Oh, where have I been for sooooooooooooooooo long?
Crittergarden,
I just started canning this past two months ago, and I am LOVING IT! I started off with simple water bath canning, to get a feel for the process. To date, I've canned whole berry cranberry sauce, jalapeno pepper jelly, and spiced beets. ALL three were successful, and, I have a batch of fresh jalapenos waiting to become more pepper jelly!
I have had an ALL AMERICAN PRESSURE CANNER 921 sitting in the box since I bought it, almost 5 years ago, brand spanking new!
It's time to get serious! I started collecting turkeys on sale at Thanksgiving time, so I can brine them, roast them on the rotisserie, and then can the meat for the shelf!
Here are a couple of YouTube websites I've been following to learn about canning. I trust these folks. Beware, however, there are any number of additional YouTube posters who I do NOT follow for canning instructions, LOL! Watch all the canning videos for the first three, and you'll be able to detect those you might wanna skip, LOL!
imstillworkin
katzcradul
webcajun
homesteadingGirl (for a nice tutorial on using your pressure canner)
Can't wait to start canning my greens!
P.S. The spiced beets are A-MAZ-ING!
P.S.S. When I became a serious veggie gardener, I knew I was going to need a freezer. Having lived with both a huge chest freezer and an upright shelf freezer, I'd recommend the upright freezer, hands down. You have to dress like an Eskimo to retrieve anything from the bottom of that chest freezer. And, stuff is not readily visible. You'll appreciate the shelves in an upright freezer for organizing your veggies, and frozen goods. JMHO (just my humble opinion), LOL!
A few canning tips I have learned that might be helpful to you:
►Lids and rings are getting more and more expensive, and the Tattler reusable lids are becoming popular. However, there is a definite LEARNING curve with using those lids! Find the YouTube video where the guy posts a rant, and you'll see why.
►Garage sales, elderly neighbors who used to can, Craig's list, etc., can be sources for Ball and Mason jars. Be sure the older, vintage jars aren't too vintage. If they are, the newer lids and rings will NOT fit them
.
►Watch your processing times! Too much and you'll get mush in the jars.
►Do NOT let your jars cool in the canner overnight! Go that extra step of removing them to a towel on your counter...
►You can divide the process up between prepping the food and processing the food. I'm going to core and slice the jalapenos on one evening, and put them into the fridge (or the freezer), until I'm ready to can (process) them... I have found food prep is the most time-consuming part of the whole event. I can even boil, peel and dice the beets on one evening, and process on another...
►ALWAYS sterilize more jars, ring, and lids, than you think you'll need! It's a total pill to end up with a corner of something and not have an extra jar ready, LOL. And, like "imstillworkin" says, "I sterilize my rings." "You don't have to, if you don' want to!"
"Hope this helps!"
Linda
