mawmawbeve_60

Pam, your sauce sounds yummy......I have canned for 30 yrs..20 of these years with a pressure cooker..Me and My MIL used to can green beans outside in big tubes under a roaring fire..sesssh..those where the days..lol...but, any ways..I can green beans, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce..green tomaotoes..corn, what ever..and made some zucchini relish..didnt process it to long..but it's really good..got the recipe off line..tastes just like pickle relish..yumm,,,,,I have canned meat also..pork and some deer meat..it's good......Just keep your vents clean on your pressure cooker...and your set!..Good Luck...

finch

I love to can.I miss my best friend because we canned together every year.It is way to hot to can here in Florida for me.My best friend lives up North.She just did a round of fresh green beans. That's my favorite thing to can.It is so much fun to can together with a friend.

pittsburgpam

Thank you ladies for the tips and stories. I know this is going to be a fun adventure :) Everything seems to be OK this morning except for one jar had a smear of sauce around the rim of the lid when I took the band off. It's sealed as well as the other ones, maybe it boiled over a bit during cooking? I think I'll try that one tonight for dinner.

I also got a steam canner as I read that they were easier than the water bath but now I'm not sure about it because every recipe direction says water bath boiling time, not steaming. Or is it the same?

Gwyn

I would read the instructions carefully and check with the county extension office. Never assume it is okay. Food preservation must be done correctly or you can make your family really sick.

calla

I think your brave, when I tried canning, the word BEWARE seemed to always jump out at me from the Blue Ball canning book............for me it's something that I would like to watch or help someone can...........I'm a visual learner..........but it will be tasty when the snow falls...............and have fond memories of summer..............calla/Sue

pittsburgpam

I read a little about steam canning online, something from a University, that it was OK. I'll look around some more and if I don't feel comfortable with it I believe that it can be used for water bath, just use the shallow bottom as the lid.

b.zang

Welcome to the world of home canning! It really is a satisfying place.

It sounds like you're doing well to read the directions carefully. I have a Mirro pressure canner and called the company when I thought it wasn't acting the same as the book said. They were very helpful and a great source of information.

Cooking a batch of food and then canning it sounds like a lot of work. I can a lot of salmon, sometimes smoking it slightly first. Yum! My DH says the best canned food he ever ate was bear that had been cubed and canned with mushrooms and onion. Not quite stew, but an easy finish into one.

I like the idea of freezing stuff and canning it later. It seems to be that this hot work happens in the heat of summer. I have a gas stove outside that I use for canning, but with an open flame it can be a challenge monitoring the flame for even heat if it's windy.

quilter1

I like to can things too, but meat products scare me. I can't face a pressure canner. I do down all sorts of jams, picked beets, sweet gherkins, nine days, bread and butter pickles, 2 types of dills, chili sauce, corn relish and anything else that strikes my fancy. Not a small project when working full time in the city. Please be careful with the canned meat products, they can be dangerous if processed incorrectly.

greaterexp

I've never used a steam canner, but I suppose yours came with instructions & recipes. I think having a water bath canner and pressure canner will give you everything you need to fit nearly any recipe. I just wouldn't recommend using canning books that are outdated, since some of the processing times, pressures, and the addition of acids has changed with research over time. I use a lot of older recipes, but just check them against newer books. Of the course, the Ball Book is the gold standard, but check out some other canning books.
[Fancy Pantry] is one that comes to mind. When you are confident about understanding acid amounts/balance, you can branch out and create your own recipes, too!

pittsburgpam

I have the new Ball book, not the old Ball Blue Book that I also read about. I also have the USDA book on canning and preserving. I also checked it against the book that came with the canner for processing red meats.