On the subject of CANNING... [Archive]

TastyofHasty

August 28th, 2008, 11:21 AM

A few comments about canning... :cool: thought I'd post my thoughts; would appreciate hearing what some of y'all other folks on here think?
So many recipes start with that BLITHE command and I mean it sounds BLITHE INDEED, whilst you are slaving away performing the work:
Wash and PEEL ... (in today's case, pears).
So simple to say, but the peeling is such a PIA to do, when you have a bushel of pears standing on your kitchen counter. This will take at least a couple HOURS. But we are ... what is the word ... "STALWART" ! Get out the old apple peeler that only peels about 1/8" of pear flesh along with the pear skin ... it will STILL take at least a couple HOURS of devoted labor to peel all those pears. This preserving the harvest stuff is a LOT of WORK! And the more harvest you have, the more WORK is needed to preserve it!

Then there is the sticky juice all over everything, having to be mopped up ...
Then there is the question of HOW TO DO IT ... thank God for the internet! ... and recipes all over the place; it really comes down to making a good recipe selection!

Then there is hoping you are doing everything properly so as not to poison anybody.

And finally, at the end of it all, you are looking at a bunch of jars of pears. Proud, but just hoping that they will be GOOD. What if they AREN'T? oof.

I remember back in the days when I used to sew my own clothes; sometimes they came out really well, but occasionally there was something that just looked STUPID ... it is possible to make mistakes. All this work, and there is a chance it may not be GOOD! ....

So far this year, the best thing I've canned has been salsa. Not so sure about the two kinds of pickles; the cucumbers kind of got extremely transparent in there. I'm still looking at making pizza sauce.

And that's another thing I noticed after translating all those tomatoes into salsa: you are taking something you can only eat in moderate amounts (how many fresh tomatoes can a person eat at one sitting, really?) and translating it into something that is either a whole food easily eaten directly out of the jar, or into an ingredient that can be easily used in some future recipe. So besides PRESERVING the harvest, you're also making it more EDIBLE. Even those doubtful pickles I made are more edible than fresh cucumbers.

anyway ... gotta go peel some pears ...

Jackie-T

August 28th, 2008, 11:29 AM

I never thought of it that way. My family has been putting food by all my life and so it seems absolutly normal and all the work just like, well that is the way it is supposed to be. I am putting by bread and butter pickles today,possible some dills for my son. tomorow will be green beans. I have used an apple peeler to do pears just took the attachment that slices them off. Turn the handle and they get done pretty quick.

propercocker

August 28th, 2008, 12:48 PM

It seems like my mom did pears and peaches like she did the tomatoes: dump them in a pot of boiling water, then cold water, and the skins slipped right off. Its been 20+years since I watched her process pears, so I might be wrong...

Emerald

August 28th, 2008, 03:43 PM

I have one of the same little crank machines that Jackie-t does, and I too will just take the corer/slicer off.. It works with potatoes too..

TooManyTomatoes

August 28th, 2008, 03:52 PM

My gardening goal is increased self sufficiency. Honest. My husband thinks my goal is to hide out from real life while growing more tomatoes than any one person could ever eat. Ok, that too.
But, man it IS alot of work. I was standing at the edge of the garden the other day, nibbling on some of the best blackberries I've ever seen, and the thought hit me... The apples are ripe, the berries are ripe, the tomatoes are ripe, the corn is ripe (you get the picture) If I were really serious about this, I would have ALOT of work to do. No wonder Great Gramma didn't have an office job.

One day, while swiffering around my Hoosier, I picked up one of my late 1920's Ball Blue Books (great canning illustration on the cover) and flipped to Sweet Pickles. I was planning on making some bread and butter pickles (they turned out great BTW) and the recipe began "wash and scrub 200 cuccumbers". GAAAA! 2 HUNdret. I hope they mean little ones. How on earth would I ever get 200 cuccumbers ripe at once?

TastyofHasty

August 28th, 2008, 03:55 PM

Hi folks. I'm still alive, heh heh... ... ...

Went to peel the pears and they were still mostly hard. So I just peeled the colander-full I had picked earlier (which have softened into delicious, juicy, RIPE pears after about 5 days), and have decided to let the hard ones ripen until they are softer. Not sure if that is the right thing to do? Anybody???

Anybody ever hear of Creme de Menthe pears? I found this:
http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Fruit%20with%20an%20added%20punch
but read mention of them but have found no actual recipe. Now these sound good! If I don't have enough Creme de Menthe, I s'pose I'll try making super-strength sweet mint tea and just add some vodka.

