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Can you can you can-can???
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Author | Message |
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Angela Send message Joined: 16 Oct 07 Posts: 13130 Credit: 39,854,104 RAC: 31 |
As a self-professed Dominatrix of Domesticity, not much intimidates me in the kitchen. I am not afraid to proof yeast. I know the difference between Swiss, Italian and French Meringues. I can flambe, frappe and brulee with the best of them... But when I think about putting food into a Mason jar and storing it, unrefrigerated, on a pantry shelf for six months... well frankly my knees get more wobbly than a bowl full of aspic! I am absolutely terrified by the thought that I could gift a friend or a relative with a ribbon festooned jar full of yummy homemade botulinum toxin. To this end, I have decided to seek professional help. I have enrolled in my first canning class tomorrow and I am taking an additional canning class next week. I am very excited about both classes! I hope to learn the basics and then just see what I can safely create. This is a thread for those who can foods. Let's talk! |
zoom3+1=4 Send message Joined: 30 Nov 03 Posts: 65746 Credit: 55,293,173 RAC: 49 |
My Mom did canning with jars, We actually made marmalade and apricot jam, but then We had a few fruit bearing trees in the backyard, it was pick the fruit or let the birds have the fruit and We would have a mess afterwards. A good vacuum on the can will help, there is a process to do this, I think involved water, but 1992 to 1995 was a long time ago. So take the class, that's My advice. Oh and My Moms apricot jam was to die for, our family never complained and I never had problems either, Mom majored in Home Economics and even though She had cook books, She almost never touched them more than once. The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's |
j mercer Send message Joined: 3 Jun 99 Posts: 2422 Credit: 12,323,733 RAC: 1 |
If I can do it you sure can. A lot of work but worth it for the 'good stuff'. Sterilized, up to temp with sealed lids and you are good to go. And you get to get a whole bunch of neat kitchen gadgets and cool stuff and such. ;^) ... |
BladeD Send message Joined: 9 Aug 11 Posts: 13320 Credit: 1,603,919 RAC: 2 |
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Byron Leigh Hatch @ team Carl Sagan Send message Joined: 5 Jul 99 Posts: 4548 Credit: 35,667,570 RAC: 4 |
As a self-professed Dominatrix of Domesticity, not much intimidates me in the kitchen. I am not afraid to proof yeast. I know the difference between Swiss, Italian and French Meringues. I can flambe, frappe and brulee with the best of them... Hi Angela, I don't can my own food but ... I just wanted to say ... Good for you for enrolling in your first canning class tomorrow :) maybe I can post later about the Memories I have of my Grand mother canning food in 1910 on the farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. Best Wishes Byron |
Angela Send message Joined: 16 Oct 07 Posts: 13130 Credit: 39,854,104 RAC: 31 |
If I can do it you sure can. A lot of work but worth it for the 'good stuff'. Sterilized, up to temp with sealed lids and you are good to go. And you get to get a whole bunch of neat kitchen gadgets and cool stuff and such. ;^) What do you can? |
Angela Send message Joined: 16 Oct 07 Posts: 13130 Credit: 39,854,104 RAC: 31 |
...maybe I can post later about the Memories I have of my Grand mother canning food in 1910 on the farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. Please do, but if the memories involve exploding cans of tomatoes, please wait until my confidence in my canning skills improves from "I can't" to "I can!!!" |
j mercer Send message Joined: 3 Jun 99 Posts: 2422 Credit: 12,323,733 RAC: 1 |
Mostly jams and preserves these days. Favorite is u-pick high elevation red huckleberry preserves. Real simple. har! 3 pints red huckleberries 5 cups granulated sugar 2-1/2 tbsp key lime juice 1 tsp unsalted butter 2 ounces fruit pectin Wash and crush huckleberries and place them, in a sauce pan. Combine key lime juice with it and stir in pectin. Bring it to a full boil on high flame, keep stirring. Add butter and sugar to it and keep mixture at a full boil for one full minute, keep stirring. Remove it from the fire and skim off any foam that has been formed. Place it in the hot sterile jars and leave 1/2 inch free at the top of the jar when capping. Process it in hot water bath for about 5 minutes. Works with just about any fruit/berry of your liking. ... |
James Sotherden Send message Joined: 16 May 99 Posts: 10436 Credit: 110,373,059 RAC: 54 |
Hi Angela, Back in the mid 80"s I had a garden and grew cucumbers. That year my second wife and I canned 40 quarts of pickels. Well after eating a quite a few quarts we got sick of picklels. Anyone who came for a cook out and liked the pickels got sent home with a few jars:) Just remeber that after you can anything, If you can push that lid down, Its seal has been broken. I helped my now wife and her mother do 80 quarts of relish back in 98. What a grueling job that was. But you will enjoy learing how to do it. I watched my mom and grandmom can back when I was a kid. [/quote] Old James |
