Canning season
Comments
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Has anyone had problems with liquid siphoning from their jars? In years past I always kept my lids in barely simmering water until I put them on the jars. I heard that one is not supposed to do that with the new lids- just wash them in warm, soapy water and lay them on a clean towel until needed. I dutifully followed the new rules, but my jars were a sticky mess upon emerging from the canner. I had to wash them down twice before I could put them away. The seals seem good, but I'm not as confident in them as I usually am.
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@marcy_northlightsfarm I frequently go to estate auctions and find canning jars there. In my area auctions are online bidding only but some are starting live auctions again. You might try checking that as a source of obtaining jars.
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@Gail H I typically put my new lids in the smallest saucepan I have, without heating it.
Right before I fill the jars with canned food and apply lids, I pull one of my canning jars from the water bath canner. At this point it's hot, full of hot water, and has no lid.
I then carefully dump the hot-but-not-boiling water out of the canning jar into the saucepan that has the lids in it.
Now I have an empty, hot jar, ready for the canned stuff. Place in jar. Grab one of the lids from the saucepan; use a fork or magnetic lid-lifter to get it out without burning your fingers.
If you are canning, say, 6 half-pints of jam or jelly, you'll dump the water from two jars in the saucepan. The water from the other four jars should be dumped back into the water bath to keep the level full.
I've only had one lid fail to seal this year.
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Love this! Thanks for sharing pics! I had to chuckle when I saw that you had written "Save!" on the side. So glad I'm not the only one who has to write notes like that to make sure I keep the important stuff around. :)
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Gosh, I really think I remember @judsoncarroll4 mentioning that he gets crisp pickles by fermenting them in kombucha ... maybe? But I cannot find the discussion when I search. Maybe he will be able to chime in about it if he gets a minute!
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Yep. Plain, over-soured kombucha that tastes like vinegar. I usually add some to a salt brine - about 1 cup of kombucha to 2 cups brine... 1:3 regardless of amount... though, even a few tablespoons wiil get the ferment going quicker than just salt.. You can just mix the seasonings into the kombucha and add no water if I have plenty, but that does result in a decidedly sour pickle. Either way, keep it in a cool dark place and taste after about 3 days. It speeds up ferment time and has some tannin from the tea, so pickles stay crispy. Always be sure to cut off the blossom end of cukes.
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Thanks, @Judson Carroll ! :)
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Anytime!
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@OhiohillsLouise thank you for that suggestion. We don't have any bulk food stores around here. I'll just keep checking with the stores periodically and hope I am there at the right time.
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#GailH
Thank you for the tip and the photos. That will come in very handy!!
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What recipe are you using if you do not mind sharing? I did that a few years ago with my mother, the sauce smelled so good it actually made my mouth water then and Now, 😆
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So glad that apple season is here. Can't wait to make applesauce.
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@VermontCathy If you have access to grape leaves, stuff a few of those in the bottom and the pickles will be crisp, even if they are older. I forget what chemical it is that makes this work, but it seems to. I made no pickles this year--just no energy. And the cucumber plants produced excellently. Oh well. Sigh. You could have taken ours and made some for you!
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tilathehunn Well, I actually ended up not making the sauce to can but here is the recipe that I would have used.
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I’ve been canning for years using a recipe book from Ball, but I recently stumbled across the USDA website that has so many guides and recipes that have been proven safe and studied extensively. I’m canning crushed tomatoes this week since our tomatoes are FINALLY turning red now! Here’s a link to the tomato canning pamphlet put out by the USDA.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE03_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf
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@imamyrose Welcome to the TGN forum!
Thanks for the link. It is good to have a variety of recipes.
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Gail H Ingenious idea for the funnel! Thank you for sharing!
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VermontCathy - so awesome! It's such a treat to be able to take part of your harvest with you into the winter. I love your Crockpot too! Is it vintage?
Has anyone ever tried canning in a dishwasher? I've read about it, but would like to hear some real life experience an insights! Thank you in advance!
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judsoncarroll4 Going to try this for pickles. So many times I have let my kombucha get past it's prime.
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Canninng supplies are getting hard to come by in retail stores in some areas. Another good resource is Lehmans.com. They are back ordered at times but if you llace the order they send it as soon as in stock.
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Welcome to TGN @imamyrose and @twinspringsnc.
Canning supplies have now been depleted in my area (BC) for a couple of weeks. I have a friend in Alberta who says it has been more like a month since she was able to get lids or jars.
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Thanks for the welcome, so happy to be part if this community. We have recently been blessed wkth jars of all assorted sizes. Could not have come at a better time. I have turned to the internet for supplies for sure. Local stores are not able to keep stuff on the shelves here for sure.
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Thank you COWLOVINGIRL for sending a link to mason. I've been looking for jars for awhile and everyone around here is out.
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Welcome to TGN's forum @Jenny Talbott! Good luck with your search.
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@Annie Kate Grape leaves have tanins in them that help pickles stay crisp. Grape leaves are also full of vitamin K.
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I just recently ordered lids from this company. They are the reusable type like the Tattler brand, but available in large quantity and they ship free even to Alaska.
If you are familiar with the magazine Backwoods Home, their food writer Jackie Clay uses and recommends this brand. I have used the Tattler brand, but when I tried to order the shipping costs to send to me in Alaska was about $45 dollars.
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@torey Thank you for your kind welcome. I'm so excited to be here. It's a little overwhelming, all the great information. And that's just in the forums.😊
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@Annie Kate I have wild grapes growing in the yard, so I may try that next year.
This year the cukes I used for bread and butter (sweet) pickles were fresh and firm, though I let them get larger than I planned before picking.
7 pint jars of pickles are now sitting on the counter, waiting for me to find space in the pantry. :-)
I'm done canning for the year. Now that we've had three frosts, I pulled the remaining beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. All that is left in the ground is the fall green salad garden, the winter garlic & onions that will be harvested next summer, and the perennial strawberries and raspberries. (And a few snow peas that may or may not produce pods this fall.)
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Good for you, @VermontCathy!
We have had four frosts but it's nice for the next week so I'm glad we covered everything. Now I'm preserving like mad--mostly brassicas, but our fall raspberries are finally producing, too. And our tomatoes were late and the frosts were so hard some of the plants were killed through the coverings, so we only have some of those growing and there are trays of green ones in our living room.
I've got to be organized next year and plant a fall salad garden; it's usually so hot in the summer that lettuce doesn't germinate.
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@happy-trails I love your Crockpot too! Is it vintage?
I don't think I mentioned my Crockpot. Maybe you were thinking of someone else? My Crockpot is a very basic, inexpensive once that I bought years ago, but I wouldn't call it vintage.
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