My Canning Cellar

Squash Relish

• 10 cups chopped yellow summer squash and zucchini squash
• 2 large onions, chopped
• Mixed color peppers to equal about one large, chopped
• 6 tablespoons canning salt
• 4 cups white sugar
• 3 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon each dill seed
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Using my food processor, I chopped the summer squash and the zucchini, the two onions, and the peppers into uniform small pieces, and now that I’m looking ahead to entering canned goods in September’s Tunbridge Fair I made sure they were as uniform as possible, then I tossed them together and let them set in the refrigerator overnight. All the recipes I had looked at either said drain for two hours or drain overnight.

The next morning I drained them as recipes called for although there was literally nothing to drain, the squash mixture was all nice and dry. But after following the ‘rinse’ instruction, I had to wait for the water to drain out.

Then I re-read the recipe and saw my error. I was supposed to have added the salt to the squash mixture and let THAT all set. So I added the salt and let it set for two hours. Then I rinsed, drained, rinsed again, adding two hours to my overall time because I neglected to read every word of the recipes I borrowed from.

After realizing my salt omission error, I Googled to see if it was absolutely necessary to add it to the sitting mixture, and couldn’t decide yes or no, so I just decided to do so.

While waiting for the water to drain for the last time, I pulled out my large stainless steel stock pot and combined the sugar, vinegar, the dill seed, ground mustard, the ground turmeric, ground nutmeg and the pepper and brought it all to a boil. I used the wooden spatula to stir it occasionally. The sugar tended to make the mixture stick a bit to the sides of the pot which is where my silicone daisy was used. Then I added the squash mixture and let it come back to a boil, then I reduced the heat, letting it simmer for 15 minutes.

I used my canning funnel and ladle to fill all the hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. I ended up with the store jelly jar, the pint canning jar, and eight 8 ounce canning jars. After filling the jars, I used my debubble tool to not only remove the bubbles but also to adjust the headspace as my tool relocated some of the mixture, I wiped the rims down with a vinegar cloth, put on the lids, and finger tightened the rings.

I water bathed these for 20 minutes, making sure the hot water covered the tops of the jars by at least two inches. My elevation is over 1000 feet above sea level which is why I did it for 20 minutes. I had read that the 20 minutes would be for pints, and whenever mixed size jars are used I always go by the most time.

I removed the jars about ten minutes after they were processed, which meant the 20 minute timing started after it came to a rolling boil, and I left them alone on the canning table until the next day, when I checked to be sure they had each sealed.

I said that I used a jelly jar from store bought jelly. The reason I did this is to experiment with using those types of jars that have the push-down middle button, similar to regular canning lids. I have read many times that these jars are okay to use in water bath canning, and I figured if it did not seal, then that one would go into the fridge. And I put it in the fridge anyway just to err on the side of caution.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230708/zucchini-crisp/

Pickled Eggs! Even pretty pink ones!

I use a basic pickled egg recipe that goes like this:

12 hard boiled eggs peeled and cooled

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 cups white vinegar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 thinly sliced large onion

1 bay leaf

1/3 cup sugar

4 teaspoons pickling spices

Bring all ingredients except for the eggs and garlic to a boil in saucepan. Simmer 5 minutes and let cool slightly, Add the garlic to the jar, and alternate the onion and eggs, then pour the brine over and seal the jar. I have kept these eggs for months in the fridge.

Pink Pickled Eggs

2 cans (15 ounces each) whole beets

12 hard-boiled large eggs, peeled

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

1 cup apple cider vinegar

Drain beets, reserving 1 cup juice. Place beets and eggs in a 2-qt. glass jar.

In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water, vinegar and reserved beet juice to a boil. Pour over beets and eggs; cool.

Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.

Onions!

1. Onion Relish-my digital canner

• 8 cups of thinly sliced onions
• 1 cup of white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• large dutch oven full of water on to boil as I sliced the onions, simmered onions for 5 minutes.
• In another pot: vinegar, sugar, salt and turmeric and brought that to a boil. After the onions cooked the five minutes, I drained them , then I added the onions to the boiling liquid and let it simmer for two minutes
• packed the hot onions into the heated jars, and then added the brine, leaving 1/2 inch headspace, debubbled the jars by running the little utensil through it, wiped the rims down with vinegar on a cloth, put the lids on and then finger tightened the rings. I had enough onions for 5 half pint jars but had liquid left over so for the other two jars so I cut up onions to fill the jars and topped them off with the brine to 1/2 inch headspace, processed 10 minutes

