Canning Vegetables? Recipes?

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ACarbone624

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Does anyone here can/preserve vegetables fresh from the garden?

It looks like I am gonna have a ton of veggies from the garden this summer.

-Peppers (Cubanelle, Bell, Jalapeno, Habanero)
-Tomatoes (Roma, Lemon Boy, Patio, Beefsteak)
-Pickles
-String Beans

I was looking into canning/preserving some of the to eat over the winter.

There are so many recipes and techniques online. Do you guys have any recommendations?
 
Canning isn't all that hard to do, I've been doing it for years. There are a ton of books available and a good place to look for info is at university extension service sites. Usually a state university has a food sciences department and will make information available. Mason jars are easy to find at garage sales but the rims must not have any chips out of them because it compromises the seals. Always get new lids - don't reuse and don't use old ones that have been lying around for years. Once the rubber on the lid gets used or old it won't hold a seal any longer. The rings can be ugly as long as they work. When done, store in a cool, dark place to keep the seals intact and the color of the food from turning brown. One important decision is whether to can in pints or quarts. Quarts are a faster way to put up more food but it you have a small family or can't use a quart quantity in a short period of time, use pints instead.

Freezing is also a good way to preserve your harvest. Again, there is lots of info available. Freezing is generally easier and quicker but not everything freezes well. For example, you can both freeze and can beets. Frozen beets are fine but get a little soft when they thaw while the canned ones remain firm. Keep in mind with freezing - as I was reminded just last night - that a power loss or failure of the freezer results in the loss of your hard work. I was gone from Thursday to Saturday night at my daughter's wedding. Last night we discovered our exactly one-year old freezer (purchased on 11 July 2009) had broken down and we hauled about 100# of sloppy, smelly meat and produce to the garbage can.

Two tomato recipes

For canning I like to make Italian or stewed tomatoes. I use Romas washed and sliced into 3/4" pieces and prepared for cold-pack canning (the food is not prepared first or hot). You'll also need tomato juice either homemade or purchased. Onions, garlic, bay leaf, basil or oregano, lemon juice and bell peppers. You'll need a water-bath canner for either pints or quarts, jars with rings and new lids.

Thoroughly wash the jars , fill with hot water and put into the filled water-bath canner. The water in the canner should be at a low boil and the jars hot when you fill them with the tomatoes. In a second pan have the rings and lids in boiling water to sterilize and keep hot.

On your counter have all your ingredients prepared (sliced, diced or how ever you plan to use them) and just set up an assembly line with the things you will put into the jars. You will need a pair of jar tongs to lift the hot jars out of the canner and a small pair of tongs to get the rings and lids out of the boiling water. The ratio of tomatoes to other ingredients is really up to you. If you like a lot of tomatoes and a little other stuff that's fine or vice-versa (I like lots of stuff so mine are usually 75% tomatoes and 25% other). When I fill the jars I layer the ingredients - tomatoes first then add onion then more tomatoes then add peppers then more tomatoes then add garlic, bay leaf and basil then top off with more tomatoes (the order doesn't matter). I add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to the jar (for a pint jar) at this time to raise the acid level in the jar ( I also add about 1 tsp sugar to take the edge off the tomatoes, but this is completely optional). Fill the jars to about the neck with the raw veggies. Take a table knife and gently tuck the ingredients into the jar to be sure there are no big voids left. Last pour tomato juice into the jar, again using the knife to get air bubbles and air pockets out. Fill with juice to within 1/2" of the rim. It is very important that the lid and rim of the jar be absolutely clean or the jar won't seal and you'll get sick. Clean the rim of the jar, put on the lid and screw on the ring - hand tight. Place back into the canner and repeat until all jars are full. There should be about 1" of water over the jars once the last one has been returned to the canner. Put the lid on the canner, boil gently for 30 minutes. Remove the jars and set out to cool. I usually put a towel on the counter and set the hot jars on it. Leave space around the jars so they cool evenly. Within an hour the lids should be sealing. You will hear the distinct ping of each lid as the cooling contents of the jar contracts and sucks the lid down. Resist the urge to push down on the lids, they'll seal by themselves. You can vary this as you like, hot peppers, cayenne pepper, cilantro or whatever suits you. I use my recipe for making chili and similar dishes. For simple canning of tomatoes omit all the extras except the lemon juice.

