. Neatness doesn't count here, just have clean hands. (For those who are wrinkling your nose at this, feel free to use a measuring cup or a ladle).
The juice made by the tomatoes as they are being stuffed in there will be their natural "air repellent", the acid in the tomatoes does the rest. Fill the jars up to 1/2 inch from the top. That's called headroom. You'll see references to 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch headroom when perusing recipes. Don't bend the rules here, follow said recipe. Recipes still advise to put a teaspoon of salt in the top of the tomatoes in the jar prior to sealing. I still do that, though I've never experimented with less or adding a slice of lemon instead as my Grandmother used to.
Take a dinner knife and run it down the sides of the jar so any air bubbles can escape.
Next step is to take the jars you have filled and clean the rims VERY well. Any part of the jar that will come into contact with the lid or the ring needs to be food free. I use a hot wet washcloth to do this.
Also while doing this I have a saucepan on the stove with the lids and rings expected to be used boiling happily away in water.
Here come the tongs! I take one lid and place on the jar rubberized side down, take one ring, place it over the neck of the jar and tighten. You don't want to tighten it extremely tight, some air has to escape from the jar in the process.
Processing Time:
Presuming the water is at a full boil, and you have jars ready to fill the rack inside the canner, fill the rack. Lower carefully. Don't start the timing for processing until the water comes back to a full boil.
Processing time varies with ingredients. You will see 15 minutes for pints, 1/2 hour for quarts of tomatoes. When the time is up, lift the rack out. Move the jars one by one and place on a clean towel on the counter or table.
Don't touch the jars together, keep some airspace so they can cool evenly. Don't move them again! While this may be just my Mom speaking, she never lost a pint or quart canned if she left them to cool naturally for several hours before putting them in the pantry. I've stuck to that rule and can make the same claim.
You know they are ready to put away IF you cannot move the lid up or down in any way. Lightly press the lid with your finger, if there is any give or looseness to the lid, it's time for using it right away, refrigerating or freezing. If it's stuck solid, you are good to go.
A variation on this method is to toss the tomatoes into a pan, bring them to a boil and then ladle into a jar. That's called hot-packing, whereas the method I described above is called cold-packing.
Fruit canning is exactly the same process, except for the use of simple syrup. Simple syrup is nothing more than sugar and water boiled together. It is poured over the fruit in the jar up to the "headroom" mark.
I prefer light syrup which is 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups of water.
Here is what I would do for chunky applesauce: peel, core and cut up. I'd boil the apples in the light syrup above for 5 minutes. You could use water instead, depending on the apple. I don't put spices in at this point like cinnamon because it darkens the product as it ages. Process pints 15 minutes - quarts 20.
One tool we haven't talked about is the food mill. This is the tool you would put your cooked vegies or fruits in, grind the handle and you would get juice or sauce. The resultant product also can be canned on it's own.
I have a ton of home canning recipes which range from salsa to Bloody Mary Mix to gazpacho to pie filling. We also haven't touched on jellies and jams. If you want more on that type of topic, comment below!
Cross-posted to:
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/admin/story/2005/9/9/204830/9313
ePlurib
us
Media
And now to take you back to "Frankie's Place":
Saturday Garden Blogging