What are you canning now?

[Ridgerunner]

I've never canned plums but have canned peaches. Typically with plums I make plum jam or jelly or use them to make chutney.

There are two basic types of canning. One is pressure canning which gets temperatures up high enough to kill botulism. That requires special equipment. The other is water bath canning, That's where the acidity (pH) of the product keeps botulism from growing. You need a way to cover the jars with boiling water but don't really need that much special equipment. You probably have stuff you can use.

It's important to follow the canning recipes. Plums probably have enough acidity to preserve themselves in water bath canning. Some recipes for some fruits require adding acid, usually vinegar or lemon juice. Canning appears to be intimidating until you do it, then you realize it's just a process. Fruits, jams, jellies, and pickled products can be water bath canned.

 

[Marie2020]

@Marie2020 , back during the time when I was helping to manage a farmers' market, I was called in to the county office of the state university. The people there wanted me to know about their role in food safety. There had been lots of health problems associated with home food preserving especially by novices and they were there to help.

One university in every state has this responsibility and, at one time, they were required to have an office in every county. That has changed in more recent years with cost cutting. They continue to provide invaluable service.

Preserving and preparing plums

Michigan grown plums will soon be ready.

www.canr.msu.edu

This is from North Dakota State but I found it quoted a couple thousand miles away by another university office:

Home Canning Fruit and Fruit Products

www.ag.ndsu.edu

I have only canned fruit jam but work from online recipes often. I find it helps to print the recipes. The pdf files make that easy if you have a printer. If not, your public library may do that for you.

Steve

Thank you again. I am about to look this up. I've been busy today baking a spelt loaf.

Off subject here, I'm having awful problems with my deleting in here. It may be my phone. When I delete a single letter it takes my message off. So if you see a few ridiculous mistakes it's not only me but this problem.

 

[flowerbug]

last batch for today being processed now. 24 quarts today. Mom helped so we got it done in time to mow. yehaw...

 

[flowerbug]

more tomatoes today, i wasn't really thinking we were going to do any more but Mom brought three buckets in this morning. i told her i was busy shelling beans so she would have to do them herself. then a bit later i said i would do the dunking/scalding for her if she cut them up and then i would do quality control and sealing up the jars and processing for her. the last six quarts just are done processing now so for today that was 21 more quarts of tomato chunks.

as it turned out Mom had to run into town today to pick something up from the library and then she was going to do a little shopping. they didn't have what she was after at the local store so she ran into the further town where surprise surprise she was able to finally get some wide-mouth lids. so when she came back i had some tomatoes that we didn't have any jars/lids for that i was then able to seal up.

i didn't get many beans shelled this afternoon... c'est la vie...

 

[Zeedman]

@flowerbug , I'm compltely in awe at the amount of tomatoes you process. I tried canning chunks for the first time this year, 4 quarts of the Nicoviotis Orange.

I finished the last batch of canned salsa last night, 12 pints... which makes it 33 pints total. All of that is mild, I made enough hot & lukewarm salsa in 2019 to last for a few years. Besides, I am growing most of my favorite tomatoes & sweet peppers this year, it would be a shame to mask those flavors with heat.

It's raining, so we have plenty of time to get caught up. There is a bucket of apples which will be turned into sauce & jelly, and more apples are available if we run out. We can pick in the rain if need be... at least then the apples are pre-washed.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug , I'm compltely in awe at the amount of tomatoes you process. I tried canning chunks for the first time this year, 4 quarts of the Nicoviotis Orange.

I finished the last batch of canned salsa last night, 12 pints... which makes it 33 pints total. All of that is mild, I made enough hot & lukewarm salsa in 2019 to last for a few years. Besides, I am growing most of my favorite tomatoes & sweet peppers this year, it would be a shame to mask those flavors with heat.

It's raining, so we have plenty of time to get caught up. There is a bucket of apples which will be turned into sauce & jelly, and more apples are available if we run out. We can pick in the rain if need be... at least then the apples are pre-washed.

remember that most of the time it is a team effort here as Mom will help with the cutting and chunking or peeling as needed. at least this year she helped a lot. last year we did about 1/3 of what we did this year and i did most of the processing. it was ok, but it does take longer to get it done when i'm working alone.

i'd be happy to have apples to work with as part of the fall routine but the source we used to have for mixed organic apples isn't available any more. right now i'm kinda tired and sore so i am happy to let it go this season. have to get some digging done this afternoon if i can get out there. trying to not fall asleep here now... zz..zzz.zzz...zzzzzzzzz....

 

[baymule]

I made a big pan of stewed pears with red wine and port wine, got 5 jars and the rest is for desert this week.

I can pears in a light syrup with lemon juice and a piece of peeling in each jar. Your wine recipe sounds interesting, do you can them?

 

[thejenx]

I can pears in a light syrup with lemon juice and a piece of peeling in each jar. Your wine recipe sounds interesting, do you can them?

I should try them like that, over here we generally only have them stewed with wine.
No, I don't can them. I put them in a jar hot, then add the wine syrup and screw on the lid, turn the jar up side down. That gets a vacuum seal most times and stays good for a year or so. They don't last that long 😁

 

[ducks4you]

BIT THE BULLET AND USED MY PRESSURE CANNER!!!!!!

COULDN'T have done it withOUT DD! She read the instructions and walked me through the process.
HOT DOG -- my glass stove top did NOT crack, like I was worried that it would.
Canned chili, btw.
Had a little trouble with the pressure and my burner. It was always above 10 pounds pressure, but mostly 13-14 pounds pressure. I'll have to work on that. Electric stove.
I was so proud, cleaned it all up after use and stored it clean in a new garbage bag, in the basement pantry, ready for the next use.

 

[ducks4you]

@Marie2020 , canning fruit uses sugar as a preservative, and use a recipe that adds lemon juice, just to be sure. I have successfully canned pears AND peaches. Most fruit has natural sugar, and they WILL keep.
Be sure to store in a cool, dark place with as low humidity as you can find. 1st floor or basement will do, not the 2nd floor of your home, bc it gets too warm.