pittsburgpam

Well, it's a red liquid like the sauce though it looks thinner than just sauce so I thought it had oil in it too. The beef, onions, and garlic were cooked in a skillet with shortening before adding to the pot with all the other ingredients.

SaraSewing

Congrats Pam! Sounds like you have it down pat now! I've been canning for many years. Love it. We are now empty nesters, but I still have to can a lot for the kids to all take home with them!

As for the things I've canned over the years: Stew, chili, pinto beans, pumpkin, all kinds of veggies, broth, all kinds of fruit, pickles, jams. (I made mango/apricot jam on Saturday. Yumm. All the apricots are ripe here!) I once taught a class during the summer for a few years, and I think I learned more than the students did!

Keep it up, and let us know your next projects!

pittsburgpam

Thanks for the thumbs up (figuratively :) ). Here are my 3 jars, all done and cooling. I feel like a new mother.

These are REALLY big, enough for a meal for family of 4 probably. The next time I'll use smaller jars so that it's just enough for dinner for one. I could really get to liking this. I love this recipe but it is so time consuming to make that I don't do it often.

Gwyn

I can all year round. One of the things I do is can pinto beans. It makes the best refried beans ever. In the summer when things are ripe and ready, I either can or freeze the jam/jelly fruit. I don't have time to make the jam, jelly and butters when the peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squashes, corn and other garden things need attention. I have a 7 bean casserole recipe we like so I will purchase the beans and mix them together. Then can them so they will be cooked and ready to use all winter long. Right now I have pie cherries going. Tomorrow I will finish the pie cherries and go on the sweet queen anne (yellow with red spots) cherries, bing, and some really big red sweet cherries. I already have marichino cherries (24 quarts) finished and waiting for November when they will be ready. I did so many pickles and relish last year, I don't have to do them this year. I also need to make pepper jelly before the red bell peppers are gone.

When I really get going on tomatoes I make 50 quarts of salsa, 100 quarts of spaghetti sauce minus the meat, 100 quarts of tomato juice, and about 200 quarts of quartered and chopped up tomatoes, including Italian, southwestern, and vegetable soup. It sounds like a lot, but it has to last all year. This only allows spaghetti once a week, salsa once a week, chili, veggie stew & soup once a week. Believe me, we will be buying canned tomatoes at the store before the next season.

200 quarts of pears, 200 of peaches and 200 of fruit cocktail. When I am finished there are about 3000 jars completely full. November is jam, jell & butter season so I have them for Christmas gifts as well as for ourselves.

I will warn you, canning can be addictive, but it does take a bit of time away from quilting. But just think of the time you will save in the fall, winter and spring when you don't even have to go to the store before fixing dinner. Everything evens out in time.

pittsburgpam

Wow Gwyn!! Just canning these 3 today was a lot of work, I can't imagine doing 100s at a time!!

My hat's off to you!!

Ditter43

I used to can a lot when I had a young family....The last thing I canned was tuna. Hubby went with a group and brought back too much to freeze....We have long since eaten it all!! Good luck! Your county extention office is a good source of information about canning, and a lot of other things... :thumbup:

kay carlson

Congrats to you on your new adventure, Pam.

I used to teach food preservation as a home economist. Now I mainly freeze items since we are empty nesters.

You are wise to allow the canner to cool naturally. I am happy to know you are using a pressure canner. Some techniques have changed over the years and it's always better to be on the safe side. Heck, my aunt used to "can" items in her oven and I wouldn't eat the stuff. :-)

Your county extension office should be a good source of info. Several schools are land grants colleges so would have the latest info. I used to rely on Michigan State University, Iowa State University and University of Wisconsin. Within the past few years I have been unsuccessful in obtaining telephone info from the jar manufacturers. Don't skimp, but do use the canning jar quality container which withstands the heat and is pressure treated. Packer jars would not be safe.

If you are canning syrups or jams and jellies, I would do a hot water bath processing with two piece lid rather than the old fashioned parafin. In my opinion, the two piece lid will result in a higher grade product less apt to spoil.

In this changing world, I have gifted my large pressure canner to my older son. He's canning tomatoes. :-) Actually, he has also canned some rhubarb/blueberry jam in pint jars with his water bath pot. I used to make cooked jam when things slowed down in the winter and I could afford to purchase the sugar and pectin.

Good luck!

Gwyn

One tip I would like to share is, as you go about the grocery shopping during the year, add a box of lids as well as the sure jel you need for jam to your regular shopping list. I even get the corn relish or pickling kits during the the year so I have them on hand during the summer and fall. I also save $50 every month to use to purchase food at the fruit stands in the summer and fall. Sometimes stores put sugar on sale during the holidays so I stock up. Fruit fresh and other stuff I will need in quantity I collect as I go about my regular shopping during the year.

This helps reduce the impact on the wallet in the fall.

MissTreated

I LOVE the "plink" sound, it's so HAPPY!!! It's a sound of satisfaction, along with the "whoosh" of the lids when you open them to use them.

One thing I would caution any new canner to NOT do is depressurize the canner prematurely. In other words, when there is just a few pounds of pressure left on the guage, DO NOT be tempted to lift the vent and to get it done a little earlier. It will realease too much pressure, and in an attempt to "equalize" the food will try to get out from under the lid and you'll ruin the whole project. I had a friend do that to a batch of meat I was canning one time, and she wrecked nearly the whole batch. It's also very dangerous.

mom-6

When I was a little girl, maybe about 4 y/o, my mom decided to do something in the pressure cooker with dried apples...had the stains on the ceiling for years till we redid the kitchen when I was a teenager.

Only thing I've ever done myself is plum jelly. Sure wish we still had a plum tree!