Basic Canning

When Beth and I were still living in a small townhouse, and I was cooking more, I saw rather quickly that freezer space was at a premium.  I didn’t have room for a second freezer (although there was space in the bedroom, beth said that was not going to happen), but I enjoyed making larger batches of recipes and saving some of the results in the freezer.  Look ing over other solutions, the ability to can (to preserve food in jars, properly treated to stop bacterial growth) seemed the best option.
I strongly recommend you visit this site to learn more about canning methods: Selecting a Canning Method
There are two kinds of canning.  This guide focuses on the most basic kind, and kind used by most canners, a Boiling Water Bath. The process is dead simple if you follow directions and dont’ stray from the path until you know what you’re doing
First and foremost, you will need some basic supplies.  I keep things simple and avoid any fancy tools. I’ve provided links to some items on Amazon, just because I think these are some of the best prices around and I take full and complete advantage of my Amazon Prime membership.

1. Ball Blue Book - The Blue Blue is the critical item to own if you are going to can.  It is not only full of recipes, but explains the process for canning and provides a deeper understanding thn anything i can give you.  It is owned by every person i know who cans.  I had two at one time just in case i couldn't find mine.
2. Norpro 6 Piece Canning Set - There are some tools you simply won't own unless you can. This is the easiest way to get them. Most critical are the funnel, the magnetic lid grabber, and the jar lifter. you can buy tehse all seperate, but its cheaper just to buy a kit.
3. A Large Pot - I use a Pressure Canner without the lid for water bath canning, but you can use any large pot.  Make sure it is tall enough to fit your jars, with plenty of head space, so nothing boils over.
4. Canning jars and lids - You'll need different sizes depending on what you're doing.  And there are two mouth sizes, regular and wide.  For most of my canning a pint size with regular mouth is perfect.  For pickles I like large wide mouth jars.  For jams and jellies, I like smaller jars.  I recommend you buy your jars at Walmart of the like, or ask people if they have old canning (mason) jars around.  Many people do.  Lids are one time use, so those you can buy on-line in bulk.  the rings for jars can be used over and over and usually come with the jars when you buy new.

Some Option items:

1. Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving - I've switched to using this book.  Its like the Blue Book, but with way more recipes, and also includes stuff on dehydration and freezing.  You could pobably just get this and skip the Blue Book, but I wouldn't.
2. Canning labels - These are nice to use, but usually I just sharpie on the lid. lids are one time use anyway and permanenet marker saves you from mystery meat.

Basic Process
So lets discuss the basic canning process.

1. First all of your jars, and tools need to be clean and sterile. The whole point of this exercise is to make food last a long time, and dirty jars and dirty tools make that impossible.  I usually run everything through the dishwasher, then boil my jars for at least ten minutes.  The good thing about this is that I leave them in the hot water until ready to fil them so they are squeaky clean and if I'm putting hot food in them, I'm less concerned about thermal shock.
2. Warm your lids in hot (but not boiling water) The lids have a soft rubber seal that becomes pliable when hot.  This will help make that air tight seal we're going for.
3. Follow your recipe.  For this type of canning you'll be focusing on higher acidity items.  So tomatoe sauces and soups, fruit based jellies, pickles, etc.  Most (but not all) items you simply make ahead of time and then can when you're happy with the product.
4. Get organized.  Make sure all your tools are on hands and ready to go.
5. Lift, drain, fill, stir, wipe, top, seal.

• When you're ready, use your jar lifter and pull a jar from the hot water, pour out the boiling water (most of this can either go into the pot or down the drain, just make sure the jars will be covered by at least an inche of water when everything is place back in.
• Fill the jar with your product using the canning funnel.  The funnel sticks down into the jar one ich, so do not fill above the bottom of the funnel.  You need to leave room for a vacuum to form.  This is also important to reduce the risk of foam breaking through the lid during the canning process
• Run a thin rubber spatula or similar item around the product to make sure that there are no air bubbles along the walls of the jar.
• Wipe the top of the jar with a damp clothe (or paper towel)
• Use your magnet tipped rod to pull a lid from the hot water and place it on your jar.
• Put on the sealing ring and hand tighten.  Don't go full force here, because we want some small amount of air to escape during the canning process
• Put the jar back into the canner.  Wash rinse repeat.

