Motivation for others that need it

[MontyJ]

In another thread Jared posted about a cookbook, Bj and Carol both admitted to have never used their canners. I remember a post Marshall made about needing motivation to get something done. Now we need one to get these two busy canning up the harvest. I'll start:

Never fired up the canner??? I find it hard to shut mine down sometimes! Bj, Carol, I want to see dedicated efforts from both of you! Now git out there, open those canners, read the book and git busy!! There are many of here who would be more than happy to share information and help. Don't make me send you jars of homemade jelly so you can see what you're missing out on!

 

[baymule]

Absolutely! Ya'll have to get motivated, lifting weight, :weight lifting pressure canners so you can preserve the fruits of your labors :watering No more procrastination We are all cheering for you! Nothing better that opening a jar of goodness from your own garden in the winter When the :coolsun days are gone, winter :happy_flower has set in, no more fresh garden veggies and you open a store bought can of pesticide masquerading as actual food and wait for spring. Get your canning supplies ready! You can do this!! Then you will be saying to TEG and all the support you get here!

 

[Jared77]

I'm with Monty I think ours stops sometime around St Patty's day. But then we also produce a lot too. Once you realize it's so easy & what you get once your done you'll kick yourself for not doing it sooner.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In the last week and a half Ive canned 34 pints of chicken broth, 16 pints of green beans, 6 half-pints of blackberry jelly, and 7 quarts of vegetable soup. Mines sure not setting on the shelf.

Its hard to believe people would get something that expensive and not use it. And these are hard-working people!

BJ it wasn't that long ago you didn't think you could do chickens. Now you're an expert. Get with the canning program.

Carol what can I say? I'm gobsmacked that you're not a canning pro. Yet!

 

[so lucky]

Well, I have to admit I didn't use my pressure canner at all this year. I did make some apple butter, at least. My garden just didn't produce enough to bother with canning anything. I will blame it on the early season herbicide poisoning by the neighbors, then the absence of honey bees. Please don't burst my bubble by telling me there were plenty of other pollinators. It's a good thing I grew my own stuff from seed, or I would have been in the hole.
(sigh) There's always next year.

 

[Carol Dee]

O.K. I will admit I am a little AFRAID of it! So far we have put everything in the freezer or water bathed it in the big canning kettle. I will tell you I bought it at a hardware store closing for less than 1/2 price.
We have 16 quarts of green beans and 40 quarts of tomatoes and 3 batches of Salsa in the freezer. I made 2 batches of strawberry, 2 of peach and one of wild black berry jam. FIVE five gallon buckets of potatoes in cold storage (In cellar, in crates.) Several batches of Kale blanched and frozen. Some zucchini shredded and frozen, too. We have a BIG old upright freezer in the garage. And not a lot of shelving space for canned goods. A lot of that space has been taken up by the canners, food saver, jars, jams and HONEY. (Both the jars of honey and equipment for extracting.) Guess that is why I did not get too BRAVE and get out the canner. Yet....

 

[digitS']

eep! Is right!

Here, I'm thinking that I'd have to carry jars up and down those basement steps .. .. .....!

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Carol, get on the phone to your county extension agent about getting that canner checked out. It may take some effort but most extension agents can help you with that.

This past summer I was visiting Mom in East Tennessee. She said she didnt trust her pressure canner any more. I called the Campbell County extension office. They said they didnt do that anymore, that a lady in the Knoxville office handled that for them. OK, what was the phone number?

I called that lady and discussed it. She was trying to be helpful but logistics just werent working out. She happened to mention that the only other person in the region that did that was in Crossville so she was kind of busy. My brother lives in Crossville. I was spending the night with him on the way home. Problem solved, or at least given to him. That canner was fine, by the way.

So call your extension agent to see about getting that thing checked out so you can get some confidence in it. As a minimum get them to check the gauge to make sure it works right. I didnt say it would be easy but at least make the effort.

 

[897tgigvib]

BAY!

I your post!

 

[journey11]

Carol, what you need to do is put water in it, and go through the procedure of pressuring it up (and letting it depressurize) a couple of times until you feel comfortable with that. Just follow the directions. That way you get familiar with how it works without the added stress and worry that you think you'd ruin a batch of goodies. Since you already know how to waterbath can and all of the jar and food prep is exactly the same, that will help you get the jitters out of your system about using the pressure canner. It really is completely safe. Just don't wonder off or get distracted while it's going. I do most of my canning while the kids are asleep so I know I won't be distracted. Even if you did forget it and it overheated, it has the fail-safe that will release the pressure. I promise you it won't actually blow up!