BTW, with a pie-plate of the pears I've already peeled, I'm making something called "Pear Clafoutis" for dessert tonight; this recipe has a really pretty pic, in case anybody else is swamped in pears, check this out:
http://bakingbites.com/2005/03/pear-clafoutis/

oh yeah, and you can use other kinds of fruits for clafoutis, too.

Ah, food, food ...

[editing] ... TooManyTomatoes, yes!! How would I get 200 cucumbers ripe at once is exactly the sort of question that I'm dealing with, too!

[editing] Jackie-T,
My family has been putting food by all my life and so it seems absolutly normal and all the work just like, well that is the way it is supposed to be.
You must have a LOT of experience! I was born and raised in Detroit ... NOBODY canned. This is ALL new, fascinating, but... new. There are a lot of aspects to gardening people just don't seem to talk much about ... like peeling a bushel or so of pears! I HATE peeling things ... snakes are fine ... but peeling things -- ack!:eek:

[editing] propercocker, I don' think the tomato trick will work for pears. Wish it would.

And Emerald ... I have one of those crank-type peelers, too; tried that ... the little tines that sink into one end of the fruit sank into the pear ... and kept right on sinking; when you turn the crank the pear kind of slumps ... too soft for peeling that-a-way!

RozieDozie

August 28th, 2008, 04:05 PM

TastyofHasty, wish I was there to help you! I absolutely love, love, love to can. I don't even mind peeling pears; I use the electric apple peeler. Works just fine. I make pear relish and pear butter and plain old canned pears. Never heard of creme de menthe pears; heard of brandied ones, though.

Wouldn't it be fun if we could all get together and have a 'canning party'? :)

TooManyTomatoes

August 28th, 2008, 05:22 PM

Just so no one thinks I was fooling, here is the lovely illustrated cover of that BBB, and the recipe for 200 pickled cuccumbers

onegardengirl

August 28th, 2008, 05:54 PM

Tastyofhasty,

I am right there with you girl. I have a pear tree out in the garden and mine should be ready to pick soon. Am putting it off until I get some other things done. I put up okra, squash, eggplant and fig preserves today. Just finished the preserves. I had a little bit of preserves left over, not enough to fill a jar so put it in a container to cool and put in the refrigerator. This was my first time putting up figs. I to have canned all my life off and on. We have a couple of fig trees on the property and I thought I would try to make preserves this time instead of trying to eat them one by one.

Got a late start on the garden this year and still waiting for the tomatoes to start coming in to the point I could can them. Right now just eating sliced tomatoes as they come in.

Too many tomatoes, love the comment about grandma not having an office job. lol! :D.

It does make you feel good about yourself when you are able to put up as much of the garden harvest as possible. It is a lot of work but at least you are sure of what goes into your food. I am trying to put it up as soon as I pick it this year. So far it has been somewhat slow. I am trying to make raisins with my grapes this year and drying some of the figs.

Enjoy your work girls as you know it will be over way too soon. Fall is just around the corner.

Lynn

Denninmi

August 28th, 2008, 06:03 PM

Tastyofhasty,

I am right there with you girl. . . .

. . . Enjoy your work girls as you know it will be over way too soon. Fall is just around the corner.

Lynn

Ladies, you're not the only ones who enjoy canning. I've up in the 200 quart range so far this year. I'm not alone, either, there are quite a few guys who are regulars on the Harvest forum on Gardenweb, which is devoted to canning and food preservation. I'll take canning over taking apart and cleaning a carbeurator any day.

Dennis
SE Michigan

TastyofHasty

August 28th, 2008, 07:46 PM

Right after I posted this:
And Emerald ... I have one of those crank-type peelers, too; tried that ... the little tines that sink into one end of the fruit sank into the pear ... and kept right on sinking; when you turn the crank the pear kind of slumps ... too soft for peeling that-a-way!
I realized I had the answer as to whether to wait for the pears to ripen, or go ahead and use them while they are still somewhat hard. While they are HARD, they can be peeled with the crank-type apple-peeler! If I wait till they are SOFT, I will have to peel them all by HAND!! ... instant decision-maker! I started peeling with the apple-peeler right away.

Thank you all, you hard-working canners!
Rozie-Dozie, I wish you could be here to help! and getting together for a "canning party" might be fun, we could divvy up the products and each take some home, with the majority going to the person who GREW whatever's being canned.

