Canning questions and ideas?

[Colleen]

Hello everyone,
I have never canned foods before, but I would like to try it this summer. I have absolutely no equipment and little knowledge of canning. I have some questions, but I may be missing some important details as well. Can anyone help?

First,
Should I purchase a pressurized canner? If so, what brand/type of canner would you all suggest.

Second
Are there certain types of foods that shouldn't be canned? I would like to can soups, stock, vegetables, applesauce, fruits, jams, and jellies (yes, I'm feeling rather optimistic). Is there anything that I need to be aware of in terms of bacteria and spoilage of food?

Third
How long do these foods last once they are canned and stored in a cool dark place?

Fourth
Does anyone have any suggestions for recipes of soups (I love creamy potato), Jams (I love every kind), or anything else that would be delightful canned?

Fifth
Is there anything that I should know before I begin this process that I may have missed?

Thank you all for any advice, recipes, or comments you may have. As I previously said, I have never done this before and am a little apprehensive (but excited all the same).

[SoCal]

Colleen - I have never canned anything in my life but these threads may help you get started. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum1/HTML/006097.html
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/clay53.html
http://www.thevision.net/DMS/canning.htm

[Colleen]

Thanks SoCal,
I will look at these and see what information gather.
Colleen

[Chefzhat]

Colleen, I can nearly everything and am so glad I taught myself because now I know everything that is in my food because I put it there. Get yourself the Ball Blue Book - Guide to Home CAnning, Freezing and Dehydration. It explains everything! Happy Canning! BTW I don't have a pressure canner, just a big old canning tub with the drop in rack for jars. Things seem to keep forever, but all my stuff usually gets used up within the year, especially the tomatoes and soups and salsas. I wish you lived near me (maybe you do) canning with friends sounds 50's but it a total blast - cold beer and hot canning jars seem to go together! Good luck!

[Beth]

Canning is more fun with someone to help (most of the time, at least). Fortunately, DH gets into the action around here. On an earlier thread, I also recommended the Blue Book, as it is known, for a canning starter. You can even find it at Walmart and Target or order it directly for under $5. Learn the basics and try a couple of things from that before putting more into equipment and books. If you like it, you can always add more.

I have only canned with the hot water bath, and that allows me to do my tomato sauce, picante sauce (both have added lemon juice or vinegar), jellies and jams, pickles and relishes. Non-acidic foods, like most fruits and vegetables, require pressure canning, so start simple and see if you enjoy it.

[Beth]

Oh, they say most foods are safe about a year after canning. It seems jellies and jams last a bit longer, but I would not try more than a year with tomato sauces and such.

[Chefzhat]

Beth, my DH gets into the canning jag too when the season rolls around. He can peel tomatoes with the best of them! Don't you find that once you do canning one time it's really easy and isn't the big hassle you think it's going to be? I did.

[Beth]

I was amazed at how easy it was even the first time, and it does get easier. The only exposure I had to anything like it was a few times that my mom and grandmother made jam. I remember the jars going in the oven in pans with water, the melted wax on top, the oozey mess when some leaked and molded, and the dill pickles that were too salty to eat. Guess it's a wonder I ever tried it, but DH and I canned over 200 jars that summer we started. That was before kids.

[eDana]

Colleen:
I have been canning for over 30 years - both water bath and pressure canning. If you are just starting out, I would recommend the water bath process to you as it is the least expensive way to begin. A number of people have recommended Ball's Blue Book and Putting Food By, but I would recommend your county or state Extension Service. I happen to be the agent and have been for over 25 years in our county. They are affiliated with the US Department of Agriculture and have a pamphlet entitled Canning and Freezing Foods. It gives the safe way to approach both. There are a number of bacterias that you have to be careful of and their pamphlet deals with the proper and safe handling of foods. I would also recommend the website homecanning.com. The Altrista Company that had a limited license with Ball Corporation (the people that make the canning jars) this is their website. They also have some good recipes there as well and the process to follow. I would recommend you only can what you think you will eat or eat and give away in a 12 month period. Foods left longer than this, tend to lose their bright color and some of their flavor. I would not suggest you can creamed soups, but rather the base for these soups and then add cream or milk to them when you break the seal. I have a WONDERFUL old recipe for a tomato soup that I add cream to to make a cream of tomato soup, if you would like for me to pass along to you. It is a sweet soup, not sicky sweet but wonderful "in the dead on winter." The mother and the County agent is coming out in me when I say - and I know I will get some bb responses to this - NEVER can in anything BUT canning jars. In the 80's I used to can in just about anything I could get my hands on as I put up 400-500 jars of "stuff" each year and could not afford the Ball jars. Jars other than canning jars are not meant to handle the temperatures you have to have to properly process foods. I would suggest you start with jams. I use Certo - a liquid pectin that you can get in the baking aisle of your local grocery store - to help "set" my jams. I prefer jams to jellies - same stuff except you have to run the juices through layers of cheesecloth - as I like the fruit chunks on my toast and sandwiches.In my area (MA) Kitchens Etc. and my local grocery store has most of the canning supplies I might need. Colleen, hope this helps. I know I enjoy canning and get a boot out of displaying all that I have done on a number of shelves in my kitchen for the casual visitor to see. Enjoy! If you cannot get the USDA pamphlet I mentioned, let me know and I will see if I can have one forwarded on to you.

