I am planning on growing a veggie garden this summer, and I would love to learn how to can some of the food. Do any of you have experience with this? Any good recipes/hints?

I am planning on growing a veggie garden this summer, and I would love to learn how to can some of the food. Do any of you have experience with this? Any good recipes/hints?


I used to can stuff with my grandmother.  I know you have to buy the glass jars or canisters and sterilize them really well, then make up what you're going to can (she used to make pickles, so she'd do the pickle recipe), put it in the glasses, put the lids on, and then either boil them or use a pressure canner to make sure they were shut tight and all the bacteria was dead.

I found this website on canning:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2816.asp

Not too sure about dehydrating foods though.  The only bit I know about that is my grandfather having a Little Chief smoker, where he'd make smoked salmon.

I would really like to invest in a good pressure cooker. I looked at a few websites about canning, and they all suggested buying a decent one. The good ones are around $150..I didn't realize they were so expensive. :o

It would be really cool though, it would save on a lot of money and stuff. I would love to can homemade spaghetti sauce.

I would really like to invest in a good pressure cooker. I looked at a few websites about canning, and they all suggested buying a decent one. The good ones are around $150..I didn't realize they were so expensive. :o

It would be really cool though, it would save on a lot of money and stuff. I would love to can homemade spaghetti sauce.


I used a Presto like this one: http://www.pressurecooker-outlet.com/prestop23qtcan.htm

It could hold 7 1qt Mason Jars or iirc 15 pint jars

The higher dollar ones (like this one) do not have rubber gasket seals, which is a major plus. Seals DO go bad, and a pc with a a bad seal is useless.

I dunno about canning though - I use mine for sterilization of media for growing mushrooms.

I think you'll realize more of a savings with a dehydrator - they are set-it-and-forget-it, where as a pc takes more care and time. Both are good ideas though - I'd thought about an herb/veggy garden this year myself. I've still got a TON of Mason jars from the 'shroom days.

signature banned as well

I would really like to invest in a good pressure cooker. I looked at a few websites about canning, and they all suggested buying a decent one. The good ones are around $150..I didn't realize they were so expensive. :o

It would be really cool though, it would save on a lot of money and stuff. I would love to can homemade spaghetti sauce.
I have been a life long canner, handed down by my mother.

One thing I can really tell you - it does not really save money.  It is more of a hobby/ you can make the food the way you like it and you know what goes into it.  It takes a very large garden to can enough greenbeans to last a while (my family of 4 - 42 quarts)/ Corn I have better luck freezing/ Tomatoes I can make some good salsa and tomato sauce (but It takes around 10 - 16 tomato plants in order to have enough at a time to can to make it worth your while.

You will be canning in the hottest of summer months - so this can also be cost inaffective, if you are running your central air to keep up - I have a stove in our shed, so I have somewhat of a "summer kitchen" so as not to heat the house - basements would also work for this. 

Do not get me wrong - I love to can, but is sort of a hobby (and yes sometimes a pain in the neck - especially when I have a whole load of beans go bad).

P.S.

If you have a glass top stove  - DO NOT CAN ON IT.  A friend of mine did and it shattered the glass, now I have another friend who does - and hers has so far held.  But all stove manufacturers of glass tops recommend to NOt do it.  Unless you want a new stove ::)

I have been a life long canner, handed down by my mother.

One thing I can really tell you - it does not really save money.  It is more of a hobby/ you can make the food the way you like it and you know what goes into it. 


This is the impression I get from listening to a friend of mine this summer.  Several times she was up until 3 or 4 in the morning 'because I have to get the canning done'.  Madness.

That said, I did used to make my own jam and pickle (relish) when I had a garden with several plum trees.  It was the only way to cope with the excess fruit.  Both my mum and my in-law pickled and made jams for this same reason. 

You might do better in getting a good deep freezer and preserving things that way.

My grandmother used to can a lot, but she was a ......well, she was difficult to learn from.  Anyway, she canned a lot of fruit.  I have never tasted anything as good as her canned peaches, she used them for her peach upside down cake.  The only advice she gave was don't use the cling peaches, use the freestones.

Every year, on Labor Day weekend, My Parents & I {& My Brother & Sisters} would get bushels {20 +} of Plum Tomatoes and can Sauce for the year. We stopped when My Mom passed away...just wasn't the same anymore....