I cooked goulash today, which takes FOREVER and simmering for 2 1/2 hours. I was able to fill three quart jars. That gives me an idea of how much they hold because I really had no idea or how to relate that to a pot of something.

I washed the jars in the dishwasher yesterday, washed the new pressure canner, filled the jars with hot water and put the lids into hot water. Filled the hot jars with goulash and put the lids on, poured 4 quarts of boiling water into the canner, and put the jars in.

It's now venting steam for 10 minutes before I put the weighted vent cap on and bring it up to 11 lbs of pressure for 90 minutes.

I read the directions in a couple of books and in the booklet that came with the canner and they all agree on the pressure and time.

Any hints from you experienced canners?

I use to can years ago, I use to mainly use the big blue canner, with the white speckles and the jar rack in it. Usually tomatoes, /spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce. Acidic foods can be canned in the water bath method, like above. Bad stuff don't grow in acid, always added tomato paste just to be sure. Only used my pressure cooker a few times, don't remember any details, never canned goulash or anything like that.

Goulash has lots of ketchup in it, 4 cups I think in a double batch. Sounds strange but it is SOOOOOO good! I've used this same recipe for probably 20 years and everyone who tries it loves it.

Make sure you check that your jars seal before you store them away. Nothing worse than finding a can of "whatever" has gone bad over the winter.
I used to can before I had small children running around. Now I don't have time. Nothing beats food that you have canned yourself!

Have fun!

Rose Hall

Have you started taking orders, yet? I want to be first on the list.

By now I'm sure you're through with the process, so don't need me to tell your. But let your pressure canner cool down slowly - do not try to speed the process along. Otherwise you might not get a good seal. Anything that does not seal can be frozen, so all is not loss if something goes wrong. Once you've got this part down, the next challenge is jelly. That is really fun - and well worth the trouble.

Nope, it's not done. I believe it's been processing about 15 minutes (I set the oven timer for 90 minutes). I have it at about 12 lbs pressure, can't let it fall below 11 or need to get it back up and start the time again. That's what I read anyway. :)

I read all the directions and to let the canner cool naturally and how to check that there is no more pressure before opening it and taking the jars out.

I hope to can a lot more. I've always wanted to try it.

Who knows? One of these days I might be by the side of the road selling quilts and home canned foods! :lol:

I have just a few herbs in my front yard flower beds and my son has agreed to use some old deck boards I have to make me some planters in the backyard. I picked some a few days ago, some I sealed up fresh and some I hung in the closet to dry. A little experiment to see what the various methods are like.

I found a source for all sorts of glass jars and lids and I would love to get a bigger garden and produce them. Hey... Jelly Quilts! Ha ha ha. All quilts made with jelly rolls.

Herbs - now that's another treat. There are a number of ' things you can do with herbs. If it's basil then some pesto is in order. You can make it up and freeze it in quantity. the other thing I have done with herbs is to freeze then in ice cube trays. Just chop up the herbs into single serving quantities, put into the squares of an ice cube tray, add some water and freeze. Once frozen, you can just bag up the ice cubes. When cooking sauces or whatever, just throw in a couple of your frozen herb cubes - instant seasoning.