[Anne]

Hi Colleen. Good luck with your canning adventures. I would second eDana's recommendation of checking in with your county extension agent. I have been canning for many years and I still come up with questions that stump me - the county extension folks can always find an answer. They will also be more likely to have recipies/techniques for regional specialties and may even have classes. There is something extremely satisfying about looking at a shelf full of food you have 'put by'

[This message has been edited by Anne (edited 06-18-2001).]

[kirkbyky]

All this info is wonderful! I will be waterbath canning for the first time this year (jams/jellies/tomatos/sauce, etc.)
My question is can you can beans? I know you can can bean soup, but I will have about 1 million dried beans at the end of the summer & want to can some. Any ideas?
Also, I add my support of county extention agents, etc. My DH works for the local garden project & they co-ordinate w/ext offices to teach a preserving class (free) and my husbands office has several sets of canning supplies to help people get started.
Great thread!

[Beth]

If the beans are dried, I'd leave them that way. They don't need to be canned to be preserved, so I am assuming you are talking about cooking then canning. You would have to pressure can them, and, unless I missed something, it doesn't seem worth the trouble to cook and can when they will keep as they are.

[junietoo]

I use both a water bath canner and a pressure canner. When I was young and poor, I used to buy fryer chickens when they were on sale, cut the meat off the bone and can them. It was a lot of work (but I had more time back then) and a great convenience when I wanted to make soup or a casserole.

Now, mostly I make jams for which I use a steam canner to finish the seals.

The seals on the jars last a LOOOOOONG time, but the food inside doesn't usually fare so well. It's not that it gets bad for you (I've never, in more than 30 years of canning, had something I canned make anyone sick), it just begins to lose its flavor.

For instance, when the new jam season begins (with strawberry and strawberry/rhubarb) the previous year's leftovers (if there are any) go to any takers.

As for books, I recommend "Putting Food By." It's a basic book with easy to follow instructions for canning and freezing foods.

[Colleen]

Thank you one and all for your recommendations and comments. I am excited to begin my adventure of canning.

eDana, I would love to have your recipe for Tomato Soup if you are so inclined to post it. Also, I am moving back to the Boston area (hopefully) in a month or so. So, I will most likey look up the information you have discussed there.

Thanks again everyone.
I will be in touch.
Colleen

[eDana]

Colleen
Am at work right now, but will dig through my recipes and send along to you - and anyone else who wishes it - first of next week. This is an old recipe from the Guerney Seed people. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does. Will post for all next week.

[eDana]

Sorry for not getting back sooner, but things have been busy around here. Here is the recipe I promised. It is from an old Gurney Seed Catalog and must be 25 years old. I will give you first the recipe, then my comments.

Gurney's Tomato Soup

1/2 bushel tomatoes
7 onions
14 strips of celery, diced fine
14 strips of parsley, diced fine
14 bay leaves
21 whole cloves (or 3/4 to 1 tsp. powder)
1 small garlic (or 1 tsp. garlic salt)

Cook the above until mushy and then sieve. Add 1/2 lb. butter or margarine. Then add

1/4 cup salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/c cup brown sugar

Cook for 10 minutes. Mix 2 cups flour with water to a thin paste. Thicken tomato mixture and boil for a few minutes. Put into hot sterilized jars and seal in boiling water bath as you would for tomatoes. Yields 9 quarts.

OK. Now my comments. First off, sometimes I used (9) 28 oz. canned Pastene Tomatoes, no salt added instead of having to deal with peeling and chopping the tomatoes. Same result. Also, I started with 1/4 cup of brown sugar as I thought 1 1/2 cups was a bit much. Personal preference. You can always add more if you want it sweeter.Have added 2-3 tsp. of Herbs de Provance as well. Do not usually add the flour to thicken. Seems thick enough for me as is. Also add 2 tsp. of allspice. And, finally, I used pint and half-pint jars as it was nice to have a smaller amount for lunches and snacks. Kind of experiment with the taste to get it where it is rich, sweet but has a kick with the allspice and cloves. Can add cream or milk to it to make cream of tomatoe soup. Believe me, this isn't Campbell's! Hope you enjoy!