Last year I made roasted tomatoes for the first time. Really good.

Slice Romas in half the long way and scoop out the watery/seedy stuff. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Place tomato halves, cut side up, on baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle oil over tomatoes. Bake 2 hours.
You'll need to check for the time with your own oven as they vary so much. The tomatoes will come out looking slightly brown, much smaller and kind of rubbery. I froze them about a dozen in a bag - I use the special freezer bags with the hand vacuum pump to get all the air out the bags (prevents freezer burn) and put a piece of packing tape over the little hole to be sure the bag stays sealed. I used these tomatoes for pizza, cut up on top of pasta, for bruschetta and whatever else sounded good. This is really an easy way to preserve tomatoes with a minimum of equipment and mess.

Simple freezing of tomatoes is to wash, cut in half, place on a baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen put into freezer bags in whatever quantity you foresee using at a time. Some people peel the tomatoes first. It's a lot of work and the skins don't matter for the kind of cooking I do. To peel first, dunk the tomato into boiling water for a few seconds until the skin splits and then peel off the skin.

If you're uncertain about any recipe when you can, try to get some info first to avoid getting sick later. I learned from my mom and haven't poisoned myself yet. The work varies but the results are well worth it.
 
ACarbone624 said:
It looks like I am gonna have a ton of veggies from the garden this summer.


-Pickles

Shoot me a picture of one of those pickle vines. Down here we have to make them out of cucumbers. They must not grow this far south. :lol:
 
:LOL2:

Technically they are cucumbers, but of the Picklebush variety....at most 5" long and very few seeds.

Here is the other pack I didn't plant.

Photo0025.jpg
 
Wouldn't you know I found a "Pickle" on one of my plants that I must have missed for a few days. Its 5" long and 5" wide. It looks like a small football. I got some brand new Jars this morning. I can't wait to try this! :shock: Man I need to go fishing.....badly! :shock:
 
:mrgreen: Found some good info on these sites. 8)

https://www.food.com/recipes/water-bath

https://www.gardenersgardening.com/boilingwaterbathcanning.html

https://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/clay53.html
 
I'm digging this out of the dust.. :D

Oh, and my wife says the Ball Blue Book of Preserving is the canning bible that all other's are compared..

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I've been the product of home canning. For as long as I can remember, "go down (basement) and get a quart of ... "

Beans, tomatoes, jelly, and my favorite, MEATS!!

Every year a bunch of us get together and kill and process hogs.. I get a half ever year and while it's delicious, with my travels I have a hard time getting it eaten.. Rather than let it go bad by sitting in the freezer for over a year, when I get time I go through the freezer and gather anything that's not from the year I'm currently in.. It might be 7-8 months old, and rather than tossing out freezer burnt meat, I now can it.. A while back I did 20 pints of pork and I added onion, green pepper, and half a jalapeno. Also, because canned pork doesn't have much flavor I added a 1/2 teaspoon of ham seasoning and 3 drops of liquid smoke. A jar of this warmed up in a pan, and then spooned on top of noodles or rice is a meal that's almost impossible to stop eating..

I canned 6 pints of tomatoes today.. There were a bunch of romas in the garden that needed to be gathered before they went bad..

IMG_6525-L.jpg


I blanched them, and cut them in half after cutting off anything I didn't want to eat (bruises, dark spots, etc)

IMG_6524-L.jpg


And the result was 6 pints of tomatoes for this winter's chili or golash.. So much more flavor than store bought canned tomatoes!!!

IMG_6526-L.jpg



This year, I not only got a half when I butchered, a month later I won an entire processed hog in a raffle.. I think I'll be canning a lot of hog this year.. :lol:
 

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