2. Onion Cranapple Jam-digital canner

• 8 cups onions sliced and diced
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups cranapple juice
• 5 tablespoons low or no-sugar pectin
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• I combined the onions, vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper and the bay leaf in my stainless steel pot and cooked over medium heat for 15 minutes until the onions were translucent, and I kept an eye on them, stirring occasionally.
  Stirred in the apple juice and the pectin, and sprinkled the pectin so it wouldn’t clump. Let this boil hard, meaning I could not stir it down. When it got to the hard boil stage, I added the sugar stirring it until it dissolved, then let the mixture get back to a hard boil for one minute, then removed it from the heat. I took out the bay leaf and tossed it
• ladled the hot jam into hot jars, leaving about 1/4 inch headspace. I removed what air bubbles I could with the debubbler, wiped the rims down with a vinegar soaked cloth, put the lids on (which I had sitting in hot water), put the rings on finger tight.
• I was able to do 2 jars that are a pint and a half size, two half pint jars, and two quarter pint jars. These I processed for 25 minutes in my Presto digital canner.

3. Plain Onions, pressure canned

• peeled and sliced 2 large bags of onions, each one weighed about 2 pounds 13 ounces on my scale. Again, I simmered them in plain water until translucent, and divided the onions up into the jars, added the hot cooking water to 1/4 inch headspace, wiped the rims with vinegar cloth, put the warm lids on and finger tightened the rims. I ended up with 10 pint jars and one half pint jar. I processed them in the pressure canner at 15#, which is the weight for my altitude, for 40 minutes.

4. Pickled Onions-water bath ten minutes

• sliced 2 large bags of onions
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 1/2 teaspoons pickling spice

Vinegar and sugar to a boil, lowered the heat to simmering, added the sliced onions. Simmered for 5 minutes. Put 1/2 teaspoon of pickling spice in the bottom of each jar, added the onions smushing them down and added then brine, wiped rims with vinegar cloth, put the lids on, finger tightened rings. Ensure having at least 2” of water over the tops of the jars and water bathed these for ten minutes once the water in the canner came up to a rolling boil. I ended up with 6 half pints and one four ounce jar.

Of course always do your research to feel confident in your choices for canning food. I tell how I do it and if I fail, I'll let you know!

Rootbeer Jelly

• 4 1/4 cups rootbeer soda
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 tbsp. powdered pectin
• 2 tbsp. bottled lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. butter

In a large dutch oven pot I mixed together the soda and the lemon juice. Then I brought it to a boil and let it go for one minute. Then I sprinkled in the powdered pectin …not dumped like I did with the dandelion jelly… using a whisk to mix together. I added the sugar and brought it back to a boil, then added the butter and let it boil for one minute.

While the mixture was cooking, my jars were warming in the Presto Precise digital canner.

Using my canning funnel, I filled the canning jars to one inch head space, wiped down the rims with a cloth and hot water, put the lids on and finger tightened the rings. I was able to fill 13 four ounce jars with a smidgen of jelly left over for taste testing.

Best I could find out, the lemon juice was needed to add acid to the mixture to help it set, and I was actually just going by several recipes that I’d found as I didn’t find one that said not to add lemon juice. This was the first time I’d ever added butter to help reduce the foam that normally forms on jelly, and I didn’t skim any foam off of this one.

I processed the jars in the water bath cycle for 10 minutes. I removed them when the canner signaled that the cycle was done, and put them on the canning table to set for 24 hours. Going by the little bit of tasting sample left in the bottom of the pot, I knew that this jelly will set up nicely.

It certainly tastes just like rootbeer, and I am already thinking ahead about maybe making a rootbeer BBQ sauce out of it. It is pretty sweet so I will add some kind of vinegar, oil, and other seasonings to balance it out, and let you know how it comes out.

I really appreciate you visiting my canning cellar. Talk soon. Stay safe.

Dandelion Jelly! I finally tried it!

This recipe gave me twelve (12) four ounce jars.

4 cups loosely packed dandelion petals (about 8-10 cups of the blossoms, remove all green that is left on from the cradle part)

1/3 cup low sugar powdered pectin

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

4 cups of white sugar

To the 4 cups of petals, I added two quarts of water and boiled them for three minutes in my dutch oven fry pan. The result looked pretty gnarly, almost like a yellowish brownish batch of spinach, then I let it cool for a couple of hours, as the longer it sat, the more yellow it became.

Strain until the dandelion tea is rid of sediment.

Measure out 4 cups of the dandelion tea and add the lemon juice and pectin, bring back to rolling boil then add the sugar, bring to boil again, let boil 2 minutes. I used my immersion blender because I had clumped the powdered pectin.

Skim off the white foam (and save for tasting!), use canning funnel to pour liquid into 4 ounce jars, wipe jar rims with vinegar cloth, put on lids, finger tighten the rings, water bath process for ten minutes. Remove from heat, let set for 24 hours at least before moving.