TooManyTomatoes, that is absolutely a charming cover on that Ball Blue Book. She's using the pretty big blue-green glass canning jars, and look at the huge thing she's got to can them in!

onegardengirl, thank you for your support! and what a day you have had. Wow. Your comment about
Enjoy your work girls as you know it will be over way too soon. Fall is just around the corner
does make one remember to be grateful for the pleasures of the moment! ...

and Denninmi, of COURSE you put up 200 quarts. You are a "gardening giant!"
I'll take canning over taking apart and cleaning a carbeurator any day. YUP. Me too. Even if it means having to peel stuff.

Here is "Pear Clafoutis," what's left of it after dinner tonight. A side-effect of looking for pear canning recipes. Saw a recipe on youtube for "Fig Clafoutis" ... by the way ...
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb300/buckette/PearClafoutisLR.jpg

ratdog

August 29th, 2008, 11:12 AM

"I'll take canning over taking apart and cleaning a carbeurator any day."

+1 on that. My wife and I have been canning for 15yrs.

WinterSown

August 29th, 2008, 11:40 AM

Billy B

August 29th, 2008, 01:41 PM

My wife and I have always canned. So far this year we have put up the following:
Tomato sauce 4 qt 5 pts,
Tomatoes 18 qts,
tomato juice 1 qt,
Beets 9 pts,
Beets tops 8 pts,
Green beans 21 qts 4pts,
Dill Pickles 31 qts 3 pts and 8 1/2 gals,
salsa 14 pts 1 qt,
Black berry Jam 37 jars,

and we have frozen the following:
9 qt bags of black berries,
21 qt bags of corn,
8 bags of October beans and
4 qt bags of carrots.
I forgot to mention in the canning section 25 qts and 4 pts of saurkraut.

countrylife

August 29th, 2008, 08:41 PM

Interesting subject that I was just researching as I have a 15-20' branch of my pear tree now laying in my yard. In the past I have left the pears til Oct- Nov after the first frost and on into a couple of hard freezes, now I know this article says that tree ripened pears are not good but I have not had that experience with mine. So I have 6 milk crates that I picked up off the ground and probably another 2-3 still attached to the branch. I'm wondering what the (explicative) I'm going to do with these unripened pears I'll be (explicative) if I'm going to let them go to waste. I have decided to try the refrigeration method and see if I can salvage them. Any other suggestions would be taken into consideration and greatly appreciated.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/story.php?S_No=1003&storyType=garden

TastyofHasty

August 30th, 2008, 11:26 AM

BillyB, you are another one with a lot of experience! I am trying to gain that experience ... by experimenting, I guess you'd say!

countrylife, that is interesting about the 30F temp and the sugars acting like antifreeze. I've left mine in brown paper bags & they've ripened well on the kitchen counter; temp in our house is usually between 73 and 80.

Pears will soften if cooked. I didn't actually EAT any of mine, just canned them, so I don't know what they taste like yet, cooked into softness.:confused::p I used the "cover them with sugar and leave overnight" trick people said was the way their grandmothers did it; the sugar brings out the juice (like with strawberries) and by next day the pears are lying in a bath of sugary pear juice. Unfortunately, there is not ENOUGH sugary pear juice to COVER all the pears; thus, some of them turned brown.:( sigh! and the juice, of course, is SUPER-SWEET; too sweet IMHO.

Whilst cooking the unripe pears into tenderness, I also found that some of the ripest pears were turning to mush ... so I put a big bowl into the oven (which was turned on already for sterilizing the canning jars) ... as they became tender while cooking, one by one the pears went into the bowl in the oven preparatory to going into the canning jars.

By the end of this whole operation, I was getting mad. All this work and the pears are too sweet, mushy, and some were brown. I ended up with four quarts of semi-okay pears. Okay, maybe they'll get better from sitting on the shelf in their super-sweet juice which has green food coloring and peppermint schnapps added (I didn't have any Creme de Menthe)! ... I tried a bit of brandy next to a taste of the pear syrup and that was REALLY good tasting; but that was rather expensive brandy and for a first experiment with pear-canning, I went with the less expensive liqueur ... peppermint schnapps has been sitting around for quite awhile, anyway.

So when winter comes and we open up a quart of pears ... hopefully I will be glad THEN that I canned these NOW.

But there are still a lot of pears left; I'm now thinking, let them ripen on their own in their basket with a paper bag over it ... go pick the rest of the pears from the top of the tree (btw, when planting a pear tree in the country, IMHO, a moderately TALL tree is good 'cause the deer can't reach the top!!)
and try canning them without peeling. The peel is supposed to be high in fiber and good for you! ... :rolleyes:

Lanna

September 1st, 2008, 03:25 PM

Yeah, I'm just barely getting into the canning insanity. I took the easy way out this year (because of the babe) and just froze my jams and sliced/whole strawberries and sliced peaches and other berries, and have just done pie fillings and green beans so far. Applesauce, pears, possibly peaches (but doubtful), and relish on the horizon for us. And tomato stuff if we ever get any ripe tomatoes. Only had 6 so far this year.