anniet Send message Joined: 2 Feb 14 Posts: 7105 Credit: 1,577,368 RAC: 75 |
My sister makes loads of preserves etc - it takes over her kitchen for days at a time - but they are delicious. |
anniet Send message Joined: 2 Feb 14 Posts: 7105 Credit: 1,577,368 RAC: 75 |
Ah now then. Can someone explain the simple difference between a Conserve and a Preserve? To me they are all pots of jam whatever you want to call 'em :-) Except under the EU hygiene laws the WI are banned from selling them! Wiki can :) conserves preserves so my sister makes conserves as well! :) |
BladeD Send message Joined: 9 Aug 11 Posts: 13320 Credit: 1,603,919 RAC: 2 |
Angela, a theme for your thread (great movie): Leave it the pros. |
John McLeod VII Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 24806 Credit: 790,712 RAC: 0 |
I see ..... so strawberry jam can be both a conserve and a preserve at the same time then? Wow won't the quantum guys be proud! Gives them a reason to exist :-)) Jam is different from either. Jelly does not have any of the fruit in it. Jam does not have whole chunks. Preserve has whole chunks. Conserve has whole fruit. Marmalade is made from the rind of citrus fruit. BOINC WIKI |
Wiggo Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 34744 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 |
I still have a lot of my missus' Fowlers Vacola kit here, but it hasn't been used in a very long time. Cheers. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
Especially for Hotel K, er B&B, er Angela. http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/pages/fdbcottagefood.aspx |
Angela Send message Joined: 16 Oct 07 Posts: 13130 Credit: 39,854,104 RAC: 31 |
Leave it the pros. LOL! Agreed!!! Especially for Hotel K, er B&B, er Angela. LOL! Not planning to go into business. Just trying out what I hope will eventually become a new and fun hobby. The instructor in today's canning class was SPECTACULARLY disorganized!!! She forgot key ingredients, altered recipes in ways that looked unsafe to me, confused steps, canned things in an inconsistent manner and was completely unable to adequately answer food safety questions posed by class members. I took the course with another speech pathologist and it was our combined professional opinion that our aging hippie instructor may have taken a few too many mind altering drugs in the 60's. Even though I am now the proud owner of three jars of things we canned in class today (pickled green beans with dill and garlic, pickled beets with cinnamon and ginger and apple/pear sauce) I have decided not to tempt fate. I left class with such a complete lack of confidence in the food safety skills of our instructor that all three jars of food from class today went into my refrigerator instead of onto a pantry shelf!!! Eric and I will open all the jars and eat the foods within the next couple of weeks to ensure we do not get sick, instead of storing the products longer term. I'm sure they will all taste good. I'm just not sure all were safely canned. My canning class next week is in a different location and is being taught be a different instructor. I trust it will be a better introduction to canning. |
John McLeod VII Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 24806 Credit: 790,712 RAC: 0 |
Sterilize the jar. (Boil for a good long time). Sugar, vinegar, and alcohol are all preservatives. This is why canning vegetables tends to be done in either very sugary syrups or in vinegar. Leaving a small amount of air in the cay will prevent botulism from growing (it is anaerobic). However, the food will discolor faster. The food has to reach a high enough temperature and stay there long enough to kill everything that might grow. My mom did canning in a pressure cooker. I am not certain if this is because we were at high altitude. The fruits we canned were edible over a decade after the canning. The lid should seal and pull in as the can cools. If the lid pops out - EVER - discard the contents. BOINC WIKI |
zoom3+1=4 Send message Joined: 30 Nov 03 Posts: 65746 Credit: 55,293,173 RAC: 49 |
Sterilize the jar. (Boil for a good long time). Sounds correct to Me John, the lid should pull in or the jar wasn't sealed and yes discard if the lid ever pops out on its own. The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's |
Dena Wiltsie Send message Joined: 19 Apr 01 Posts: 1628 Credit: 24,230,968 RAC: 26 |
Long time, no see. Pressure cookers run up to 15 pounds/square inch. This results in temperatures up to 245 degrees at sea level which reduces cooking time and can kill off botulism - something that's hard to do. Before pressure cooking, food had to be boiled for hours and then it wasn't always safe. |
John McLeod VII Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 24806 Credit: 790,712 RAC: 0 |
Sterilize the jar. (Boil for a good long time). I realized I missed a common preservative -- salt. It is why the sailors on long voyages used to eat salt pork and salt beef as staples. BOINC WIKI |
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