Beet Horseradish Relish

The ingredients I used were:

three store bought 15 ounce cans of small whole beets, drained

2 cups diced onion

2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cup horseradish sauce

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

I put the vinegar, horseradish sauce, salt, and the peppers into my dutch oven. Because the horseradish sauce was hard to mix in, I used the immersion blender on the sauce till it was thoroughly mixed. Then I added the beets and onions which I had chopped up using the food processor.

I brought the mixture to a boil and I used a wooden spoon to continually stir it to avoid burning or scorching. After it started to boil, I turned the heat down so that it simmered for 15 minutes and thickened up.

Using my canning funnel I filled each preheated jar to the bottom line which took about 1/4 cup. Then I wiped the rims with a vinegar cloth, put the lids on and finger tightened the rings. For this water bath food, I used my Presto Precise Digital Canner, and was able to stack 18 four ounce jars. I covered them with water per the instructions and they processed for 15 minutes once the canner was up to pressure.

So again this process was hot food into hot jars into hot water. I realize in listening back to some of the episodes that sometimes I mention having two inches over the jars and sometimes one inch over the jars, and if I was new to this, I may even confuse myself. What I normally do is if the jars are stacked in a more narrow canner like the Presto digital, I feel comfortable with two inches above. When I use my wider stove top water bath canner and the jars are spread out more, one inch is enough for me assuming the process time is only 15 minutes or less. I never want my water to boil down below the rims of the jars. This is just the way that I feel comfortable doing.

Modern lids no longer need to be boiled before use but I like to let them sit in a pan of hot water just to soften them up a little bit. Whether they actually get soft, I don’t know but it may be one of those little habits or quirks that just makes me feel better doing it, and it doesn’t hurt anything.

I removed the jars when the canner signaled it was done, and I put them on a dish towel on the canning table where they sat for 24 hours. I was worried about the jars I’d bought that I’d never heard of before, but every one sealed with a deliciously sounding Ping. 12 of the jars were Ball brand and 6 were a brand I’d never heard of before but they’d been on sale at the time so I bought them. I’m not sure how to pronounce the name Lovoln that’s L O V O L N.

So I want to remind my listeners that I am still a learning canner and therefore I am not trying to instruct you HOW to can but rather how I can, and then folks can make their own decisions based on their own knowledge and research. While I did use the Ball recipe as a guideline, I had to substitute a lesser amount of canned beets for fresh ones and the horseradish sauce for prepared horseradish. I left the sugar the same, as sugar is an important component to setting up a jelly or jam like consistency although in this case I wasn’t trying to make a jam but rather more of a relish as it was called. And as long as the processing method and time is correct, I feel comfortable adjusting ingredients here and there, and I also can add or delete spices as they don’t add to or delete from the processing time.

Polish cwikla (CHEEK-wah) = grated horseradish with beets.

P.S. I am NOT an Amazon affiliate, I just buy a lot from there.

https://tinyurl.com/3v4wrz7e Lovoln 4 ounce jars
https://tinyurl.com/njjymc68 The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving

Peach jam from frozen, and Oopsie!

I had 21 plastic dishes of frozen diced peaches, each 4.4 ounces, taking up space in my extra refrigerator freezer, and no one had eaten any in months, so I put all of the containers in a dishpan and let them thaw out overnight in the fridge. The next day I made jam. For the first recipe I used:
4 1/2 cups peaches which was 11 of the plastic dishes

1 package of low sugar pectin

3 cups white sugar

This recipe was inside the box of the low sugar pectin, which in this case happened to be SureJell in the pink box.

Low sugar jam…mixed one package of low sugar dry pectin with 1/4 cup of the sugar, added to the diced peaches, brought to rolling boil on stove, added the remainder of the sugar, simmered for one minute once came to rolling boil again, stirring quite often. Used immersion blender for about thirty seconds as I didn’t want lots of chunks. Fill the jars to first line on the jars, I got seven 8 ounce jelly jars and two 4 ounce jelly jars to process and I did one four ounce jar to put right into the fridge as soon as the jam cooled enough. Made sure there was at least one inch of water covering them. Canned using the water bath cycle of my Presto Precise digital canner. Processed 10 minutes. And this is where I goofed…forgot to remove regulator before processing, I had left it on there after the last time I used the canner, and I got the E30 error, had to turn regulator to ‘vent’, let it release pressure till the little button dropped, then removed regulator, unlocked cover, let canner cool for 15 minutes, check to be sure have enough water, start over. With this digital canner I don’t use the regulator for water bath.
Skimming; gap between the lid and the food is called head space and foam in a jar increases the head space and I don’t want to waste my jar space on the foam. But I didn’t throw my little bit of foam away, which also had some of the peach bits in it…I had some of it later in the evening on toast.