My wall of home-canned goodies...
http://x2b.xanga.com/d9fc857379032208138579/m162049332.jpg

http://x87.xanga.com/449c957308333208138565/m162049327.jpg

ETA: I forgot that yeah, I love just cracking open like 3-4 jars for a complete dinner in the middle of winter - so darned handy to have on hand (you know, like peaches, homemade spaghetti sauce, green beans). Or sometimes I'll just go sit down in the pantry for a little quiet time and admire my handiwork. My little zen place. :)

springfever

September 1st, 2008, 08:24 PM

I have always made what is called "pear honey" and "peach honey" in which you just cut and core and cook up the pears or peaches , skin and all, it all cooks up and turns a beautiful color and you don't know the skins are even there.

Emerald

September 2nd, 2008, 10:22 AM

Lanna- once again your pantry is a thing of beauty!! It almost makes me speechless-- maybe I should ask for one for christmas ;) And to think that you do this with little ones in the house and I have problems with only one teenage boy and his dad:o.

TooManyTomatoes

September 3rd, 2008, 01:49 PM

I was comparing notes with my mother yesterday about all the hard work canning can be, and she made a good point.... this is not supposed to be done single handedly. All her memories of canning involve multiple generations of women in the kitchen handling their various duties. So apparently, her and I dealing with our tomatoes on our own smacks of hard-headed, modern, feminist independence. I think I agree with her... next time I have 20 pounds of tomatoes littering my counters, I am definetly calling her for help!

Anyway, I have canned five varieties of tomatoes ranging color from red, orange, yellow and green. They sure look pretty, but I was a little worried about taste of each one. One of the orange (Kellogg's Breakfast) didn't seal (note to self: visual inspection of jar lid not sufficient, use your fingers) so last night I made goulash with it. I have to admit, I felt like I was dumping a jar of apricots into the beef, but I threw in some left over Prego from the fridge, and that fixed up the color and the goulash was great!

TastyofHasty

September 3rd, 2008, 04:06 PM

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb300/buckette/BrandiedPearsLR.jpg

Sounds like there's been a lot of CANNING going on!:):):D

Here are "Brandied Pears," canned in sugar syrup-brandy-lemon juice, unpeeled, not perfect but still ... nice.

TastyofHasty

September 3rd, 2008, 04:15 PM

TooManyTomatoes, I'm growing Kellogg's Breakfast this year, but they are spoiling too fast. The taste is very nice, however, very tomato-ey! But aren't the home-canned tomato products GOOD? Wow! I am LOVING all the stuff from the garden this year!

I keep remembering your Blue Ball Book cover. Thank you for posting it! The girl in white is ... all in white ... maybe they were being symbolic there about the quality of HOME CANNERS(?):D not trying to be sexist, Ratdog and all other intrepid MALE canners! ... just the angelic nature of "those who can!" :D

Lanna, you are such a sweetie ... your pantry looks marvellous, the work of an Experienced Canner. And that is a compliment!

Emerald, you are right as always!

Springfever, I made "pear butter" a few weeks ago, along with apple butter. It came out more grainy than the apple butter; looking forward to trying it this winter.

Here's another pic ... I CANNED 7 quarts, but made two more quarts we will have to eat soon ... ... ... tried a little of the brandy in the blender with some pear juice and crushed ice ... tol'rable ...
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb300/buckette/BrandiedPearQuartsLR.jpg

propercocker

September 4th, 2008, 08:32 AM

I called my mom last night and talked to her about canning pears, and sure enough, she dumps them in boiling water for a minute or so, then into cold water and the peel slips right off. I figured I would've remembered peeling all those things if we had :) She put up several lugs every year, mmm pears on cottage cheese...

ceresone

September 4th, 2008, 09:08 AM

I just think the powers that be--that my canning always turns out better that one item I sewed.
I made my daughter a white brocade prom dress-turned out beautiful--but--I think.. I have enough scraps left to make me a bikini--yup--I did--tried it on--looked in mirror--lets just say it never was seen again..
But I can a lot!!

TastyofHasty

September 4th, 2008, 10:05 AM

LOL!! :D

... another function of canning is MARINATING; the food marinates in the liquid it is canned in for a llllooooooooonnnngggg time, till it gets opened and eaten!

propercocker, thanks for calling your mom; I'll remember that about boiling and peeling for NEXT year! and there might be some folk on here with pears still coming ripe that can use that trick THIS year.