That's all there is to it.  Let the jars come back ot a boil and cook for the proper amount of time.  In most cases you can't really over boil them and I always err on the side of caution.  Pull the jars as soon as water cools below a simmer na dplace on a wooden cutting board or towel to cool overnight.
You should hear a popping noice a the jars cool.  This means a vacuum has been drawn and the jar is sealed.  If the lid doesn't get sucked down, you messed something up and need to do it over again.

Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles #3

I've tried several Bread and Butter pickle recipes over the last few years since I started growing cucumbers. After the first few rounds, I decided that spicy red pepper flakes added a nice bite to these and complimented the sweetness. So this is my final Spicy Bread and Butter recipe. There's no reason to make a non-spicy version.

Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles #3

• 10 Cups of sliced cucumbers (i used about 8 cucumbers, but this will vary with type)
• 1 large sweet onion - diced or sliced, depending on if you like to eat the onions)
• 1/2 Cup pickling salt
• 3 Cups white vinegar
• 2 Cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp whole Mustard Seeds
• 1 tsp celery seeds
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• An additional 2 - 3 tsp of red pepper flakes
• Pickle Crisp

Combine the sliced cucumber and onion in a large bowl. Separately dissolve salt in two cups of warm water. Pour salt water over cucumber and onion mixture. Add additional water (cold is fine) until mixture is covered. Set aside for 2.5 hours. [This wait time is important. We are using the brine to move salt into the vegetables. This is the only salt in these pickles, and if you cut this time short you'll notice the the lack of taste.]
After the soak in the brine, pour out liquid, rinse and drain cucumber onion mixture. Set aside.
In a large pot (i used an 8 Qt) pot combine the vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, turmeric, and the teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Bring this to a simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved into the vinegar. Once this is mixed together, add cucumbers and onions. Simmer for ten minutes.
The pickles are now done. This recipe makes 5 pint jars that can be canned in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Any pickles that don't fit, I usually put in a Tupperware container in the fridge and eat.

The Outcome:

1. Great, a real crowd pleaser.
2. I recommend you let them sit three days in the fridge or two weeks in the jars before consuming to maximize taste.

Pectin-Free Balsamic Strawberry Jam

As the summer kicks off, strawberries are abundant. So abundant that it seems a crime not to buy them in bulk. But as with all berries, they have a short shelf life. you can certainly wash and freeze them for use in ice cream, smoothies, pies, etc. Or you can eat as many as you can before they start to mold (which can be in days if you're not careful. This year I decided to try and make some jam.
I love strawberry jam. It goes good on everything. But I didn't have any pectin, nor do I like the gel consistancy of most jams. So I opted to try and go pectin free. I also didn't just want something plain. I can buy plain jane strawberry preserves at Costco for very reasonable price and its organic. So I found a recipe for jam and saw a modification to add balsamic vinegar to punch up the taste a bit. I made a few tweaks. Here's what I did.
Pectin-Free Balsamic Strawberry Jam

• 2 "dry quarts" fresh strawberries
• 5 Cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp butter
• 5 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

First I put the strawberries in a medium size pot and over medium heat. I used a potato smasher to roughly crush the berries. This will release some liquid and make it easier to avoid burning anything. Bring this to a low simmer.
Add the butter (to help with foaming) and half the sugar. Stir in until disolved. Then add the remaining sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for ~45 minutes. Stir often and avoid boil over.
Kill the heat and at the vinegar. Stir to combine well. Done
Now you have some options. I put mine in clean and steriled half-pint jars and boil water bath canned them for 15 minutes (Strongly recommend). You can also just put this in a clean jar, seal and put in the fridge for several weeks. If you go the second route be aware you have a lot of jam to use.

The Outcome:

1. Jam tastes great!
2. A bit runny, but not much, I'll increase my cook time to 50 or 55 minutes next time.
3. I didn't even taste the vinegar, so if you don't like a strong taste, you're good to go. I think it just punched up the strawberry flavor some. Next time I'l personally double the vinegar and see what happens.
4. That being said, this recipe can be used with confidence.