Full sugar jam:

4 cups peaches which was 10 of the plastic cups

1 package regular pectin, and the brand I used was SureJell in the yellow box

2 tablespoons lemon juice

5 cups white sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

This recipe I found on line and I’ll link to it. I don’t know why this one called for the lemon juice and the SureJell one did not, but I followed the directions because from doing online research I read that jellies and jams do their best setting up when directions ARE followed exactly. I made this one the same way as the first one, even using the immersion blender. This time I paid attention to what I was doing, plus the regulator was already off of the cover.

I got 9 full 8 ounce jelly jars of the peach cinnamon jam, the 9th jar due to the extra sugar. I had to soak my dutch oven pan as soon as it was empty because the jam mixture sticks pretty well to the inside and without soaking it’s a bear to clean.

Remember: Hot jam=into hot jars=into hot water

I have to give a shout out followup to my Axuan Oven Mitts that I mentioned in a previous episode. They are the ones described as ‘Made with high-quality durable material, 100% cotton twill fabric and food grade silicone’. I used them today to grab the jars out of the full canner of water after the jar warming cycle, because I had already dumped water on myself trying to grasp an un-lidded jar of water with my jar lifter, Despite me sticking my hand into the water, it wasn’t till I was almost done removing the last jar that I could barely feel the warmth of the boiling water. Definitely a great buy in my opinion.

https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/peach-jam-made-by-my-man
https://tinyurl.com/ybf2vvdf Axuan Oven Mitts on Amazon

Giving new life to soft fruit!

This is how I do it; you should certainly research if you want to feel confident in your canning choices!

Banana Jam

2 cups mashed bananas

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix together, bring to boil in pot, simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon into hot jars, wipe rims, put on lids, finger tighten the rings. Have water at least an inch above the jars. Water bath for 10 minutes after the water comes to a rolling boil. Let sit on cloth covered table for 24 hours.

Pear Apricot Sauce

2 cups pears and apricots measured together

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix together, bring to boil in pot, simmer for 5 minutes, use immersion blender to smooth. Spoon into hot jars, wipe rims, put on lids, finger tighten the rings. Have water at least an inch above the jars. Water bath for 10 minutes after the water comes to a rolling boil. Let sit on cloth covered table for 24 hours.

Refrigerate any jars that did not seal.

I made ketchup, kind of, and yellow mustard that needs some mellowing. I also found a new product that makes opening canning jars so much easier!

Ketchup aka BBQ Sauce:
4 quarts chopped tomatoes with skins removed, 1 cup chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper, 1 1/2 cups vinegar, 1/4 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 cup sugar.

I combined all the ingredients in my heavy dutch oven and let it cook down until I liked the thickness, and it took about an hour on medium low heat. It does cook down quite a bit. Then using my canning funnel, I filled each jar to 1/4” headspace, wiped the rims with a cloth in vinegar, put on the rings and processed for 15 minutes, which is my time because my altitude is between 1000 and 3000 feet. After processing, I used the jar lifter to remove them and let them sit on a dish towel until the next day. Came out like BBQ sauce, and so good!

Yellow mustard: 3 cups white vinegar, 3 cups apple cider vinegar, 4 cups mustard powder, 4 teaspoons garlic powder, 4 teaspoons salt and I use sea salt, 4 teaspoons tumeric, 2 teaspoons paprika, and 4 tablespoons white sugar.

I whisked everything together in my vintage heavy dutch oven, heating on medium and let it gently boil until I thought it was thick enough. It did cook down which was necessary but also a little disconcerting because in my mind I was losing product but of course I really wasn’t. Because the mustard was hot, I had heated my half pint jars in the oven at 225 degrees-I turned the oven off after 15 minutes and left the jars in there to stay hot until needed, then I spooned the mustard into the jars using my canning funnel and a measure cup, and left 1/2 inch headspace. I wiped the rims clean with white vinegar to remove any mustard residue, put the lids on and finger tightened them. I had already started my water going in my water bath canner, so I put the jars in and made sure they were covered by two inches of water. I processed them for 15 minutes, starting my timing after the water came to a rolling boil. Once the water started boiling, I was able to turn the burner down enough to maintain the boil without over using the propane. It has to mellow with age so I read, and as of this writing, it's still mellowing.

Jamie's Amazing Lid Popper! contact: [email protected]

https://cosmopolitancornbread.com/canned-baked-beansThe only recipe I use, I just switch out the meat as desired.

https://tinyurl.com/k78kma4h Ocean Spray Whole Cranberry Sauce, 101 ounce
https://tinyurl.com/pu8b52rk El Mexicano Nacho Cheese Sauce
https://tinyurl.com/3ube3sh8 Great Value Cheese Sauce
https://tinyurl.com/39naywrc Chef-Mate Chorizo Skillet
https://tinyurl.com/2hv7584m Chef-Mate Creamed Sliced Beef
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/pressure-cookers-versus-pressure-canners