I learned about pears this year. A ripe pear is a very different fellow from an unripe pear. Ripe, they are soft, buttery, and juicy. Unripe, they are hard as rocks and no juice; hard to peel, hard to core, hard to everything. So it's a good thing to pick the pears when they are maybe 5 days away from being ripe; then put in brown paper bags & keep a CLOSE EYE on them; when they get just a teeny bit soft (from the outside) they are usually perfect ... 'cause pears ripen from the inside to the outside. The French called pears "the king of fruit." Gave DH one pear in the brandied juice I hadn't been able to fit in a jar yesterday, so had just put in the fridge in a little bowl ... he said it was really good!

... and DH is a "picky eater." ... so that is a good sign.

propercocker

September 4th, 2008, 10:36 AM

I was hoping that might save someone some time. She did say to be careful not to leave them in too long, cause then they start to cook. I think I need to start looking for a couple of pear trees for the new orchard...

Joan

September 4th, 2008, 11:09 AM

Oh wow Tasty, I can hear you! I was peeling what I thought was a nice size basket of peaches to freeze, got 1 and 1/2 quarts out of it. I thought how stupid when I could have bought about 3 or cans already past the work stage! I'll only do this again if I get them free, doesn't pay otherwise.
I want to try that method of dropping in boiling water like tomatoes, seems it should work.

And for sewing, I probably have 3 outfits I hate to throw out just cause I look like a hunchback in them!

But this is life huh! I'm on to pear butter when I find those free pears!

ratdog

September 4th, 2008, 01:24 PM

I keep remembering your Blue Ball Book cover. Thank you for posting it! The girl in white is ... all in white ... maybe they were being symbolic there about the quality of HOME CANNERS(?):D not trying to be sexist, Ratdog and all other intrepid MALE canners! ... just the angelic nature of "those who can!" :D

Yea,I'm probably more demonic than angelic. :eek::D
Btw,nice looking pears. I should try canning some.

Lanna

September 5th, 2008, 03:58 PM

Emerald ~ Thank you. I'm apparently a throwback to my grandma who actually lived off just a social security check the last 20 years of hers and grandpa's lives. I swear one of her 4 freezers was big enough for 6 bodies. :D

TooManyTomatoes ~ Oh, I wholeheartedly agree. Except my mom still has to work and is 2 hours away and I'd lose it if stuck in my awkward kitchen with MIL for just a few hours. So I spend an awful lot of late nights (oh, like 3am - and the kids wake up at 8am) down here by myself with my scalding hot canning stuff while everybody else in the house is snoozing away.

TastyofHasty ~ Thank you. And I don't even think I'm all that experienced - we're only on year two of canning insanity, year three total.

Joan ~ Yeah, for the price of organic peaches in my area (even the seconds!) canning them just isn't cost effective. Not to mention a headache. So we're just freezing slices/chunks for smoothies or for our "traditional" Strawberry-Peach Tiramisu on Thanksgiving. My family has no problem with funky traditions. :D

Anybody know what to do with a lot of pears? Like whether they dehydrate well? There's a lot of pears in my neighborhood that I need to go ask about scavenging (along with apples for cider!), but am not sure whether I'm up to the task of canning so many... Wonder if they juice decently...

Denninmi

September 5th, 2008, 04:01 PM

Anybody know what to do with a lot of pears? Like whether they dehydrate well? There's a lot of pears in my neighborhood that I need to go ask about scavenging (along with apples for cider!), but am not sure whether I'm up to the task of canning so many... Wonder if they juice decently...

Lanna, pears dehydrate very, very well, just as apples do. And, they are actually much easier to juice than apples, since they are a bit softer, yield more juice, and the juice, while very similar to apple cider, is a bit smoother and sweeter. Pear cider is a real winner in my opinion.

Dennis
SE Michigan

Lanna

September 5th, 2008, 04:16 PM

Lanna, pears dehydrate very, very well, just as apples do. And, they are actually much easier to juice than apples, since they are a bit softer, yield more juice, and the juice, while very similar to apple cider, is a bit smoother and sweeter. Pear cider is a real winner in my opinion.
Hmmmm.... :o
Do the pears need to be fully ripe for cider then? I'm sure I can stash them in boxes in the garage if need be to let them finish ripening. And now I'm thinking hubby will have a car full of trays of pear slices at some point here (my interesting version of dehydrating since he has to park outside at work).